As reports from groups like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlight the urgent need for global climate action, many educators have begun to focus on the need to get the world back onto environmentally sustainable ground. Educators can do their part for environmental stewardship through Education for Sustainability.
Education for Sustainability (EfS) is an education concept that emerged in schools in the United Kingdom and Australia in the late 1990s. The approach aims to change habits and cultural attitudes toward our relationship with the environment.
Central to teaching with this lens are two foci: student empowerment and interconnectivity. Student empowerment directs educators to teach about looming climate catastrophes and show students how they can act at a local level, through sustainability projects at home, at school, and in the local community. A second key concept is interconnectivity—the idea that all humans are linked by our global ecosystem and its impacts. Therefore, we are all responsible for reversing the effects of climate change and making sure our planet and its ecosystems continue to be habitable.
However, one of the biggest challenges with EfS is that teachers, who may not be sustainability experts themselves, often don't know where to start. The EfS framework provides a pathway to begin that journey.
1. Early Childhood and Elementary School: Start with Gardening
It can be surprising that students know so little about where their food comes from. Fortunately, a class garden can simultaneously get children thinking about how food is grown and produced and start them on the path to an earth-friendly mindset.
A garden offers hands-on knowledge about the healthy environment that food production needs. Maintaining a garden requires children to reflect on how often plants need clean water, nutrient-rich soil, and sunlight to optimize growth.
To empower students, ask your administrators for a small corner of the playground to start a gardening project. If space isn't available, try a small, windowsill garden box in your classroom. Then, give students ownership over the day-to-day maintenance of the garden. Each morning, consult a class planner to identify what needs to be done in the garden for the day. Daily tasks could include turning soil, watering plants, and rotating pots to ensure the plants have the right amount of sun. You can also tie the garden to curriculum units on photosynthesis, weather systems, nutrition, and plant growth. The goal of sustainability in a class garden is to ensure students understand that the earth provides for us if—and only if—we in turn care for it.
2. Middle School: Conduct a Biodiversity Audit
Studying the biodiversity in your local community is a valuable citizenship education activity. Educators can ask students to research the types of native animals and plants that live in the areas surrounding the school or in local parklands and the conditions these organisms need to thrive. (If your school lacks native areas, approach the local council for help conducting a biodiversity audit in local parklands.) Conditions for life might include certain temperature ranges, dependence on other animals in the ecosystem, a certain amount or type of foliage, or clean water from local streams.Using an audit tool, like the National Wildlife Federation's Baseline Biodiversity audit, students can assess local habitats based on health indicators, such as:
- The number of native plants versus weeds in a specific plot;
- The visible availability of a diverse range of shrubs and trees where animals can live; or
- The amount of litter or damage from human actions in the area.
Students can then brainstorm an action plan that may include reducing the number of weeds in designated areas, increasing the variety of native plants in areas, and fencing off native habitats to prevent human damage.
3. High School: Conduct a Waste Audit
Waste audits force us to think more clearly about our consumption habits. Students can conduct the audit by:
- Keeping a journal of notes on the trash they create over the course of a school week;
- Measuring the overall weight of their own or their class's trash over a period of time; or
- Taking stock of the recycling and composting options available on the school grounds.
Following the waste audit, have students create an action plan for changing their habits. I like to use the 5 R's model of waste reduction. Students can set personal goals that align with the 5 R's approach:
Reduce: Identify what waste can be easily reduced. Students can consider options like using reusable containers in place of disposable bags for food or asking their parents to shop for products in the bulk food sections of shopping centers to reduce shopping waste.Reuse: Students can look at options for borrowing books, movies, and music from the library, purchasing clothing at thrift stores rather than purchasing new products, or starting clothing and item swaps to share unwanted goods within the local community.Recycle: If the school or classroom does not have an active recycling program, students can create their own recycling centers or work with their community to install them.Repair: Have students bring in items that they would normally discard (e.g., a broken radio or a torn shirt) and research ways they can repair or repurpose them.Rot: Use the waste audit to see whether it is worthwhile to start a school compost system. This can link to any gardening initiatives at the school or community level so that compostable items end up going back into the soil to grow new food.
I like to link my students' action plans to weekly goal reports. This allows students to compete with themselves to achieve progress in waste reduction. Students can report weekly on creative waste reduction strategies they have come across and keep track of how much they reduce their own trash creation.
Education for Sustainability is an opportunity for educators to teach their students about the importance of being good global citizens. Although getting started may be intimidating, small achievable objectives are the way to begin. Start small, accept that you will make mistakes, and be willing to learn about sustainable living alongside your students.