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Educational Gifts for Teachers

By staff writers
July 17, 2009

It’s the time of year again when pupils and parents are keen to thank teachers for all their hard work during the year. It can become a small problem, however, when a single teacher receives ten or twenty bottles of wine or boxes of chocolate. Either the gifts go to waste, or poor teacher is rendered unfit for the job they are being congratulated for!

In truth, what gives teachers the most pleasure is seeing their children learn. That's why ethical, charity gifts work so well and have become so popular in recent years. Teachers don't get burdened with presents they have no use for, and children get to learn important lessons about life and the globalised world we live in.

Consider the educational merit of the following gifts from Oxfam:

Stock a library, £300 Pupils in the UK no doubt take their school or town library for granted. Realising that many children in developing parts of the world have no access to books may change their perspective. This is an expensive gift for one person, but not for an entire class of pupils. Why not pull together all the pupils from the class and do some fundraising?

8 school books £8.00
This one is certainly more manageable for one person. But don't underestimate how much difference it could make. Never mind computer-based learning, many children in Africa don't have access to even the most basic textbooks.

Give a Village a Voice, £25
This is a fantastic gift both for the children giving it and the community that receives it. Teachers will appreciate the opportunity to give their own pupils a lesson about poverty and how this gift can bring communities together to campaign for their rights.

Radio sets and shows, £16
This gift works in a similar way, providing poor people living in the countryside access to life saving information such as early warnings about natural disasters and health and education news.

Talk to a Lawyer, £60
Talking to a lawyer can make all the difference when trying to run a business successfully; it also means that poor people know their rights and don't get oppressed by those who would take advantage of their ignorance.

There is also hard evidence to support the idea that teachers prefer ethical charity gifts. A recent survey by the Times Educational Supplement and UNICEF revealed that 13% of the 90 teachers surveyed had received an ethical gift from a pupil. And 97% said pupils should get involved with ethical giving and fundraising as part of their citizenship lessons.

68% said they taught their pupils about the role and importance of aid to the developing world. 80% of teachers said children were more interested in issues surrounding the developing world than they had been five years ago.

It can all be done quickly and easily online. You just visit the website of the particular charity, select the gift for your teacher, and a card is sent to them with your personal message telling them what has been given. The gift is then despatched on your teacher's behalf to the developing world.

So if you are looking for that extra special gift for your teacher this Christmas then visit one of the following websites.

World Vision gifts for teachers

Christian Aid's gifts for teachers

UNICEF's gifts for teachers

Oxfam Unwrapped Teacher's gifts

Although the views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Ekklesia, the article may reflect Ekklesia's values. If you use Ekklesia's news briefings please consider making a donation to sponsor Ekklesia's work here.