Who is he?
Peter Crittenden is a former FE lecturer and special educational needs teacher. He recently worked with schools to encourage staff and pupils to engage with learning by self-improvement methods such as smarter ways of thinking. A few months ago, he gave that up to tour schools up and down the country with his wife Helen to promote their two-year overland trip across the globe.
Why the expedition?
“The idea is to give a more meaningful and coherent idea of community cohesion in UK schools on issues around the world. Schools deliver well in the UK, but it is limited worldwide. The trip is in three legs; the first leg is to Mongolia, where we will look at ecological issues, the second to Brazil, where we will explore the rainforest, and the final leg will be in Africa, tackling water aid. We leave on June 4 and will be visiting 46 countries.”
How can pupils track your progress?
“Through our website. We have 7,000 children following our adventures. We went into schools and got the pupils out of their chairs. We created sounds of the rainforest and discussed issues we will come across. We spoke about ‘poos’ and ‘bums’. Kids will take any excuse to talk about them, and we linked it to sanitation and water aid in Africa. I receive ten to 15 emails a week from children asking questions about our travels.”
Kids are hooked. Are the teachers?
“We will be creating resources as we go along - uploading videos, photos, games, exercises and competitions so teachers can deliver interesting lessons. It will be interactive as the website has a tracking device to follow us so teachers and pupils can ask questions.”
And the answers?
“There are no answers but to continue involving children and making trips like this as useful as we can. On our tour of schools I was reassured by the degree to which young children embrace the environment. I was impressed with their openness to other cultures. I want to give them more understanding. They are the next generation and they must be educated on the issues facing the world.”
Where are you most keen to visit?
“Helen is looking forward to Kazakhstan, because she hears it’s completely different from the Borat movie. I’m looking forward to Costa Rica, because it is remote and there will be amazing wildlife. We’re travelling in a Landrover with a roof tent and hoping to stay with the villagers we meet.”
www.landysadventures.com.
