Teacher, Kalinda Primary School

Wildlife of Brazil’s Pantanal - TeachLive from 4-16 June 2009

Being given a chance to enrich not only my own life, but also those of my students was an opportunity too good to pass by. I was thrilled to know that my application was successful and that I was actually going to be able to ‘take’ my students with me on this adventure to Brazil’s Pantanal.

I have been fortunate enough to have travelled extensively throughout Australia with my family, and know the value of travel in broadening a child’s perspective of the country and world that we all live in. The richness of the local environments as well as the diversity each region holds, is an educational experience that should not be restricted to only the lucky few who can travel.

The opportunity afforded to me is one that I will endeavour to make as rich as possible for my class/school and others who are following this expedition back in Australia. Having the chance to become involved in the study of the Pantanal Wetland that is under threat, and then being able to bring this system into their classroom through lessons, is a privileged position for both the students and myself. This will enhance and empower my students to be part of the global solution to the environmental issues of our planet. I have a unique opportunity to bring students up close to the problems and engage them in the broad thinking strategies and skills that are needed by our ever-shrinking ‘flat’ world.

I enjoy opening up an opportunity for a child to learn more about the immediate environment they are in and to look for connections that exist in all aspects of it. If a child can see those connections, then they can begin to understand the effects when one of those links is threatened or lost. This understanding at a local level can be transferred to embrace a wider perspective of the world we live in.

Our leaders of the future, who are being educated now, need to have an appreciation of the world that differs from the ‘ideals’ many of us were taught during our own formal years of institution based education. Our world is becoming increasingly ‘flat’ with globalisation, communication and economic influences all aiding to build a world without borders. We are all affected but what is happening in our world.

Cross-culture competencies are at the fore of education for the future. Of course, one cannot be competent in all cultural understandings, but building broad understanding structures of one culture, with spotlight focus on aspects of environmental issues, culture, and economic issues help to build global understandings.

Our students and indeed all people, especially those involved in formalising education need to be active, interactive and effective global citizens. It is an experience of a lifetime for me and I hope it starts a lifetime of experiences for my students.