Marking the World Creativity and Innovation Day 2023 christened under the theme “Step Out and Innovate”, The Regional Education Learning Initiative -RELI Africa Values and Life Skills members stepped out for a learning benchmark on some of the greatest innovations at Arigatou International Centre (The SDGs Academy).
RELI is a network of 70+ organizations from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania working in various education sectors. Iit was a mind-provoking experience to mark the global day. The opportunity to visit a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Academy to learn about their innovative and creative ideas for tackling SDGs through education exposed the RELI Kenya team to experiential learning. This experience was truly inspiring and left us with many valuable reflections.
The team was impressed by the academy’s commitment to helping children understand the 17 SDGs while inspiring action. From the design of their programs to the materials used in their classrooms and pedagogy, it was clear every choice was made with SDGs and children in mind. This attention to detail really highlighted the fact that sustainable development goals are not just goals for adults, but interconnected actions that need the voices of children.
One of the most impactful takeaways from our visit was the academy’s focus on experiential learning. RELI Africa’s key focus is to ensure all children learn and thrive irrespective of their backgrounds and identities. Arigatou International SDG Academy is simply living up to this focus by creatively and innovatively helping children from all backgrounds learn, imagine, think, and create a sustainable world of their own design inspired by the 17 SDGs.
Rather than simply teaching about SDGs through the traditional classroom context, lectures and textbooks, the academy encourages children to get out into the real issues and engage in real-world projects that addressed the SDGs. They do this by taking children through their learning hubs: 1. Knowledge hub, 2. Faith & dialogue hub, 3. Innovation & solutions hub, 4.Capacity hub and 5. Fun & media hub. In all these hubs, the element of teaching and learning outcomes are strong embedded within the comprehension of SDGs as the core competency.
Understanding the training approach at the academy
“I am just interested to hear how you make these teachings about SDGs to accommodate the level of children’s understanding in terms of language and methodology”- inquired one of the VALI members.
“The Academy has sessions for children of ages 4-17, at times even a 3-year-old may join, and we don’t have any objections. The children are grouped into classes of 4-7,8-13, 14-17 years. Each group is taken through the lessons contextually, based on their pace, level, age and ability of comprehension.
For instance, the age 4-7, most of the teaching employs a lot of fun games, songs, films like, The Girl who discovered the world, cartoon like movie that children love. Sometimes we also use their own prior knowledge like “when we plant trees to get oxygen, which SDG are we addressing “. Mr. Michael Adikwu, Coordinator Arigatou SDG Academy, responded.
This hands-on approach, experiential learning not only made the learning more meaningful and engaging, but also helped children develop critical skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, and communication. Learning is also complemented with other materials like books, mobile games apps and plays.
Another key lesson we learned was the importance of partnerships for all SDGs as captured by SDG 17. The academy had established partnerships with local businesses, NGOs, communities and government agencies to provide children with real-world opportunities to learn and work on SDG-related projects. These partnerships not only provided valuable resources and expertise, but also helped children understand the interconnectedness of the SDGs and the need for collaboration across sectors. One of the volunteers at the academy is a 2020 award winner of SDGs solutions. Their project focused on ending period poverty which hinders many girls from accessing education. They use locally biodegradable banana fibers to make reusable sanitary pads.
Another key lesson we learned was the importance of partnerships for all SDGs as captured by SDG 17. The academy had established partnerships with local businesses, NGOs, communities and government agencies to provide children with real-world opportunities to learn and work on SDG-related projects. These partnerships not only provided valuable resources and expertise, but also helped children understand the interconnectedness of the SDGs and the need for collaboration across sectors. One of the volunteers at the academy is a 2020 award winner of SDGs solutions. Their project focused on ending period poverty which hinders many girls from accessing education. They use locally biodegradable banana fibers to make reusable sanitary pads.
Finally, the team was impressed by the academy’s focus on fostering a culture of innovation and creativity. Rather than prescribing solutions to SDG-related challenges, the academy encouraged children to think creatively and come up with their own ideas for addressing these challenges. In many cases, companies like Biotechnology, offered to train the children on bio related solutions; Robotic, trained children on using robots to solve problems. This not only empowered children to take ownership of their learning, but also encouraged them to think critically and challenge conventional wisdom, and this attracts parents and the community to take action on some of the pressing global issues.
Overall, RELI’s visit to Arigatou SDGs academy was a truly eye-opening experience for RELI members. Each one left with a renewed sense of purpose and inspiration to tackle SDGs in our own education projects, organizations and brought a deeper understanding of the power of experiential learning, partnerships, and creativity in achieving sustainable development.
Every child has an opportunity to fully explore their potential. Children too have valuable roles to play in the attainment of the SDGs. To achieve this, and on this year’s World Creativity and Innovation Day 2023, RELI continues with its commitment to promote creative and innovative ways to have every child access quality education by partnering with all the Sustainable Development Goals. It also focuses on its pillar of transforming organizations, by building the capacity of member organizations to become effective in ensuring every child learns and thrives. For Arigatou, it is fascinating how little actions make a BIG difference.
Arigatou(Thank you).
LOSIOKI SOMOIRE
LOSIOKI SOMOIRE is a trained High School teacher, Masters graduate student at Kenyatta University, conservationist, author and poet.
He is working as an intern for Regional Education Learning Initiative.
