3-5 March | DBSA | Midrand The National Environmental Skills Summit 1

Fundisa for Change Teacher Development Research Symposium Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum Presented by Paul Goldschagg School of Education University of the Witwatersrand Day 3 | 5 March

Purpose of this presentation today twofold: - Review where we are at - To challenge our progress, stimulate debate and get action Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 3

T he United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in its 1987 report Our Common Future defined sustainable development as follows: "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 4

Two key concepts contained within it: The concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs. Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 5

Common thinking about the nature of sustainable development (reflected, for example in the 2011 UK Government’s Sustainable Development Commission): “… is an approach to development that looks to balance different, and often competing, needs against an awareness of the environmental, social and economic limitations we face as a society;” Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum Source: development.html. Accessed on 23/02/2015http:// development.html 6

and “The focus of sustainable development is far broader than just the environment. It's also about ensuring a strong, healthy and just society. This means meeting the diverse needs of all people in existing and future communities, promoting personal wellbeing, social cohesion and inclusion, and creating equal opportunity.” Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 7

The way development is approached affects everyone. The impacts of society’s decisions have consequences for people's lives. Poor planning of communities reduces the quality of life for the people who live in them. Sustainable development provides an approach to making better decisions on the issues that affect people’s lives. Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 8

Recognising these fundamentals, the Curriculum and Policy Assessment Statement (CAPS) designers have taken on board a commitment to environmental education with content focussing in a number of subjects. Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 9

Environmental content knowledge is important for processes of Education for Sustainable Development. Environment and sustainability is in and across the curriculum – horizontally across phases and vertically through subject progression. BUT… Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 10

It is fragmented in the topic-centred curriculum; Teachers have differing understandings of sustainability which vary by discipline. Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 11

Fundisa has attempted to address this deficiency by producing core texts: Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 12

Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 13 And subject specific topic units: for example, climate change, biodiversity, healthy living, indigenous knowledge, water etc.

Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 14 These are topics to links with subjects where there is a natural expectation that sustainable development will be covered, and there is a good, natural fit.

Universities are: - using, or making students aware of Fundisa materials; - running or planning short courses for in-service teachers. Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 15

But… what about appropriate materials for the other subjects? In the Design subject, “sustainable” is mentioned 37 times – much more often than Geography and Life Sciences, for example. In the Economics and Management Sciences subject cluster sustainability is important too, but in a context of sustainable business activities with financial benefits for the company related more to sound investments, markets, production costs etc. Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 16

Application of “sustainable” depends on the context of the subject as well as other factors eg. School socioeconomic status; rural or urban location etc. Definition: “…pertaining to a system that maintains its own viability by using techniques that allow for continual reuse.” 1 Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 1

Sustainability strengths in the curriculum are currently in Geography, Life Sciences, Life Orientation. Going forward, we need to respond to: - Post UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. - The coming to an end of the Millennium Development Goals. Acknowledge the imminent launch of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 18

Ideas on what needs to be done: Do Teachers have an interest in sustainability? Link schools, families and communities through education and outreach activities; Emphasize experience-based and action-oriented learning; Address sustainability through the medium of their subjects – not just leave it up to Geography, Biology; How will learning about sustainability make people’s lives better? Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 19

How can Fundisa scaffold sustainability into the other subjects? Children often have the knowledge – eg from Social Science. It needs to be uncovered and connected to other subjects. Reform this knowledge into new insights. Apply sustainability throughout the curriculum. Sustainable Development And How It May Be Incorporated Into The School Curriculum 20

Thank You 21