Working with Others - some thoughts

[Boyd Roberts]

Walter Arevalo from Academia Británica Cuscatleca sent through some photos of activities in November 2019 by IGCA participants at his school.

 

Walter’s photos of IGCA participants cleaning beaches and releasing turtles in El Salvador got me thinking.

 

The IGCA Working with Others section calls for personal action – what in some contexts is called “service”. It is important that such actions taken by participants are authentic and realistic – that they really do make some kind of difference. But we must also bear in mind that within the IGCA we are concerned with the education and personal development of young people - and actions need to reflect this. They should not be over-ambitious, or require greater time and expertise than participants can offer.

 

The actions of IGCA participants in El Salvador cleaning up a beach and releasing turtle hatchlings are examples of good one-off actions. Spending a limited amount of time cleaning up a beach brings immediate and obvious benefits. The beach is cleaner than it would have been without the efforts of those taking part. Potentially, it also helps to raise the awareness of participants to wider global issues relating to waste production and disposal and the throwaway nature of many of our activities and their impact on the natural world.

 

It seems important to combine the two elements of practical action and increasing knowledge and understanding. Clearing a beach of trash can take place without any learning or development of an awareness of why the trash is there. This is a valuable activity in itself, but not developmental or educational. Indeed, in some situations clearing trash is a punishment. To contribute to the development of global citizens, clearing trash needs to be accompanied by learning more about the issues that lead to it being there in the first place. It is through the research and reflection components of the IGCA that an action becomes an example of development as a global citizen.

 

The release of turtle hatchlings is a rewarding and pleasurable activity. It becomes transformed into meaningful service when students learn or appreciate how turtles are threatened, and how looking after hatchlings before release can contribute to turtle conservation.