...second part.
Thanks to the Association “Živojin Mišić”, after the HPWL visited three schools in Serbia – “Milan Petrović” in Novi Sad, “Ivan Gundulić” in Čenej and the Karlovac Gymnasium in Sremski Karlovci, HPWL has visited 3 schools in Belgrade. You can check out how did the visit to Novi Sad look like here.
The HPWL organization has a mission of world peace and putting a stop to all wars. One of the ways they promote their ideas is by the “Education Peace Letter” project. The main goal of this project is to teach students about peace, what is assertive communication, to understand different perspectives about the world and to develop social responsibility. The value of these skills and knowledge can be seen in the ability of students, who master them, to timely recognize violence in the school environment, both verbal and physical. They are the advocates of change. Later, they could use these skills and knowledge in order to make the world a place without conflicts.
When the Association “Živojin Mišić”, contacted the teachers, all three of them recognized the importance of world peace, a topic covered by the workshop. Moreover, they recognized the importance of this visit to their schools.
Marija Bastić, teacher form “Janko Veselinović” primary school, at Voždovac, responded to the call of the Association “Živojin Mišić” because she liked the project’s topic, but also the possibility of international collaboration. She emphasized that the visit was very useful and inspirational for her students and her. The workshop inspired the teacher to conduct similar activities in her classroom and after the end of the workshop, students continued discussing this topic with their teacher. A special impression was made on them by the “Ditch the Treasure” challenge. All of them had a hard time letting go of the treasures they previously wrote on the paper. After the workshop, students realized the meaning of peace, love, and tolerance. Moreover, they wish to initiate a joint action with the rest of their peers, with the same topic. Aside from the big inspiration for her students and her, she thinks that the colleagues from the HPWL Team had an opportunity, through the workshop with her seven-year-olds, to see the system of values being imposed from a young age. Teacher Marija emphasized that she is looking forward to further collaboration, through which she will continue to develop her teaching competencies and to enrich her experience.
Ljiljana Lazarević, a teacher from “Mihailo Petrović Alas”, at Dorćol, asserted that this visit provided her students and her with a new experience and that they are looking forward to future cooperation with the HPWL team. She considers that the workshop made an impact on her students. She stated that she really liked the decision-making technique for deciding on priorities in activities and that it is very suitable for further use with teaching content. She also emphasized the importance of the project’s topic and that it is necessary to work on it longer and more often until we create it as a habit in every child. After the workshop students discussed the activities which they were a part of. They said that it was very hard for them to decide between the last two treasures and that they wish they would never have to choose between such important things in their life. The teacher conveyed from the conversation with her students that they concluded that it is important to be a good person to assure peace and to never have to choose what will disappear from their lives.
Tanja Vrečko, a teacher from “Mladost” primary school in Novi Beograd, says that she responded to the Association’s invitation because the topic is very interesting, and it will inspire students to think about the importance of life and their priorities. She considers that the discourse of values – developing humanity, solidarity and respecting the personality – given by the topic is very important for reflection. Tanja said that this visit was a “tailwind” for organizing workshops in her class and that she has a lot of ideas regarding this theme. Aside from that, Tanja asserted that she was especially delighted by the immediacy and positive energy shared by the members of the HPWL team during the workshop. Students had an opportunity to reassess their life goals and priorities, as well as to catch a sight of differences between the living conditions of children around the world. In the end, Tanja considers that the HPWL Team had a possibility to gain an insight into the students’ ways of thinking and their skillful communication in the English language which she and other teachers encourage with their work and methods.
U pogledu saradnje, nadamo se proširenju ovakvih aktivnosti sa HWPL timom i nadamo se novim druženjima.