Education for Sustainability An Introduction to systems

What do you want the future to be 30 years from now? Cities Schools Jobs Communication Food Transportation Health Water Parks and forests Entertainment

What do you want the future to be 30 years from now? What do we need to educate our students about today to achieve that vision? What current practices are making our future unsustainable? Can we continue to ignore our dependence on the environment for our well-being?

The Issue Environmental issues are prominent in our society Many are very complex and are not easily solved Our children will inherit these problems

The Issue Students need to address these issues Along with the home, schools provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to face the future

If our current way of thinking created these problems We need to change our way of viewing the world

We view the world like this EconomySociety The environment

In reality, our world is like this Economy Society The environment Natural Resources! Connected Systems That include us!

To illustrate this let’s consider the simple French Fry

How did the fry get to the restaurant? Truck Lokanta Farmers Suppliers Processing Plant Distribution Center

What materials were needed for the journey? Farmers Distribution Center Processing Plant Suppliers Lokanta Truck Fossil Fuels Freezer Fertilizers Pesticides Machinery Hydropower Fossil Fuels Machinery Fossil Fuels Packaging Hydroflourocarbons Irrigation Hydropower Freezer Food waste Machinery Fossil Fuels Hydroelectric dam Fossil Fuels Animal Feed Irrigation Seeds

What natural resources were involved? Fossil Fuels Freezer Fertilizers Pesticides Truck Machinery Hydropower Truck Fossil Fuels Machinery Fossil Fuels Packaging Hydroflourocarbons Forests Irrigation Rivers Forests Grazing Land Energy Resources River Cropland Hydropower Freezer Food waste Machinery Farmers Distribution Center Processing Plant Suppliers Lokanta Fossil Fuels Truck Hydroelectric dam Fossil Fuels Built-up Land Animal Feed Irrigation Seeds Forests Energy resources

How might all of this affect the Earth’s systems? Including us. Energy resources Climate change

WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND AND THINK IN SYSTEMS AND APPRECIATE OUR “PLACE”... This example was not meant to make you feel guilty about eating french fries but....

The question is, does the educated citizen know he is only a cog in an ecological mechanism? That if he will work with that mechanism his mental wealth and his material wealth can expand indefinitely? But that if he refuses to work with it, it will ultimately grind him to dust? If education does not teach us these things, then what is education for? Aldo Leopld, A Sand County Almanac, p. 210

Commercial break What is a “cog” in a wheel? a series of projections on a wheel or bar that transfers motion by engaging with projections on another wheel or bar.

We all cogs in a global ecology How can this message be communicated? Education for Sustainability

Education for sustainability (EfS)... provides people with the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and opportunities to promote a healthy and livable world. The ultimate outcome of EfS is to sustain both human and natural communities. Developed by the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education

How does EfS work? Awareness – place in nature (art, music, science) Knowledge – ecological understandings (science, mathematics, social studies) Ethics and dispositions – values analysis, empathy (language arts, humanities, history) Skills and strategies – hands on, real world experiences to make the curriculum come alive (vocational, science) Participation – becoming involved in the community and the land (service learning)

An example with water Awareness – journaling about water use in a day Knowledge – diagramming the water cycle Ethics and dispositions – Examining water use habits (attitudes toward water) Skills and strategies – Quantifying water usage; investigating water efficiency strategies Participation – Developing a water conservation campaign poster Language arts Science Social studies Mathematics Graphic arts

Process of EfS Examine current ways of thinking and acting Understand interconnections and systems – how our environment works Become conscious of our habits Analyze needs and wants

Education for Sustainability Cultural Preservation and Transformation Responsible Local/ Global Citizenship Dynamics of Systems and Change Natural Laws and Ecological Principles Sustainable Economics Inventing and Affecting the Future Multiple Perspectives Strong Sense of Place Healthy Commons Source: Jaimie Cloud, Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education

Education for Sustainability Student Teaching Staff School Community Look familiar?

Goal of EfS

Education for Sustainability

Think About It How does sustainability relate your teaching?

Thank you Jennie Lane, PhD Assistant Professor Graduate School of Education Bilkent University