Teacher education for a sustainable future

Workshop objectives

• To understand the nature, scope and purposes of reorienting educational policies, programmes and practices towards a sustainable future;

• To appreciate the contribution of teacher education to educating for a sustainable future; and

• To appreciate ways in which Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future can be used to enhance teacher education courses and practice.

Workshop activities

1. What is sustainable development?

2. Reorienting education for a sustainable future

3. Teacher education for sustainability

4. Reviewing a module

5. Reflection

What is sustainable development?

Sustainable development is:

“. . . development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Source: World Commission on Environment and Development (1987)

Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 43.

Interdependent dimensionsof sustainable development

Sustainable development takes into account four interdependent dimensions:

• Social

• Economic

• Ecological

• Political

Principles of sustainable development

Sustainable development- A long heritage -

Sustainable development- A long heritage -

Sustainable development- A long heritage -

Sustainable development- A long heritage -

Sustainable development- A long heritage -

Sustainable development- A long heritage -

Why do we need sustainable development?

Pressing global realities:• The rapid growth of the world’s population and its

changing distribution• The persistence of widespread poverty• The growing pressures on the natural world • The continuing denial of democracy and human rights • The very notion of “development” itself, what it has

come to mean and how it is measured.

Education for a sustainable future

• An holistic, interdisciplinary approach to learning:

• Knowledge and skills for building a sustainable future

• How to redress the problems that threaten our common future

• How to face the future with hope and confidence.

• A deep understanding of global realities and their possible solutions

• How to develop and evaluate alternative visions of a sustainable future

• How to work creatively with others to help bring these visions into effect

Education for a sustainable future

A lifelong learning process that:• Leads to an informed and involved citizenry • Develops creative problem solving skills• Develops scientific and social literacy• Engages people in responsible individual and co-

operative actions• Will help ensure an environmentally sound and

economically prosperous future• Helps to build stronger bridges between the classroom

and business, and between schools and communities Source: Second Nature - An educational NGO in the USA.

Education for a sustainable future - Objectives -

Education for a sustainable future aims to:• promote understanding of the interdependence of natural,

socio-economic and political systems at local, national and global levels.

• encourage critical reflection and decision making that is reflected in personal lifestyles.

• engage the active participation of the citizenry in building sustainable development.

Source: Lopez, G. (1997) Putting new bite into knowledge, in I. Serageldin et al (eds), Organising Knowledge for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development, The World Bank,

Washington DC, p. 10

Education for a sustainable future - Key features -

InterdisciplinaryHolisticProblem solvingStudent centredParticipatoryInteractive

ExperientialAction orientedCoherentProgressiveReflective

Reorienting education for a sustainable future

Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future develops teachers’ knowledge and skills for reorientating educational policies, programme and practices.

Reorienting education for a sustainable future

Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future is rooted in a new vision of education, a vision that helps students better understand the world in which they live, addressing the complexity and interconnectedness of the problems that threaten our future.

Reorienting education for a sustainable future

Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future emphasises an holistic, interdisciplinary approach to education in order to help empower everyone, young and old, to make decisions, and act in culturally appropriate and locally relevant ways, to redress the problems that threaten our common future.

Reorienting education for a sustainable future

There are over 60 million teachers in the world – and each one is a key agent for bringing about the changes in lifestyles and systems we need. For this reason, innovative teacher education is an important part of education for a sustainable future.

Reorienting education for a sustainable future

The multimedia format of Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future means that it can be accessed and used in a great many ways by teachers, student teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers, education policy makers and authors of educational materials.

Trends in teacher education

• Academic rigour

• Experiential learning

• Reflective practice