One of the Global Citizenship Methods of Practice to expand student experience in schools is the use of the Global Citizenship Calendar, which brings to life the values of Global Citizenship by focusing on International Days designated by the United Nations to educate on issues of concern, to address global problems and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity.

Students in the 8 Jesuit and Ignatian Schools of the Euro Mediterranean (EUM) Province observe the following International Days which are linked to human rights issues and to the care of our common home:

17th October – International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
20th November – Universal Children’s Day
10th December – Human Rights’ Day
27th January – Holocaust Memorial Day
4th February – International Day of Human Fraternity
20th February – World Day of Social Justice
22nd March – World Water Day
22nd April – International Mother Earth Day
22nd May – International Day for Biological Diversity
5th June – World Environment Day

A few weeks before any of these days I, as a Coordinator of Global Citizenship in the EUM network, send a circular to the Global Citizenship Coordinators of the schools indicating the specific theme of the day together with an explanation of its concept and various resources to aid teachers.

I would like to present some examples of how the Istituto Massimo, Rome, has commemorated Human Rights Day and Holocaust Memorial Day.

Human Rights Day

World Human Rights Day was commemorated by giving particular importance to the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights.

Between 10 to 15 December, work, debates, research and in-depth studies on the theme of the year: «Freedom, Equality and Justice for All» were held in all year groups.

In the Kindergarten, 5-year-olds worked on the right to a name, through a story told during English lessons. The attached poster created for the occasion explains in detail the activity carried out.

In the Primary section, the students took a «Journey of Knowledge and Commitment», analyzing the rights-duties relationship, reading the Declaration of Human Rights and the story of Martin Luther King. This was followed by the production of videos showing drawings and reflections expressed by young students in third, fourth and fifth grades.

Videos showing drawings and reflections expressed by young students in third, fourth and fifth grades. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1shc2ohwh6wGb2lM6GROa3SifrqCqDb4A/view?usp=drive_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t9NPYuH1FxfqWkieRMQxuhppqrrB0NBt/view?usp=drive_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Zqm_6smAJTBxOV6O72LNGl2xPA7tnoWE/view?usp=drive_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1et_fwUcyZcS-7NHNNI7sKj2lZCEV_FAa/view?usp=drive_link

At the Secondary school, the first years designed Propaganda Posters, focusing on the abuses and non-rights of people, and then moving on to the corresponding right. The posters were used in different ways to show the NON-IDENTITY of those who have no rights: there are those who chose to «march» peacefully, those who chose to cover their «face without identity» and those who showed their «trampled» rights.

The second years worked on four exponents of Human Rights, defined as ‘The Four Lights of Freedom’, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Malala Yousafzai and Emmeline Pankhurst, deepening their knowledge through oral presentations.

The third years analyzed the text ‘I Have a Dream’, that dream they have always heard about and which they have seen represented on t-shirts and on the walls of buildings and to which they were able to associate a face and a story through the analysis of the text and the original speech.

Link drive Secondary Section:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1eON5JPfJYr4XtCo2XcJDPBkJL5Qc0Vn7  

At the High school, the second-year classes were able to make use of their knowledge relating to the 2030 Agenda and the encyclical Laudato Sì, making presentations on some famous personalities of the twentieth century who stood out in the protection of fundamental rights.

In the third year they worked on the Magna Carta Libertatum, one of the first documents in English history that took human rights into consideration, comparing it with the Italian Constitution and the 2030 Agenda.

In the fifth year students discussed the theme «Freedom, Equality and Justice for all», reflecting on documents, events and personalities of the present and past, who have given a considerable contribution to the realization of these objectives.

Link drive High School:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1IxZQ1wSMJqd1aAYF-z8Z87vYd5j5w2S0

Holocaust Memorial Day

Holocaust Memorial Day is an annual event to recognise and remember the murder of six million Jews, as well as other victims of Nazi persecution including minority groups and political and ideological opponents. The day is also an opportunity to remember the other genocides perpetrated yesterday and today; horrors that arise from discrimination and prejudice, which over the last century have occurred (and in some cases are still occurring) in countries such as Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda, Cambodia, China and others. The theme for 2024 was ‘The Fragility of Freedom’.

To raise awareness among students about the growing levels of polarization and violence that cause the loss of millions of human lives due to ethnicity, religious belief or their own traditions teachers at the Istituto Massimo helped students of all year groups to work on documents, images and literary works following the common thread of the ‘yellow butterfly’ inspired by Pavel Friedmann’s poem ‘The Butterfly’, written at Theresienstadt concentration camp on 4 June 1942.

In Kindergarten, the Massi…mini, commemorated this Day through the story of the butterflies with the yellow star on their wings, who lived harmoniously in a beautiful garden together with other butterflies without the star. One day, isolated by their diversity, they stopped playing with the other butterflies. The story has a happy ending thanks to a colourful hummingbird who restores harmony in the large garden, where everyone returns to play in peace.

The children, after listening to the story, drew and shared thoughts, and then painted and placed numerous butterflies with stars on their wings on a large board.

See images here:

https://drive.google.com/…/1aoODD4zanoX0qaFvY7iXqYM7J…

The Primary school children were engaged in several meaningful activities aimed at raising their awareness of history and fundamental values of collective memory, helping them to spread a message of love, freedom, understand and commitment.

After watching the video ‘The Butterflies with Yellow Stars’, which addresses the problem of exclusion and marginalization, the children decorated lots of yellow butterflies which they later stuck on notebooks and noticeboards.

One of the classes read and discussed the illustrated book ‘The Knight of the Stars’, where the story of Giorgio Perlasca is metaphorically told. The children then worked together in groups to create drawings depicting the various scenes of this captivating tale.

In the School Library, the children experimented with the Caviardage Method by Tina Festa after reading the book ‘The Book Thief’. They then gave life to the strong emotional impact of the story by selecting words to create verses of exciting poems. During the Information Technology lesson the children transcribed the entire creative process within an article to share their experience.

With the help of teachers all classes contributed to the creation of a collective installation entitled Love: a chain supported by symbolic yellow butterflies and composed of rings full of reflections and thoughts on this very important day and on the feeling that can guide all our actions.

Here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/…/1m5gaOZTRF9KrnAoml1dH6C6b6YL…

At the Secondary school the students worked on the Rights that are a prelude to freedom, creating WordClouds based on their reflections.

Here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/…/1x7uoezZKgWpJa6i5IFx8hq59jlo…

At the High school, the second years studied the history of the «Stumbling Stones» and analyzed the poetry of Pavel Friedman. The third-year group focused on searching for news related to genocides of the past and present. After a careful comparison between the Goals of the 2030 Agenda and documents such as the Italian Constitution and those of the Anglo-Saxon countries, presentations were made and Posters created to be displayed in the corridors of the complex. Furthermore, some students collaborated in the creation of artefacts, necessary for the preparation of an installation that will host cards with the reflections of the young students. The theme of the day was butterflies and the colour yellow, a symbol of lightness and freedom. Among the materials collected in the Drive, there are also photos of the students at work.

Here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/…/15fO2PiwzNoCJpyxFPESz5I5JMu0…

All the work has the ultimate goal of encouraging young people to learn the lessons of the past and be able to take measures to challenge hatred and persecution, becoming true Global Citizens.