Building sustainable, low-carbon societies starts with education: The World Future Council joins Education Scotland to see “Learning for Sustainability” in action
Spend any time at a busy nursery school, a quiet rural Highland primary or even a bustling inner-city academy and it’s clear that something pioneering is afoot in Scottish education. The struggles, breakthroughs and clear successes that embody these innovations are all in evidence at Cornton Nursery. Sitting at the edge of the historic market town of Stirling – with views of the famous castle and the rich farmland and mountains beyond – the setting could be described as idyllic. But Cornton also faces challenges; like nurseries and schools across the country, it is taking a strong stand against the attainment gap between pupils from high and low-income families. Head Teacher Kate O'Neill is brimming with ideas about tackling the gap and has embraced the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) approach that weaves together curriculum, campus, community and culture and sits at the heart of Scotland’s emerging pedagogy.
Kate talks passionately about encouraging children to engage in investigation and exploration while young learners around her do just that; gleefully playing at the outdoor mud kitchen and tending to the vegetable plots that are increasing their knowledge and access to healthy foods. She believes the strong focus on equity, combined with a ‘whole-school’ and hands-on methodology in the LfS approach is paying real dividends in educational outcomes for her pupils. She’s not alone; Cornton Nursery has just scooped one of the top prizes at the 2017 Scottish Education Awards.
Sustainable learning policies in action
When policies work well, we at the World Future Council sit up and listen. As an organisation that aims to bring a long-term approach that upholds the interest of future generations into the heart of policy-making when we come across policies that embed sustainability, social justice, human rights and global citizenship we really take notice. That’s why we jumped at the chance to learn more about Learning for Sustainability, talk to teachers and education specialists and visit Scottish nurseries, schools and academies. Alongside the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education who have been helping to pioneer a comparable Environmental Literacy regulation on the other side of the Atlantic, we headed to Scotland notepad in hand.
We were thrilled to see clear evidence of Learning for Sustainability at each school we visited. At rural Kincardine-in-Menteith Primary we are led by students on a tour of the school grounds which includes a wheat plantation and chicken run set up in partnership with a local farmer. Students are using the school grounds and partnerships with local businesses and charities to enliven their education are even selling new flavours of ice cream they have devised alongside other products at a local shop. In keeping with the outward facing and international nature of LfS posters of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adorn classroom walls and are the subject of lively debates and presentations. In Glasgow a group of twenty students at Shawlands Academy talk us through a stunning array of recent STEM (Science, technology, engineering and maths) projects looking at sustainable water management solutions to counter the problems of local flooding. All the talk was of new skills, motivation and confidence building.
Children benefit when they get in touch with nature
The power of the outdoors to deliver real progress in the learning outcomes and well-being of young people is fast becoming accepted wisdom. Studies have pointed to enhanced personal and social communication skills, better physical and mental health, and improvements in problem solving and team working. But there are also potentially profound wider benefits for schools, society, future generations and the global environment in nurturing the ability of young people to make informed decisions about their relationship to nature and our changing world.
It’s clear that Scotland is now well on the way to making these experiences mainstream classroom practice. Of course outdoor learning and a commitment to sustainability in education is not a new concept. Scotland itself has a historic and longstanding history of innovation in this field with the Moray Sea School amongst others providing leadership in the development of outdoor learning from the 1950s onwards. But this early work been built upon and supported to produce a framework that is starting to transform practices and become embedded in schools across the country.
The pioneering Scottish approach
In March 2013, Scottish Ministers accepted all thirty-one recommendations of the Learning for Sustainability report which called for every place of learning to adopt a ‘whole school approach that enables the school and its wider community to build the values, attitudes, knowledge, skills and confidence needed to develop practices and take decisions which are compatible with a sustainable and equitable world’. Outdoor learning and curricular development has now been written into Scottish government policy. The challenge of course is transforming policy into the experience of each learner, particularly given the time and funding pressures inherent in modern education. The approach to the outdoor learning component, at least initially, is therefore on low cost, local outdoor experiences that can lead on to day trips that require transport and finally more ambitious overnight residential trips.
Part of the dynamic in evolving any education approach is making sure that teachers are on board and effectively trained and resourced to deliver system wide change. Crucially Scotland’s General Teaching Council are a keen advocate of Learning for Sustainability and now require all teachers to commit to its values. The approach has been embedded within the updated Professional Standards to support teachers in actively embracing and promoting principles and practices of sustainability in all aspects of their work.
Learning for Sustainability: Hope for the future
Teachers like Kate O’Neill are also part of a mentoring a leadership programme initiated by Education Scotland that aims to pass on experiences and good practice in delivering LfS on a peer to basis from teacher to teacher and across schools. Those willing to embrace a range of progressive teaching methods – from community partnerships and active STEM challenges to learning through local landscapes – also have allies and support from outside the profession. There are over 4000 STEM ambassadors in Scotland and nearly 200 different engineering challenges supported by industry. Initiatives like the John Muir Award and The Duke of Edinburgh's (DofE) Award are also embracing Learning for Sustainability to encourage young people to connect with, enjoy, and care for wild places while developing their life skills.
The effects are starting to be felt. At every school we visited we heard stories of delight from learners that subjects are coming alive through hands-on experiments and problem-solving and enthusiasm at the opportunity of addressing the links between the environment, society, community and the economy. The benefits will not just be felt by the more ecologically literate learners within the Scottish education system but society as a whole as they play a key role in developing the smart, low-carbon economy that is daily becoming a reality. For our part, the World Future Council hopes to continue spreading best practice in the area of education for sustainable development around the world. The chance to engage with these young Scottish learners gave us the feeling that our future is in safe hands.