Preparing the ground

Approach

Why is a whole institution approach important?

There is widespread interest in sustainable development in the FE system. However, what is often lacking is a whole institutional approach to embedding sustainable development into teaching and learning practices. For example, this recent study found in many cases that education for sustainable development often took a segmented approach and that valuable information about sustainable development curriculum initiatives often rests exclusively within discrete departments. For example, one college stated that so long as a group of sustainable development champions were active at the college, work was undertaken to embed sustainable development across the curriculum, but that the initiative lapsed once these individuals progressed to jobs elsewhere.

Hence, a more holistic approach is the optimum solution. It ensures that day-to-day activity and long-term sustainability are integrated and made bespoke to a provider’s circumstances because, for instance, a land-based college will have different sustainability priorities to an urban college. A whole institution approach ensures that daily activities and long-term sustainability are integrated and coherent. And it enables all the teams and individuals to be aware of the importance and role of education for sustainable development:

  • for their own well being, health and quality of life.
  • in meeting the requirements and demands of individual learners and staff.
  • in meeting the needs and demands of employers
  • in meeting legislation (particularly environmental; employment law; and health and safety).

At this stage, you may feel that you only want to look at specific areas of sustainable development in terms of teaching and learning (e.g. discrete areas of the curriculum). However, a whole institution approach is recommendable. It is something that you should aim for from the outset and is something that should be embedded into the leadership and management structures. (This is explained in more detail in the Leadership and Management section)

Where do we start?

Firstly, it is useful to understand what the driver to engage in sustainable development is. For example is it:

  • An altruistic interest in the wellbeing of future generations?
  • A vocational/commercial objective?
  • Wanting to meet the LSC milestones?
  • Wanting to be ahead of the game?
  • Wanting an improved public image?
  • Other reasons?

Above all be clear about what is motivating you and your organisation. To reach your audience, sustainable development must be relevant, suit its audience and be delivered in language everyone can understand and act upon.

It is useful to understand what it is you want to achieve and what the benefits will be (and what they will look like) to your learners, teaching staff and stakeholders. Sketch out in a diagram or picture to help you create a more tangible and achievable outcome:

Understanding

All people are directly affected by sustainable development issues; while awareness of these issues is high, the general level of understanding of them and of their significance and relevance is poor.

Policy

While education has long been recognised as a key instrument for achieving participative citizenship in relation to sustainable development, policies that support practical educational change in this regard have been largely absent.

Entitlement

All learners need to be equipped with the knowledge, values and skills in the area of citizenship and sustainable development that will allow them to participate as full members of society and work towards solutions to sustainable development problems and issues.

Effective education

Education for sustainable development can motivate teachers and learners resulting in effective teaching and learning which meets many established educational goals.

A useful resource for a whole institution approach is the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) document ‘Learning for Sustainability’. This is a practical guide for schools and school communities who want to develop good practice. Whilst it is aimed at schools, it contains good information that you can use as guidance about getting started on a participative approach to curriculum development.

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Planning

Management, leadership and vision

It is critical to have an effective management and leadership model in place from the outset, particularly if sustainable development is a relatively new concept to your organization. (See the Leadership and Management section).

Perhaps a useful starting point for you and your organisation is to:

  • Gain senior level commitment
     
  • Establish what sustainable development is; its role and importance in the FE system and in your organisation and where it fits with teaching and learning. Review the baseline and evaluate all policies and practices on education for sustainable development and communicate findings
     
  • Include a section on education for sustainable development within your strategic plans with key performance indicators

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Action

How do you embed ESD into the curriculum?

There are a variety of ways to integrate and embed ESD into the curriculum. It may be that ESD is already embedded as part of the course you are teaching as it is already considered an integral part of the qualification. However, it is more likely that it has not been explicitly considered.

Most courses you teach will fall into one of the following categories:

  1. SD is fully integrated into the course.
  2. SD is mentioned in a particular module of the course.
  3. SD is not mentioned but you can see where it might fit.
  4. SD cannot be easily integrated within the course.

The research showed us that people’s opinions of their courses are polarised. They either believed that SD cannot be easily integrated within the course, or that it was already fully integrated.

However, experience tells us that most courses actually fall into the second and third categories. So it is important to take the time to really look at what you teach and how you are teaching to find the opportunities to integrate SD into what you do.

Do not fall into the trap of thinking that SD needs to be mentioned in every discussion. The course content may mean the term SD is never explicitly mentioned, but issues of pollution and proper waste disposal, for example, are.

Embedding SD into vocational qualifications

There are usually good opportunities to embed SD into vocational programmes. Hairdressing is a good illustration. Let’s use a course on hairdressing (Level 3 City and Guilds) as an example.. A simple approach is to look at what is being taught and what is used in the profession of hairdressing.

A hairdressing course will probably cover the following areas:

  • discussing with the client how they want their hair done, giving advice and suggesting ideas for suitable styles;
  • shampooing and conditioning;
  • cutting and styling;
  • colouring, perming or straightening;
  • advising on minor hair and scalp problems;
  • making appointments and handling payments;
  • ordering materials;
  • sourcing natural hair for hair extensions and wigs.

To understand where SD might fit into this qualification we should look at the materials the profession of hairdressing also consumes. This will include;

  • energy;
  • chemical usage (hair dyes, shampoos etc);
  • water;
  • natural hair;
  • hairdressing equipment (hairdryers, straighteners, towels etc);
  • office materials (computers, paper etc).

When integrating SD into the content of a hairdressing course you could expect to cover the following:

  • Energy efficiency – how to save energy (energy efficient equipment, energy saving behaviours).
  • Chemical use and storage - the choice of chemicals being procured, the safe disposal of leftover chemicals, the impact of chemicals on the environment and long-term health impacts on humans.
  • Environmentally preferable options for hair dying.
  • Water efficiency – reducing water consumption.
  • Sustainable office management - recycled and recyclable leaflets, good environmental housekeeping.
  • Natural hair – ethically sourced.
  • Procurement – where do the supplies come from and what can you do through examining the supply chain? Can you use a supplier with an environmental policy? A local company to cut down on delivery miles etc?

This is a simplistic view of hairdressing for the purpose of providing an example – a hairdressing professional would be able to identify more impacts. When integrating SD into this qualification we suggest these are some of the things to consider.

Ten Step Summary
In summary, a simple approach to embedding SD in any subject area is as follows:

  1. Read and familiarise yourself with the definitions of ESD referred to earlier in this document.
  2. Consider the content of what you teach as well as how you teach it. Where does it lend itself to environmental or social considerations?
  3. Identify current resources available to you and start filling in gaps. Familiarise yourself with the general ESD web resources in Appendix 3.
  4. Research vocationally specific resources via relevant professional bodies and sector skills councils.
  5. Identify the environmental, ethical and social considerations you can raise as part of the course.
  6. Identify the generic skills relating to sustainable development that can be developed or reinforced, such as joined up thinking.
  7. Have the conviction to get started, sharing expertise and working together means that you do not need to be experts
  8. Use your learners as a resource.
  9. Make some changes!
  10. Share your examples with others, talk to colleagues and add your examples to the SORTED website

Informal Curriculum

You should also look at opportunities to engage learners in the informal curriculum, for example, having focus weeks, which often involve learners in looking at global issues.

Other examples of SD enrichment activities include:

  • British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) projects. (The Community and Business section provides more detail on how you can encourage more volunteering in your organisation to the benefit of your local community.)
  • Recycling projects
  • Millennium Volunteer programmes, engaging learners in the community
  • In-college projects and charity based activities
  • Healthy eating drives

Many of the principles underpinning sustainable development also contribute to quality of life and greater efficiency. For example, a healthy college programme might consider a ‘stop smoking’ or a ‘local food’ campaign, or promote walking and cycling; an energy awareness programme could promote switching off lights and heating when lecture rooms are not in use. Many of these topics could be adopted as elements of the taught curriculum in any form of provision.

Good practice in integrating education for sustainable development

As some additional guidance it is useful to highlight the key features of integrating education for sustainable development into educational organisations. Using some experiences from schools as an example, successful integration of sustainable education appears to be typified by the following characteristics:

  • A record of experiment over a number of years.
     
  • A whole institution commitment, led by senior management, to integrate education for sustainable development into the work of an FE provider, ensuring that it is able to maintain the momentum and sustainability of initiatives. (Also look at the section on Leadership and Management for further guidance).
     
  • A well-developed local support network, for example involving the local education authority in sustainability issues, and/or non-government organisations in providing support across a wide range of projects. (Look at Community and Business for further guidance).
     
  • Effective use of the community as a learning resource by fostering links with individuals and groups in the neighbourhood. In particular, encouraging pupils and their families to play a part in their local community, developing citizenship through action and using the wider school environment to provide interesting and stimulating contexts for personal development and pupil engagement. (Look at Community and Business for further guidance).
     
  • Giving pupils both individual and collective responsibility in looking after and improving their learning environment. Most schools which promote ESD effectively have an active school council or eco-committee. (Community and Business looks at setting up working groups for sustainable development).
     
  • An emphasis on inclusion in promoting positive attitudes and values which are intended to equip pupils to develop as individuals and enable them to contribute to a sustainable common future.
     
  • A well-planned curriculum, which addresses key areas such as environmental issues, alternative energies, rights and responsibilities and sustainability.
     
  • Clear objectives on the part of the teachers that include physical outcomes (for example, a pond or a recycling scheme) or aim to affect pupils’ attitudes and behaviour (for example, looking at attitudes to asylum seekers or developing as active citizens).

The active involvement of pupils in initiatives that promote sustainability – for example, to conserve energy, recycle materials and improve the whole school environment, including the school grounds. (See Buildings and Estates for more detailed guidance).

Effective use of appropriate partnerships and linkages

A key action under the LSC strategy for sustainable development is to:
“develop links between providers and industry and between pre- and post-16 education and learning providers (including higher education), also considering European and international partnerships”

Partnerships are fundamental to the delivery of education for sustainable development. The pedagogy of education for sustainable development itself requires partnerships that work together and share with others. There are a wide number of partners that need to work together with educators across the breadth of the FE system to ensure delivery of education for sustainable development. This approach of putting sustainable development at the heart of skills delivery has recently been emphasised in the Leitch Implementation Plan.

As a first step, decide who do you need to help you? Who are the most effective partners with the expertise to advise, guide and assist you through the process? Who has done this before and where are the examples of good practice? The Community and Business section also deals with wider stakeholder engagement and partnership issues.

Staff Development

Staff development is a vital part of a whole-institution approach. Staff at all levels and across all areas of activity need to understand sustainable development as an adaptive process, rather than a one-off achievement of externally determined and departmentally isolated goals. To achieve this there will need to be:

  • An understanding of the learning and continuing professional development needs of the staff in your organisation.
  • Effective champions programmes underpinned by formalised policy to embed practice. (In a number of the case studies, good practice has been facilitated by the identification of sustainability champions. You should also ask yourself who may want to develop the necessary skills to become a curriculum champion?)
  • Taking all opportunities to embed sustainable development in formal and informal programmes of learning and exploring opportunities to accredit, recognise or celebrate achievement.
  • The encouragement of formal and informal as well as flexible learning opportunities.

There is no national training programme for FE teachers in sustainable development. Sustainable development should inform all continuing and professional development programmes, and it should be incorporated into induction for new staff so the knowledge base is maintained. The following programmes do provide useful materials for continuing professional development for teachers:

Some examples of professional development courses.

Linking Thinking
This toolkit has been designed to help develop understanding and skills with regard to relational or systems thinking. It can be used as a professional development course for teachers and individual units can be selected for classroom activities.

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Monitoring

An interactive ‘campus’ toolkit developed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development to introduce some of the basic concepts of sustainable development and ways these concepts are put into practice. Developed primarily for Higher Education. A section on indicators and measurement shows how to track progress towards sustainability.

Curriculum review and evaluation

Evaluation is a crucial part of the development process. Without it, you will be unable to track improvement and change. Clear goals and the means to assess their achievement are vital.

Decide how you will track changes and measure progress in embedding sustainable
development principles into your teaching programme as well as the techniques you will need to do so.

Some self-evaluation frame works can be found in:

‘Taking the first steps forward –towards an education for sustainable development’ This OFSTED publication (2003) about piloting an inspection framework for sustainable development in schools provides a checklist for self-evaluation (Annex C).

Good practice in school self-evaluation and college self-assessment is a practical guide for busy managers at all levels. It clarifies what self-evaluation and self-assessment are and why institutions are required to do them. This is followed by an identification of the critical success factors in self-evaluation and self-assessment. The annex contains a series of checklists and a summary of good practice.

‘Learning for Sustainability’, a useful self-assessment resource sheet (activity 5) can be found in this WWF document.

‘Creating the conditions for embedding sustainable development in the curriculum’ is an LSC publication aimed at managers who wish to introduce ESD into the curriculum. It features case studies as well as audit tools.

‘Embedding sustainable development in the curriculum’ is an LSC publication aimed to support staff who wish to introduce ESD into their teaching.

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