Author: Burney, Lauren

October 18, 2014

Our Irish Adventure

Mission: Study the ongoing struggle for civil rights in Ireland to compare various human and civil rights movements, past and present, and transform students into agents of change.
We began our journey with a stop in Dublin. While there, we learned about Ireland's violent past and the struggles Irish citizens endured while fighting for their independence. We also discovered that independence wasn't the answer to all of Ireland's problems. With independence, Ireland was split in two: The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Throughout the rest of our Irish journey, we witnessed firsthand the divisions that are still taking place in Ireland today. In Northern Ireland, schools and neighborhood are segregated according to religion. In the past decades, Ireland has been plagued by violent, and often deadly, outbursts featuring people fighting for equality and liberty. It was an eye-opening experience and a stark reminder that hatred and segregation do still exist.
After leaving Ireland, we visited London to experience all of the wonderful cultural variety this magnificent city has to offer. Historical walking tours, the Jewish Museum of London, war memorials and museums, and theatrical performances all combined to make our trip to London one we will never forget.

Fund for Teachers

Making Connections

Lauren burney & Richard wright

Documentation of our experiences (journals, pictures, videos, and blogs) are being utilized to create new instructional units centering on Ireland’s civil rights struggle, connecting that to our already existing units on literature and the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama. We have already begun to share our experiences from Ireland with students so that they will realize that civil rights is not just a black and white issue, it is a human rights issue.
Field trips to Birmingham and Montgomery will help them make personal connections to the content, as well as serve as a springboard for our culminating project: Civil Rights Wax Museum.

Contact Information
Lauren Burney: Alexandria Elementary
Lburney.ae@ccboe.edu
Richard Wright: Ohatchee High
Rwright.oh@ccboe.edu
Check out our blog!
http://Irishexplorers.wordpress.com