Pupils from Avery School, Webster Groves, Missouri

How the World Plays

Primary School Children in Wales and the USA

Course Organisers - Dr Lori Schnieders (USA) and Dilwyn Roberts-Young (UW Aberystwyth)

This project is an ongoing one, that utilizes children as researchers of their family, community and country or state.  They then connect via videoconference to a partner research team of children from another part of the world.  In the virtual world classroom the research teams of children teach one another what they have discovered about how their own family plays, what the traditions and rituals are and how they have played out through the generations.  It is our hope that the children will interview older family members and seasoned individuals in the community (which will also give the children a connection with the keepers of the story).  We also hope that by connecting with children from other cultures they will begin to cross the barriers we adults have put so firmly into place and that the children involved in the project will see the similarities and not allow the differences that cause fear of the unknown to build barriers in their lives.  We believe so strongly that “Kid to Kid” they will find solutions to problems through understanding and stop responding to violence with violence.

There is a danger that we see diversity as referring to ‘people who are different to us’ without recognising that each individual has a cultural heritage.  Each of us lives in a family and community that draws on what Moll and Greenberg refer to as a wealth of ‘knowledge’ and ‘skills’ to help us function.   The collaboration also allows research into the impact of the Internet on the multicultural understanding of Key Stage 2 pupils.  The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has made education far more interactive and the pupils in this project had the opportunity to ‘meet’ pupils from another area of the world rather than base their research on written material alone. 

The project has involved different groups of children in many different countries throughout the world.  Children from Year 6 at Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth took part in the project, and corresponded with a group of children from Avery School, Webster Groves, Missouri, USA.  The pupils explored issues of diversity as well as common threads in their lives and communities.   The two groups prepared for the videoconference by collecting information about their town to present to the other group.  The children in Missouri made a short video, including shots of their school, town and houses.  The Welsh children gathered information about Aberystwyth and Wales and made a Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation.  All the children also prepared a short biography about themselves - their families, pets and interests. 

The videoconference began with all the children introducing themselves.  Then each group presented the information they had gathered about their neighbourhood.  This was followed by each of the children presenting their own biography.  Finally, there was a chance for the children to ask each other general questions on topics ranging from Harry Potter to music and sports.  The session concluded with an impromptu Welsh lesson, as the children from Aberystwyth taught their American counterparts some basic Welsh!

The project allows the researchers, both children and adults, to begin to explore the diversity and richness that make up the world.  If we look beyond race, ethnicity, or gender, our culture involves values, attitudes, customs, beliefs and ethics.  By researching our square mile of existence and then by teaching it to fellow researchers from a different part of the globe, we begin to see how the diversity that makes us who we are is really not so different from others separated geographically from us.  The intent of the project is to begin to build bridges, to open the doors to tolerance and acceptance of each individual wherever they may be. 
   

Click on any of the images below to take you to a larger image with full caption.

Dr Lori Scnieders
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, USA
e-mail: lori.schnieders@vanderbilt.edu

Dilwyn Roberts-Young
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
e-mail: dlr@aberystwyth.ac.uk

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