“Discovering What Matters”: Designing a values-centred toolkit for Education for Sustainable and Responsible Living (EfSRL) in secondary schools Gemma Burford, Elona Hoover, Arthur Dahl and Marie K. Harder

The ESDinds project Participatory (action) research with 4 non-profits and 2 research groups; funded by EU FP7 Developing values-based indicators and assessment tools with civil society organisations promoting Education for Sustainable Development (in ‘non-formal’ contexts) Youth feel they have the power to effect change! Students express their own opinions! Women and girls participate actively in decision-making! e.g. Burford et al., 2013

Bringing values-based indicators into schools Question: Which values underpin ESD/ EfSRL? How are they enacted (‘lived out’) in schools? Methods: – Analysis of interview and survey data from educators and education experts – Analysis of conference notes and a book – Workshop to integrate new & existing indicators – Testing in schools – UK and Finland

Designing a toolkit of activities for students Some activities inspired by Kim Sabo Flores ‘Youth Participatory Evaluation’ – Word elicitation: ‘The First Thing You Think Of…’ – Collective story of the future we want: ‘Yes, And…’ Others from the original ESDinds toolkit: – Choosing, grouping & prioritising indicators – ‘Spatial survey’ and role-play

Lessons from the toolkit testing Indicator wording often needed to be changed: some were difficult to understand, others came across as patronising or ridiculous Need for a warm-up activity to help the students to feel comfortable with silence Refer to ‘skill statements’ rather than ‘indicators’ Several new skill statements were created SRL skills are all interconnected