Our previous story was about Adi showing Swansea to a journalist who was eager to learn why Wales in 2051 is such a thriving nation. But it is not the end of his travels. Having spent time with Adi cycling around the city, he is now introduced to Cameron, an eleven-year old boy whom Adi babysits.
A day in the life of Cameron
Cameron swung the door open, his mother right behind him. He looked out to see Adi accompanied by an older man, who introduced himself as a journalist who had come to interview Cameron and his parents about his school and his experience of going there. Cameron’s face lit up with joy at the sight of Adi. Adi was more than just a neighbour and babysitter; she was his friend. At least, she had smiled warmly and said “Absolutely” when Cameron once shyly asked if she would be his friend.
He was always happy to see Adi because she would play fun games with him, and tell him about her work projects retrofitting the city sustainably, which he liked to hear about. He tried to imagine a mini version of his local area in his head; similar to but more intricate than the car roadmap carpet he had had when he was younger, which his brother now played with. He liked to imagine the landscape in miniature, as it would be from a helicopter, so that he could mentally view all the changes to the cityscape Adi talked about. He liked maps and nature. He also liked that Adi didn’t just tell him about the new building projects, but would explain how all the different aspects had been thought through – like accessibility for all people, the most suitable building materials to use to minimise ecosystem harm, how waste was recycled or repurposed, and how homes for wildlife were built in. The wildlife cameras and sonar equipment were his favourites, and Adi always let him listen to her recordings. He was learning many of these things in school, but listening to Adi they became more real, and he was able to imagine the miniature landscape of the area more clearly.
Learning through others
After exchanging formal introductions they settled down comfortably in the living room, although Cameron felt slightly nervous about answering the reporter’s questions. The first question was what Cameron enjoyed most about his school. Cameron thought about it, and then replied that he liked the buddy system, the volunteering days, the building modules, seeing his friends, and learning in general. He explained that the buddy system was a programme where all students were paired-up with a student from the year above them, to offer help with learning and with fitting in to the new school year. At his school, primary and secondary classes were held within the same grounds, so Cameron mentored a kid a year younger than him from the primary school, but also had his own mentor from the year above him. This system was put in place to prevent bullying, which had worked in the past in other countries and was rolled out in Wales too. Cameron had a big brotherly relationship with the kid he was teaching, and a strong desire to help and protect him. Cameron had also become good friends with his own mentor, whom he had now known for three years.
Learning with food
Next Cameron described the volunteering days – four days spread over the year when all the students would get involved in a project in their local area. Most recently they had all gone to the local community farm that helped supply nutritious and organic food to the school’s cafeteria. They had spent the whole day there, and they had all helped to harvest crops, feed the animals, and learn what was required for farming and how healthy soil is important for nutritious food. They had picked fruit and berries to eat and bring home.
Cameron had really enjoyed seeing how the food he ate every day ended up on his plate, and he enjoyed learning in a more practical way. The farm visit was a fixed yearly volunteering day, but the remaining three days were suggested and collectively chosen by the students, with the only requirement being that the project must make a positive social or environmental contribution to the local area. The next volunteering day would involve a regeneration project where students would plant native, pest-resistant tree species in parts of the city suffering from the new pathogens that had been introduced as a result of the warmed climate. The project would also help to provide shading and cooling for the city, and had been agreed in partnership with the Welsh Infrastructure Commissioner’s Office.
Learning by designing
Thirdly, Cameron explained that the environmental construction modules were weekly lessons where he and his classmates were introduced to technical environmental skills and given the chance to put them into practice. Projects ranged from building hydroponics to bird houses with green roofs, nature ponds, edible gardens and rainwater harvesting systems. It was still sometimes called Forest School by the older teachers even though, Cameron explained, all his friends called it EC, short for environmental construction. Cameron was excited about all the projects and felt encouraged by what he was learning, knowing that he would be able to use that knowledge to help his community thrive despite the difficult environmental challenges that all nations were facing.
Cameron paused and glanced from his mother to Adi, silently asking for confirmation that he had done a good job of explaining his school projects. Both were looking at him with immense pride. He looked down at the floor with a small smile on his lips, feeling a mixture of shyness and encouragement. The journalist said, “Cameron, that’s incredible and very inspiring.” He then followed up with his next question, asking what Cameron learned in school.
Learning by connecting diverse knowledge
Cameron once again took his time to think about the question, and then answered that he learned about history from different perspectives around the world, including Welsh folk traditions; maths; and economics, learning about many different economic models, including the old-fashioned ones that had only measured outputs around money and productivity. He explained that now the economic system was more complicated and was focused on nations’ well-being, security, and their ability to deal with hard times. Cameron asked what the water scarcity indicator had been when the correspondent was in school, and was bemused to learn that in the correspondent’s day, no such thing existed. Cameron also studied English, Welsh, geography, science and sustainability. Other subjects were arts, music, physical education, nutrition and computing.
Cameron explained that in all the different modules he studied, he learned about the impact of the subject on people and the planet. Almost everything they learned in the classroom they were given the opportunity to try out in practice. Meanwhile, the community volunteering and his country’s progress in the green transition made him feel a great sense of passion, excitement and belonging, while simultaneously learning about and embracing his Turkish heritage.
Learning by drawing on social skills and feedback
He liked that the teachers taught ways of learning. For example, they not only set tasks for group work, but also taught strategies for the students to learn effective collaboration. This also applied to other soft skills, such as active listening, leadership, communication, and analytical thinking. “No wonder an eleven-year-old can speak so eloquently,” the correspondent thought to himself. Cameron told the journalist he also really liked the fact that his teachers offered the students choices about what and how they learned.
Cameron’s dad had returned to the living room, and he said that from a parent’s perspective, he was happy that aspects of the curriculum were reviewed at fixed intervals and co-constructed by learners’ continuous feedback, as well as input from parents and carers, the local community, and experts who all contributed to curriculum development to ensure it remained relevant to local and global circumstances. Moreover, local and national schools shared best practice with each other, which had enabled a faster reworking of the curriculum to the stage it had reached today. Many of these practices were proposed by the Health WellBeing (Hwb) group of the Welsh Government around 2020. Cameron’s mother added that they were also grateful for the mandate to keep education free of cost to make it accessible for everyone.
Learning by helping others
A brief silence fell in the room before the journalist posed his next question, asking Cameron what he was most excited about doing a year from now. This time, Cameron didn’t have to think. He already knew the answer, as he had been waiting for this for a long time. He was most excited about the opportunity to learn how to use the most up-to-date technology at the local tech centre. The following year his school class would start a computer learning class which would progress from the basics to more in-depth teaching from professionals working in the field of technology.
Cameron’s mother explained that some of the profits from the community’s renewable energy farm had been spent on a shared tech centre, which all schools in the local area could use to stay on top of emerging trends. Cameron added that he was also excited about next year’s one-week work placement. Noticing the journalist’s confused expression, Cameron’s mother explained that over the past decades there had been much more emphasis placed on helping all children find careers that suited their skills, and helping employers understand the range of talent available to them. Work experience now started at a younger age and had become much more integrated within the education system. This built ties between businesses and communities, and had generated many different but equally respected career paths. Cameron added that he couldn’t wait to start his first placement – at Adi’s company. At that moment Adi felt like a proud sister, and she couldn’t believe how much of an inspiration she had been to Cameron.
Follow next week’s story about Cameron’s dad Luke, who runs a business benefitting not just his family, but the entire region and the planet too!
How can we develop and use the skills needed to create a 2051 we are proud of? Join Karolina and Camille for a free online Green Skills event on 28th May.
Please note that some AI-generated content is included in the featured image for this piece.
