APPENDIX 17
Memorandum from Esh Winning Eco-Learning
Centre (EWE Centre)
1. Has the term Education for Sustainable
Development lost its currency? Does it have any resonance with
the general public? Has the environmental message within it been
lost?
I'm not sure that Education for Sustainable
Development ever had currency. I think the vast majority of teachers
and workers generally in education do not understand the term.
I think in the general public it is even worse. In terms of the
environmental message I think within education this is the strongest
aspect of ESD and many people in my experience see ESD as environmental
education.
2. The DfES said in 2003 that the Sustainable
Development Action Plan was supposed to signal the start of a
process of change, identifying the most powerful levers? What
can be achieved immediately and what can be built upon. More than
a year on can it be said that that process of change has begun
and have there been any immediate achievements?
I think the process of change is very slow.
The vast majority of the plan was about making the educational
estate more sustainable in terms of its operation. This I think
(resources allowing) is relatively easy to do. The harder part
is the learning aspect of the plan. Embedding the concepts of
ESD into a typical school day is much harder to achieve and I
think is process has hardly started.
3. Government is currently reviewing the
UK Sustainable Development Strategy. What should the Strategy
include in order to significantly strengthen the role of learning
within it?
Learning is a long term goal, it relates to
changing attitudes and impacts upon peoples perception of their
quality of life and how they live their day to day lives. One
of the problems is that sustainable development is such a difficult
concept to explain and deliver. In terms of the revised strategy
learning and awareness raising are therefore long term goals that
need support, consistency of message, and a way of delivering
the issues of SD in bitesize chunks that people can understand.
4. Does the 14-19 Working Group's report,
"14-19 Curriculum and Qualifications Reform", go far
enough? Will ESD be adequately represented if this report is used
as the basis for the forthcoming White Paper? What must be included
in the White Paper if progress is to be made to fully integrate
ESD into all aspects of learning, formal and informal?
My knowledge of the 14-19 Reform is not great
however I would say that in my opinion flexibility is a key aspect.
In my experience in schools some pupils get some opportunities
to get involved in ESD activities, however once they reach KS4
it becomes more and more difficult due to the confines of the
curriculum unless they are involved in fewer GCSE subjects.
5. In response to our last inquiry the DfES
said they recognised that more could be done to embed ESD in the
school curriculum and that they would lead on strengthening ESD
links within geography, design and technology, science and citizenship.
Has there been any discernible improvement in these areas? Is
there evidence that this work has been taken forward by the DfES
and its agencies?
In the vast majority of schools my opinion is
that ESD has not really been taken forward at all. The DfES should
be congratulated for their programme "Growing Schools"
which is highlighting issues around sustainable development, ESD
and Outdoor Learning. However this is a relatively small programme
and its impact has been small in comparison to for example Healthy
Schools which is a much better resourced and know programme for
schools to work on. I am aware that the DfES are developing an
SD website which I'm sure will provide very useful information.
The issue for me is how these diverse and complicated issues can
be delivered when scattered across a number of subjects in an
already overcrowded curriculum. I think given that ESD is about
developing the skills to be able to make judgements about the
work and how we live our lives it is very difficult to spread
it across subjects. It needs to be a whole school objective that
underpins everything the school does and promotes.
6. The role of informal learning, including
youth work, work-based learning and adult and community learning,
in taking the environmental education agenda forward is key. Is
the Government doing enough in these crucial areas?
Is there a reason why the questions have gone
from discussing SD and ESD to discussing environmental education?
Simple answer no.
7. Is there any evidence to suggest that
the Government, through its stewardship of education, is getting
better at getting the environmental message across to the general
public? And is there any evidence to suggest that sufficient work
is being done at regional and local levels to support environmental
education?
Same response as above in terms of confusion
between SD and environmental education. I think in general terms
people may well be more aware about environmental issues such
as climate change and waste disposal for example. Whether this
awareness is being raised by the media or because of messages
from the Government I'm not sure. In terms of regionally and locally
I think support for environmental education is patchy. I think
in some ways the problem may be that so many organisations are
involved eg. Countryside Agency, English Nature, Countryside Agency,
Local Authorities. Government funded NGO's etc. Therefore there
seems to be very little if any strategy in terms of direction
and implementation. Certainly at a regional level in my region
the North East partnership working is limited and relies on the
Officers within the organisations rather than from a strategic
viewpoint.
8. Are there sufficient resources available
to deliver the government's commitment to education for sustainable
development?
No in short. But the issue is not just about
money or people on the ground or copies of packs or website but
commitment in terms of allowing and creating time and flexibility
for schools in particular to be able to support and deliver ESD
and understand why they should be doing it and how it supports
there main area of work which is providing the best opportunities
for pupils to fulfil their potential and become active productive
citizens.
November 2004
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