CHildren's Empowerment, Children's Solutions
Start date: Sep 1, 2015,
End date: Aug 31, 2017
PROJECT
FINISHED
The central aim of this project is to develop awareness, self-esteem and wellbeing amongst all participants in the knowledge triangle. Empowering children to inform themselves is the most powerful theme of the project. The children create their own narrative to guide them to wellbeing and positive self-image. In turn the parents and teachers use this narrative to inform their own guidelines for wellbeing in adult life.
The project is the result of a creative think-tank carried out in Dublin in February '15 by representatives of the proposed partner countries. It centres around a cartoon character "Mr. Wellbean" and his family. They are a family of beans in cartoon form. Part of the end product will be a series of simple books. In each book a member or members of the Wellbean family is presented with an issue. Once the issue has been established the next page of the book is blank and children or groups of children must decide how the issue is to be resolved so that when we turn to the last page we can validate the smiles on the faces of the character/s involved.
In researching the project with local and regional youth groups we found that there are many programmes for positive mental health in teenagers and adults while little or none exist for broader use among young children. We surmise that the project can, with this innovative approach address this niche area, act as a new foundation for considering wellbeing in society and also inform existing programmes for teenagers and adults across Europe.
We intend the educational rational and teaching method behind the program as outlined in the guide to be used as a blueprint for teaching and learning in any area of the curriculum. The implementation guide will be a simple to follow guide to those wishing to facilitate the program in their school. It will outline the educational rationale behind the program, mainly that the children are empowered to lead the learning triangle using the books as a starting point. The teacher gently guides the process being in the classroom only in the role of best pupil. It is a method informed in part by the "Freinet system" and blended with best practice in the teaching methods of other partner schools.
We are enthused and excited about the prospect of developing this program to stimulate healthy thought processes in regards to mental and physical wellbeing in children from infancy forward throughout Europe.
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