A Whole School Approach to Sustainable Development: Elements of Education for Sustainable Development and Students’ Competencies for Sustainable Development

Author(s):  
Reiner Mathar
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiaoling Wang

The basic characteristics of China ESD program is: The dual attribute of the definition of ESD; A new interpretation of the subject-oriented education theory from the perspective of sustainable development; ESD is an Important Content of strengthening morality education;The "whole-school " model has become the norm; An international cooperation and exchange platform has been actively built.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Birgitte Bjønness ◽  
Astrid Tonette Sinnes

Læreplanene for grunnopplæringen i Norge er for tiden under revisjon og fornyelse. Fagfornyelsen innebærer blant annet at bærekraftig utvikling blir et tverrfaglig og gjennomgående tema i skolen. Satsingen på Utdanning for Bærekraftig Utvikling (UBU) i skolen er per i dag hovedsakelig preget av enkeltstående prosjekter drevet fram av enkeltlærere. Vi har i denne studien intervjuet skoleledelse, lærere, elevråd, driftsleder og skoleeier ved fire videregående skoler for å få fram praksisfeltets stemmer knyttet til hva som hemmer og hva som fremmer arbeidet med UBU i norsk videregående skole. Funn fra studien viser at alle informantene er positive til en satsing på bærekraftig utvikling. Vi finner videre at det utkrystalliserer seg ni sentrale faktorer som påvirker i retning av å hemme eller fremme en helhetlig satsing på UBU. Informantene peker på hverandre når det gjelder å ta initiativ til å utvikle UBU lokalt; dette kan medføre en pulverisering av ansvar så lenge alle «sitter på gjerdet» og venter på at andre skal ta initiativ. En forpliktende satsing på UBU stiller krav til alle aktører og nivåer i skolen. Vi stiller spørsmål om satsingen på bærekraftig utvikling i fagfornyelsen er tilstrekkelig for å utvikle den tverrfaglige forståelsen og handlingskompetansen som er nødvendig for å forberede elevene på å leve bærekraftige liv i framtiden. En forpliktende satsing på UBU krever også at skolen og lærerne får tid og rom til å utvikle organisasjonen og læringsmåter lokalt.Nøkkelord: utdanning for bærekraftig utvikling, fagfornyelsen, videregående skole, hel-skoletilnærming, fokusgruppeintervjuer, aktører i skolenExploring drivers and challenges for the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development in upper secondary schoolAbstractThe national curricula in Norway are currently under review and revision. As part of the revision, sustainable development becomes an interdisciplinary and comprehensive subject in school. There are presently few or no examples of schools that work comprehensively with Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Norway. In this study, we have interviewed school management, teachers, student council, operation manager and school owner at four upper secondary schools in order to map what supports and what constrains a holistic effort to ESD in Norwegian upper secondary school. Findings from the study show that all the interviewees are positive to a commitment to sustainable development as part of the new curriculum. Further, we identify nine key factors influencing action as well as resulting from it, in the direction of support or constraint of a holistic effort to ESD. The interviewees point to each other when it comes to taking the initiative to develop ESD locally; this can result in a pulverization of responsibility as long as everyone "sits on the fence" waiting for others to take the initiative. A binding commitment to ESD places demands on all actors and levels at the school. We ask whether the inclusion of sustainable development in the new curriculum is sufficient for developing an interdisciplinary understanding and the action competence that is necessary to prepare the students for living sustainable lives in the future. A commitment to ESD also requires the school and the teachers to have the time and space to develop the organization and learning methods locally.Keywords: Education for Sustainable Development, curriculum reform, upper secondary school, whole-school approach, focus-group interviews, stakeholders in school


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9549
Author(s):  
Ksenija Kuzmina ◽  
Rhoda Trimingham ◽  
Tracy Bhamra

Education for sustainable development (ESD) in schools requires a whole-school approach to ensure that all stakeholders, including students, value sustainability and express this value in an active engagement in the ongoing development process. Such inclusivity however is rarely achieved, with benefits of ESD in schools usually recognised only by a select few. School strategies that continue to dominate research focus on management of the finite resources or give emphasis to a particular pedagogical agenda, whereas approaches that emphasise whole-school ESD engagement are scarce. This paper aims to address this gap. To do so, we propose to frame schools as service organisations and use service logic approach and service innovation theory to review how five primary schools in England define and implement ESD. The findings from our comparative case study discuss three strategies that schools as service organisations need to consider: defining sustainable student experience as a core service concept, developing an organisational culture of sustainability-driven innovation, and engaging in a value co-creation process with external stakeholders in order to facilitate the concept. Our results suggest that by placing “sustainable student experience” as the core service concept, schools can align their external and internal organisational activities to enable sustainable education for all stakeholders.


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