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With schools closing across the nation, parents and educators are in bit of a panic as they try to figure out how kids can learn and obtain their
“We try not to eat a lot in one day, even though most of us are really hungry, we have to be careful with our food,” says a young pale boy called Cameron, shoulders hunched, sitting in his bedroom. Matter-of-factly, he explains to the camera how he and his family rely on near-expiry date food from a charity food club to get by. The clip has had over two million views on Facebook, and over three million views on Twitter. For a rare two minutes, one of Britain’s least visible crises captured a huge online audience. (It even spawned another mini-viral moment, when one helpful Twitter user suggested they simply use an Aga to heat their home). It’s from an episode of Channel 4’s Dispatches called “Growing Up Poor: Britain’s Breadline Kids”, which airs tonight, tracking the lives of a handful of children across the country who represent the four million now living in poverty. The documentary feels like a landmark moment in mainstream social affairs reporting, and not just for its unusual online reach ahead of the programme airing. It avoids all the pitfalls of the genre that’s come to be known as “poverty porn”. Importantly, instead of pigeonholing the usual favourite destinations of TV producers, it focuses on parts of the country that casual viewers would perhaps least associate with deprivation (the mighty university city of Cambridge, picturesque market town of Sudbury in Suffolk, and relatively affluent Lancashire coastal town of Morecambe). It allows the children profiled to express their personalities. “Guess what? Primark’s ten times bigger than Cambridge’s,” eight-year-old Courtney from Cambridge boasts to her friends when she is about to move to accommodation in Hull – a swap to relieve her family of the bedroom tax. “They’re actually very polite, there’s less bikes, so you don’t have to worry about the bikes. If people are trying to get past you with the bike, they push it along,” she says, impressed. “But you’ve got to get used to the language, it’s not like Cambridge.” It also gives parents space to express their love, rather than shoehorning them into two-dimensional characters. One mother explains her mental illness to her child patiently with a diagram, in the same tone as reading a bedtime story. The reporters take the time to track the reasons why each family has been pushed into poverty – a child’s death from lung cancer, a divorce, domestic abuse, mental illness. All unavoidable, unlucky circumstances. “It’s not the kids’ fault and it’s probably not the parents’ fault either,” says one child interviewed, in a summary that many politicians would do well to remember. Indeed, it’s impossible to watch without the context of the election blaring in the back of your mind like a siren. Although the documentary makers don’t politicise their findings, it’s clear from the facts that austerity and benefits changes are driving a lot of these families’ problems: foodbank use rising since Universal Credit kicked in; child poverty increasing over the last ten years; parents trapped in a cycle of low pay; a desperate housing shortage; inadequate mental health provision; staggering inequality. Child poverty would reach a record high in 2023-24 if the Conservative manifesto were enacted in full, according to the Resolution Foundation think tank. When compared with another viral video whizzing around during this election campaign of the Home Secretary Priti Patel denying the government’s responsibility for poverty, this documentary acts as a desperately-needed reality check – an anchor to drag down all the promises, denials and rhetoric. “The fact that people still look down on people with less money is very sad because everyone’s equal,” says Courtney, before pausing. “Apparently.” Dispatches, “Growing Up Poor: Britain’s Breadline Kids”, is on Channel 4 tonight at 10pm.
These teacher personalities make you laugh, cry, and groan. You will definitely recognize some of these types of teachers from your faculty meetings.
Canada’s 150th birthday is a great time to find out more about 1867, the year the country was founded. You can learn about what life was like by checking out this story.
World Bank targets ‘learning poverty’ as research shows major shortfall in basic reading skills among least privileged children
Google Drawings is a versatile free tool that's very useful for teachers, students, and bloggers. This post explains what Google Drawings is, how to use it, classroom examples, and how to embed Drawings into blog posts. Also find out how to embed Drawings into blog posts if you're using Edublogs, CampusPress, or WordPress.
Free resource of educational web tools, 21st century skills, tips and tutorials on how teachers and students integrate technology into education
Explore our National Geographic Kids’ primary resources, for fun and exciting teaching ideas and pupil-focused resource sheets aligned with the Curriculum
Looking for a little classroom hygge? We dig into this cozy trend and identify ways teachers can bring hygge to their classrooms.
SQA - Scottish Qualifications Authority
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A library of short films including case studies from some of those helped through the Scottish Poppy Appeal. Click on each video to watch them online. Our most popular films are also available on a DVD which you can order here.
This visualization shows the global inequality gap — a difference in the standards of living around the world, as well as how it's changed over 200 years.
Tired of battling the use of smartphones in class? Disengage from the battle by engaging students in lessons that integrate these powerful gadgets.
Technology is a powerful enabler of teaching and learning. The Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology works collaboratively with faculty members and instructional support units to provide effective and efficient technology tools that create an exceptional learning environment.
Coursera was founded in 2012 by two Stanford Computer Science professors who wanted to share their knowledge and skills with the world. Professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng put their courses online for anyone to take – and taught more learners in a few months than they could have in an entire lifetime in the classroom. Since then, we’ve built a platform where anyone, anywhere can learn and earn credentials from the world’s top universities and education providers. Every course on Coursera is taught by top instructors from the world’s best universities and educational institutions. Courses include recorded video lectures, auto-graded and peer-reviewed assignments, and community discussion forums. When you complete a course, you’ll receive a sharable electronic Course Certificate. If you want to master a specific career skill, consider joining a Specialization. You’ll complete a series of rigorous courses, tackle hands-on projects based on real business challenges, and earn a Specialization Certificate to share with your professional network and potential employers.
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning
Enchanted Learning Software creates children's educational web sites and games designed to stimulate creativity, learning, enjoyment, and imagination. This is the site's home page, with various links around the site.
IH London has partnered with King’s College London to offer the MA in Applied Linguistics & English Language Teaching (with Delta).
This article presents the results of a survey into student attitudes towards the use of L1 in class and some suggestions for using the L1 and its culture as a learning resource.
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