Pupils at a Glasgow secondary are acting locally by investigating their community’s identity and thinking globally through collaboration with peers in the US.
Shawlands Academy has been selected by the American Scottish Foundation and TakingITGlobal to participate in a project designed to enrich pupils’ understanding of their local environment. The Living Cities project allows them to share their findings online with project partners in schools in cities including New York, Prague and Lima.
Shawlands pupils are undertaking research into the environmental effect of acid corrosion on buildings, local requirements for recycling and how - with approximately 50 different languages spoken at the school - different cultures shape their community’s identity.
In tune with Curriculum for Excellence priorities, the project will help develop students’ ICT skills as they post and read messages, swap media projects and report online their insights into what they have learnt about their neighbourhoods.
Eleven Shawlands pupils are visiting partner schools in New York City during Scotland Week (April 6-12), and will take part in the Tartan Day Parade, walking alongside Alex Fergusson MSP, presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament.
Maria Kelly, faculty head of creative and aesthetic at Shawlands, described the project and visit to New York as a “fantastic opportunity”.
“We are the only secondary school in Scotland taking part and we are so looking forward to representing Glasgow during Scotland Week,” she said.
