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Inspiring and connecting young people through Commonwealth Values
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The vision behind ‘Inspire>Aspire: Global Citizens in the Making’ is to encourage young people in each of the 54 Commonwealth Nations to think constructively about the future and their role in bringing it about within the context of the Commonwealth and its values. As Her Majesty the Queen said as far back as 1953, ‘The Commonwealth bears no resemblance to the empires of the past. It is an entirely new conception, built on the highest qualities of the spirit of man: friendship, loyalty and a desire for freedom and peace.’
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In 2011, she commented further, that ‘the Commonwealth partnership of nations is always looking to the future, with a sense of camaraderie, warmth and mutual respect while still maintaining their individualism. The Commonwealth is a family of 54 nations, all with a common bond, shared beliefs, mutual values and goals.’ INSPIRE > ASPIRE is an independent education programme inspired by the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The aim is character development in young people. It is designed to help young people explore their character, ideals and values through a unique poster template using supporting Internet resources. Participants reflect upon key Commonwealth Values, and then have the opportunity to share their work with other young people in different Commonwealth Nations. The objective is to enhance young people’s learning, understanding and celebration of their own and other countries beliefs, values and goals.
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INSPIRE > ASPIRE is designed specifically for 10-18 year olds and is already widely used in primary and secondary schools across the UK. The programme builds upon the work of our highly successful project connected to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which grew from the work of the Learning for Life project, a UK wide programme of academic research, teaching and learning development and practical activities in schools, principally supported by the John Templeton Foundation. The original values poster was developed from Sir John Templeton’s Worldwide Laws of Life which he first published in 1997. The poster template provides a framework while the activities enable students to write about their strengths and challenges, illustrating their thoughts with quotations and images. They can tell the story of their chosen inspirational figure and how they achieved their success. The culmination of the exercise is their response to questions about the kind of person they want to be and the goals they want to achieve. They are also invited to describe their vision for a better world and explain how they are going to help bring this to life.
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ung people’s “ Our mission is to enhance yo ebration of learning, understanding and cel beliefs, values their own and other countries and goals.”
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The process starts by exploring a series of qualities and values aligned with the desired outcomes of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, enabling young people to develop a deeper understanding about each value and quality and what might be involved in committing to them. We ask young people to identify the reasons why particular qualities might be strengths in their own character and which qualities they could work on.
INSPIRATION Having learned about values and character qualities we look at people who embody ‘The Spirit of Humanity: Equality, Freedom, Diversity and Peace’. Young people are inspired by what they learn when they dig beneath the surface of success.
“ I have a dream that my four children will one da nation where they will not be judged by the color o but by the content of their character. ” Martin Luther Kin
The story of an inspirational figure’s journey becomes personalised and relevant to the development of their own aspirations.
developing inspiration
The process concludes with young people communicating a vision for their future and making specific personal commitments which are inspired by what they have learned. We call this ‘My Arc of Destiny (a phrase originally used in a Commonwealth context to embody common aspirations) – My Vision and Commitment towards a Better World’.
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“ In ten years of teaching I have not come across anything that matches this project in allowing young people to gain insight and Mr H. Archibald, Teacher wisdom into who they are and where they are going. ”
ASPIRATION Young people explain the kind of person they want to be, what they want to achieve in their life, their vision for a better world and what they will personally do to bring this vision to life. New aspirations are made firm and every young person develops a personal connection with
The Commonwealth Values and the character qualities of some of its most inspirational figures. This leaves a lifelong learning legacy in every young person who commits themselves to the process.
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Inspire>Aspire is a project run by the educational charity Character Scotland. Character Scotland’s purpose is to support the development of children and young people’s character and values. When reading a young person’s completed poster, you are being given the privilege of gaining a rare insight into who they are, what they think and how they feel. You are able to build an incredible picture of that young person’s character and values, which is why we want young people in the Commonwealth to share their work.
Inspire>Aspire: Global Citizens in the Making will use the unique opportunity of The Games to ‘Connect’ young people from all over the Commonwealth. By developing young people’s knowledge of the world and their country’s place in it, and understanding of their global peers’ beliefs, values and goals, we hope to help create true Global Citizens who are prepared for life and active participation in a global multicultural society.
“ I have learned new things about the world, the people around me and about myself. I have learned the true meaning of love and values that I must hold to be important throughout my life. It taught me that I can be positive towards life no matter what happens. ” Paneiesibonge, 13, South Africa “ I have learnt I can be positive and confident and people will respect my opinions. ” Robbie, 10 “ In doing this poster, I have explored areas of myself which I may not have paid attention to before, such as my strengths and weaknesses, and my vision of an ideal world. It’s brought up some issues I need to address and has made me realise how many people, real and fictional, influence me. I have some great role models and someday I want to be a great role model, even if it is only to one person. ” Gabrielle, 13 “ I’ve learned that being successful doesn’t just mean being hard-working and doing well academically – it also means having qualities like being loyal, generous and ambitious.” Chloe, 14 “ I think that the things I learnt, is that you should never give up on things you are doing, never let anyone get you down, be who you are and believe in yourself. ” Tembe Wandile, 13, South Africa “ I have learned how to write about myself in a positive way and the qualities that it takes to be an inspirational person. ” Lucy, 14
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The project allows pupils to believe in themselves. It doesn’t matter what people think or say about you, if you really believe in something you want to achieve you have to be dedicated to SUPPORTERS putting the time and effort into doing it. This project allows children to search at what they are good at.
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We would like to thank the following organisations for making the values poster programme possible
The mission of the John Templeton Foundation is to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for discovery in areas engaging life’s biggest questions. These questions range from explorations into the laws of nature and the universe to questions on the nature of love, gratitude, forgiveness, and creativity. Our vision is derived from Sir John Templeton’s commitment to rigorous scientic research and related scholarship. The Foundation’s motto “How little we know, how eager to learn” exemplies our support for open-minded inquiry and our hope for advancing human progress through groundbreaking discoveries. www.templeton.org
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Liz McColgan
D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd is a private company based in Dundee. The company has signicant interests in UK newspaper and magazine publishing. Amongst other publications it owns The Dundee Courier and Advertiser, The Aberdeen Press and Journal and The Sunday Post. It also owns The Beano, The Dandy and Woman’s magazines My Weekly and The People Friend. It also owns Puzzler Media Ltd., (one of the world’s largest publishers of Puzzle Magazines, Crosswords and Sudoku), and Parragon Publishing Ltd., which publishes and sells some 90 million books each year worldwide. The company has interests in commercial television, and in Internet and online businesses, and is a major shareholder in Mothercare. www.dcthomson.co.uk
Commonwealth Champion
The Gareld Weston Foundation was established in 1958 by Willard Gareld Weston, a Canadian businessman who arrived in the UK with his family in 1932. He was the creator of Associated British Foods and the Foundation was endowed with the donation of family-owned company shares. As a result, the Foundation is today the ultimate controller of the company. The trustees today are all lineal descendants of the founder and they remain committed to continuing the ethos that has made the Foundation one of the largest and most respected charitable institutions in the country. It gives them as much pleasure to help a small local community as a major national organisation and they are prepared to consider applications covering a wide range of charitable activity. www.gareldweston.org
This Government’s is determined to creating a lasting legacy through the Games, by strengthening our international links and supporting our young people to lead change through education and learning. This programme will not only strengthen our links with the Commonwealth, but it will help to create an international Games Legacy that will benefit both Scotland and countries across the world.
Shona Robison
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Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport
Inspire>Aspire is a UK wide education project developed by Character Education Scotland Ltd, a registered charity in Scotland No. SC040962
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