Road safety workshop at

Acropolis Gymnasium

School Year : 2018-2019 Home Economics Teachers: Despo Loizou,Maria Yiannaki

Road Safety Education atGymnasium level

• Road Safety Education has beencomponent of Home Economics syllabus,both at the Gymnasium and Lyceum levelsince 2012

• The main goal of the Road Safety Educationis to enable students to acquire thenecessary skills and to develop road safetyawareness and appropriate behaviour, withthe aim of reducing the number of roadcollisions and injuries

• In the past, the subject of Road SafetyEducation was taught through a cross-curricula approach by teachers ofdifferent academic disciplines, who hadattended training programmes includingvarious lectures and workshops on thesubject, as well as visits, activities, andcompetitions organised by the Ministry ofEducation and Culture, schools and otherstakeholders

Αn Innovative Road Safety awareness raising workshop

• A Road Safety awareness-raising workshopthrough Music and African percussioninstruments, titled:

"Not to imitate but to discover,

this is education"

(krishnamutri J., 1969)

• Pilot Application in Secondary Education

Cooperation between:

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, CULTURE,

SPORTS AND YOUTH

General objectives of the workshop:

• To promote the Road safety education objectives, using percussion instruments (African drum-Djembe, bell and Shekere)

• To acquire new knowledge on the subject of Roadeducation under any capacity (driver, pedestrian,cyclist, motorcyclist, passenger)

• To develope skills and attitudes, necessary for saferoad use, through interactive music and otheractivities

Outline of the 1st part of the workshop:

• Students were divided into two groups of 12

(Group A: Observers and Group B: Drummers)

• Two circles were created, as shown in the following diagram:

• Participants: Year 7 students of Acropolis Secondary School

• School year: 2018-2019 • Workshop: Two, 90-minute sessions

Observers

Drummers

Classroom arrangement Instrumental

Trainer

… An active learning experience

Handout questions:

• How do the drummers behave and react during the workshop?

• What emotions do you experience from your role as Observer, hearing the percussion sounds?

• Can similar emotions be experienced by users ofthe road network and can these emotions causeviolation, misconduct or even involvement intraffic collisions?

• Which skills do participants acquire during this music workshop?

Main conclusions of the 1st part of the workshop:

• Reinforces the ability of students to work as a team

• Helps students identify emotions that can influence people's behavior on the road

• Help students develop safe traffic skills on the road

All of the above were achieved through music intervention:

«Rhythm achieves what words fail to do» (Babatunde Olatunji, 2005)

Outline of the 2nd part of the workshop:

• General purpose of the 2nd part of the workshop

• Connection with the 1st part of the workshop

• Follow up activities

• Participants: Grade 7 year students of AcropolisSecondary School

• Duration: 90 minutes

Drummers

Instrumental Trainer

Classroom arrangement

Students in action!

The 2nd part of the workshop:

• Discussion was based on the handout questions completed by the Observers, with special reference made to the Road Traffic Code

Simulator glasses activity • Simulator glasses are used

to gain relevant experiences in conditions such as driving in a state of fatigue, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence of drugs

• The behaviour of the person driving under such conditions was linked to the way the students reacted when wearing this specific type of glasses

Using the simulator glasses…

Simulator glasses activity:

Main conclusions:• During the workshop, the

students had the opportunity to identify emotions created when using the road network through interactive music activities and using simulator glasses

• The students gained new knowledge on the subject of Road Safety Education and developed skills that are necessary in using the road network safely under any capacity (driver, pedestrian,cyclist, motorcyclist, passenger)

Suggestion for improvement:

• In the second part of the workshop, it wouldbe more efficient if the Djembe drums wereused by all students

• The time allocated to the music section couldbe reduced so as to allow more time for theactivity involving the simulator glasses and fordrawing conclusions

• The activity involving the use of music (thepercussion instruments) needs to be moreclosely and effectively connected with theactivity using the simulator glasses

Don't forget

Alert today – Alive tomorrow!

Thank you for your attention