The Big Picture

Global Campaign for Education (GCE) Action Week April 2012

Supported by

Education International (EI)

Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO)

Background

In our 2012 activity plan, CITA committed to actively engage in the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) Action week April 22 to 28 in Cambodia through the delivery of three campaign related activities. These three activities were developed from the GCE Action Week Resource Pack which was circulated to all Education International (EI) members. Based on these planned activities CITA was able to secure grants valued at €1,000 from EI and €500 from the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO). In addition, we developed a local partnership with an education NGO called Krousar Yoeung which specialises in early childhood care and education as this was the theme of the GCE action week

 Campaign Overview

Each year during Global Action Week (GAW), the GCE profiles a core area of education. Millions of teachers, students and members of the public come together with civil society organisations, all advocating for the rights of children. In 2012, the core area was Early Childhood Care & Education and the campaign was called The Big Picture.

The planned local activities of CITA included three distinct but interrelated elements:

1. Campaign & Lobbying

• A case study on ECCE in Cambodia was produced by the ECCE consultant as a lobbying tool and for publication in the classroom activity pack and CITA newsletter.

• CITA translated and published the GCE policy recommendations on ECCE based on the GCE/EI resource pack.

• These documents, along with the classroom activity pack and invitations to the Big Picture Exhibition, were circulated to all key education stakeholders.

• CITA held a national press conference on ECCE that highlighted the GCE campaign on Monday 23 April.

• Selected artworks, along with CITA’s recommendations for ECCE in Cambodia, are being presented to key education stakeholders.

2. The Big Picture Children’s Art Exhibition

The Big Picture Children’s Art Exhibition was designed as the flagship activity for the GAW in Cambodia. The exhibition involved a four of stages:

• Teachers from 30 schools selected by CITA and Krousar Yoeung were provided with art toolkits including brushes, canvass and paints1

• A number of teachers attended a workshop to increase their confidence and skills in using the art toolkit.

• Each school then created two artworks that were exhibited at Willow Boutique Hotel from Monday 23 April to Wednesday 2 May. 

• The exhibition was officially opened on Tuesday 24 April with an evening event that opening included speeches from the president of CITA, teachers and most importantly, some children from the participating schools. Three artworks were auctioned on the opening night, while another three were raffled off at Willow Trivia in the Garden on Wednesday 25 April. Over 26 paintings were sold raising over $850 US which will fund further art materials for the participating schools.

1 Cambodian schools are generally lacking in resources. This is especially true in relation to art supplies. Nearly all of the participating schools had never had access to paints or canvasses before. The only art resources available to them were colouring pencils.

2 A significant number of teachers had not had any training in art education, thus a workshop was developed to introduce the concept of mixing colours, the colour wheel and developing possible art lessons using the materials supplied.

3. ECCE Classroom Activity Pack

CITA worked with an ECCE consultant to develop an ECCE Classroom Activity Pack for teachers. Each pack contained a policy brief on the GCE Campaign, case studies on ECCE in Cambodia and Ireland and four lesson plans designed on the theme of early childhood care and education. 2,000 copies of the pack were produced and have been circulated to teachers from pre-school to grade 3 through CITA’s national branch network.