{"id":1538,"date":"2012-03-17T10:31:56","date_gmt":"2012-03-17T10:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=1538"},"modified":"2012-03-17T10:31:56","modified_gmt":"2012-03-17T10:31:56","slug":"speaking-in-inverness-sort-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2012\/03\/17\/speaking-in-inverness-sort-of\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaking in Inverness \u2013 sort of"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perhaps oddly, I gave my first talk via Skype the other day. \u00a0To Inverness, virtually, then, at a conference on Educating for a Low Carbon Future<\/em> organised by the University of Highlands and Islands, SEAM Centre at Inverness College, CIFAL Scotland, United Nations Institute of Training and Research, in partnership with the Scottish Government. \u00a0Ideally, I'd have gone there and then set off for Torridon, but it was not to be.<\/p>\n

I didn't think the technology was much good, but was told it was ok most of the time<\/em>. \u00a0It was certainly an odd experience; I missed eye contact, of course, and had no idea how well (or if) my jokes went down, or how my poking of Eco-Schools with a stick was received. \u00a0Indeed, they turned the video off half-way through. \u00a0So, I didn't feel that the trade-off between convenience and quality was all that good.<\/p>\n

I spoke (15 minutes) on the influence of the Decade. \u00a0Here's what I said:<\/p>\n

My first point is that it\u2019s difficult to say anything about ESD across the UK because of the devolved responsibilities for education of every sort.\u00a0 I\u2019ll comment, however, on the policy contexts of Scotland, Wales and England, and on the school, university and FE sectors, and end with a few comments about achievements and tensions.<\/p>\n

These 5 points about the difficulty of data collection and analysis around ESD are significant:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Not everything that takes place in educational settings (viewed broadly) that focuses on sustainability \/ sustainable development is referenced as ESD<\/li>\n
  2. Not all developments that are classed as ESD are either congruent with UNESCO\u2019s vision or coherent amongst themselves<\/li>\n
  3. There is no consensus as to what is to count (or not count) as ESD \u2013 that is, as an education focusing on sustainability \u2013 and little agreement as to whether this is a problem.<\/li>\n
  4. It is always difficult to separate out the contribution to learning of targeted interventions, from other influences on the learner such as media, family, peers, commerce, etc<\/li>\n
  5. It will be impossible to identify the precise influence of the Decade on learning, on changes to educational provision, and on policy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Although all this makes surveying activity difficult and demanding, it's a reminder that ESD is a broad church that has its share of dogmas, arcane practices, clerical disputes and schisms \u2013 as well as attempts at ecumenical harmony.\u00a0 Quite clearly,<\/em> however, those interested in ESD can have widely differing interests and assumptions about both purpose and process, and all have something to contribute to learning about improving the human condition and our relationship with nature. \u00a0It\u2019s also important to remember that ESD is still only a small fraction of all that takes place under the banner of education \u2013 and, to remember that the point is to change mainstream practice, rather than just influence a minority.<\/p>\n

    Context<\/strong><\/p>\n

    In UK policy terms, whilst the rhetoric about the importance of sustainability remains reasonably strong, there are a number of indicators that suggest less enthusiasm \u2013 or conviction, perhaps.\u00a0 Thus, the picture now is not as positive as it was 2 years ago.\u00a0 Whilst the world-leading carbon-reduction policies and targets are still in place, the delivery strategy lacks a coherent vision.<\/p>\n

    Wales pursued a principled line on sustainable development, enshrining its pursuit in statute, and espousing what it termed ESDGC \u2013 that is ESD which emphasizes citizenship \u2013 as it surely should.<\/p>\n

    The Scottish Government says that sustainable development is integral to its overall purpose, but it also calls for sustainable economic growth.\u00a0 Similarly, when the UK government, which, as you know, is the greenest government ever, redefines sustainable development as development which promotes economic growth, you\u2019re entitled to be sceptical.\u00a0 This easy slippage from sustainable development to sustainable economic growth seems increasingly common and adds to the policy uncertainty within which educators operate<\/p>\n

    Looking across sectors<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Higher education seems the sector with the keenest developments \u2018on the ground\u2019.\u00a0 There seems a lot of informed enthusiasm from individuals, encouraged and supported by institutions as well as by the NUS, HEA and others. \u00a0Funding councils have provided a little research and development funding, and the HEA is trying to be a champion of ESD.\u00a0 Its green academy development programme is stimulating institutional change whilst demanding that senior managers and students are centrally involved.\u00a0 However, whilst there is evidence of some institutional leadership in terms of sustainability, there are no convincing examples of a university\u2019s taking a successful whole-institution approach \u2013 let alone a transformative one \u2013 to sustainability.\u00a0 Apart, perhaps, from Aberdeen with its recent curriculum commission with its focus on graduate attribute, though even here, the emphasis on sustainability seems muted.<\/p>\n

    There is certainly no shared view as to how ESD in universities does or should contribute to graduate attributes.\u00a0 However, in comparative terms, I\u2019d say its HE where the most innovative work is taking place \u2013 and, it\u2019s HE that understands that workplaces have fundamentally changed because of the policy focus on sustainability.<\/p>\n

    FE \u2013 briefly<\/strong><\/p>\n

    By and large, the tensions between present and future skills needs are greatest in colleges.\u00a0 For example, the 2010 Unesco survey of ESD across the UK, noted that the active learning styles that are seen as integral to learning and sustainability tend to be difficult to link to FE\u2019s usual approaches to teaching.<\/p>\n

    Despite considerable effort, and some prominent practice, particularly in Scotland, FE remains the Cinderella sector for ESD.\u00a0 It\u2019s a real pity that the sustainability agenda has not been seized upon by FE policy makers and leaders as a means of raising the status of what it, and its graduates, do.<\/p>\n

    Schools<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Whilst there are some outstanding examples of practice, schools seem far too reliant on outside help from NGOs \u2013 particularly Eco-schools.\u00a0 NGOs tend to have their own takes on sustainability and on ESD \u2013 and\u00a0all pursue their own agendas and interests. \u00a0The Scottish government sees Eco-schools as a vector for its policies and has encouraged schools to sign up.\u00a0 It\u2019s no surprise, therefore, that 98% of local authority schools in Scotland have done so, or that 40% already have green flags.\u00a0 But, in the absence of valid data on what young people are learning \u2013 and doing as a result \u2013 you\u2019d be naive to believe that all this necessarily means very much.\u00a0 Whilst Eco-schools offers a structured way into a consideration of issues, it\u2019s only a way in, and such means should not be confused with desired learning ends.<\/p>\n

    Whilst the ESDGC brand is retained in Wales, it seems marginal to resolving the well-publicised problems facing the Welsh school system as exposed by the OECD\u2019s PISA studies \u2013 and no one seems to believe that ESDGC has anything much to contribute to resolving these difficulties \u2013 which is a shame.<\/p>\n

    Scotland remains the most consistent in its espousal of ESD-like initiatives and is where our schools do best in PISA-type evaluations, but whether these are linked, however, is not at all clear.\u00a0 For those who\u2019re tempted to think that ESD shouldn\u2019t have anything to do with globalised studies like PISA, I'd just say two things: First, deliberatively excluding ourselves from mainstream educational interests seems risky, and secondly, that PISA studies do seek to measure the sort of critical thinking and analytical skills that ESD is supposed to foster.<\/p>\n

    There certainly seems no shared view across schools as to how ESD can contribute progressively across age groups, and primary schools still tend to be much more enthusiastic and engaged than secondary ones.\u00a0 Indeed, it\u2019s hard to see how secondary schools will ever take ESD to heart whilst examinations at 16 capture attention, constrict curriculum, and stifle imagination.\u00a0 And, though there have been some commendable interventions around school leadership, these have hardly been systemic \u2013 or even systematic \u2013 initiatives. \u00a0A positive note, however, is NUS data which shows that students entering HE from schools are positive and motivated about sustainability.\u00a0 So somebody\u2019s doing something right.<\/p>\n

    Looking back across the Decade \u2013 and ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I\u2019d say that the number of individuals and groups that are interested and active has grown considerably, particularly, as I\u2018ve noted, young people.\u00a0 Despite this, and the increasingly favourable national and international context \u2013 that\u2019s to say the greater prominence of the problems we all face \u2013 I\u2019d say that their effect on institutional practice remains marginal.<\/p>\n

    A particular tension now exists across all of education.\u00a0 This is a tension between stability and change \u2013 and between certainty and speculation.\u00a0 There\u2019s an historic obligation to safeguard, apply and pass on existing knowledge \u2013 and also to challenge it.\u00a0 This is true today as never before.<\/p>\n

    ESD is best seen as a responsive social learning process which is both a part of, and a preparation for, informed, active, open-minded, social engagement with the key issues of the day.\u00a0 It follows, therefore, that institutions<\/em>, need to establish learning goals that are critically focused on sustainable living and working.\u00a0 Doing so, will guide the formal and informal work that they do with students and their communities in order to better reflect the existential realities and choices we all face.\u00a0 Clearly, education policies need to be reviewed in order to ensure this is stimulated.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019d say that practitioners<\/em> need to focus on their conceptual and pedagogical strengths, and on collaborating with each other, in order to make student experience more than the sum of its parts.\u00a0 Practitioners have always done the first of these, of course, but rarely the second.\u00a0 In part, this is because of institutional and curriculum structures, but not entirely.\u00a0 It\u2019s also because of their training.<\/p>\n

    In the 2010 UNESCO ESD survey across the UK, a number of challenges to embedding ESD across sectors were identified.\u00a0 These included:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • tensions between campaigning and helping people learn<\/li>\n
    • the need to avoid a narrow focus\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and<\/li>\n
    • the need for better professional development and training<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      The balance between an open-minded approach to learning and the learner, as opposed to the promotion of particular behaviours or ideas, is important \u2013 and evidence suggests that we still tend to have too much of the latter at the expense of the former.\u00a0 How Fairtrade is approached is a good example of this.<\/p>\n

      The 2010 ESD report was concerned that an instrumental focus on climate change would be narrow and would detract from the broad sort of approach to sustainability that ESD embodies.\u00a0 As for professional development, well, I\u2019m old enough to remember when UNESCO used to say that teacher education was the priority of priorities.\u00a0 No more it seems, and I\u2019d say the Decade has had minimal impact on any of this.<\/p>\n

      In summary, then, I\u2019d say that the Decade has seen growing interest and activity in sustainability across education sectors.\u00a0 Apart from NGOs, most of this, however, has come from the grass-roots, from teachers and lecturers, and from students.\u00a0 And, although its penetration is limited, it\u2019s all to be welcomed.\u00a0 It would be good, however, to know much more about what\u2019s being learned and what difference it\u2019s making. \u00a0Less obvious is how much the Decade has led to transformative change within institutions \u2013 and to the thinking of policy-makers themselves.\u00a0 This takes longer, of course, than merely changing student experience at the margins, and has everything to do with a re-orientation of purpose and values. So it could be that all we have to do is to wait\u00a0 \u2013 but you\u2019d be crassly optimistic to believe this.<\/p>\n

      I\u2019d say, the next phase of the Decade \u2013 or the next Decade, maybe, needs to focus on leadership and institutional transformation if we\u2019re to make a real difference.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Perhaps oddly, I gave my first talk via Skype the other day. \u00a0To Inverness, virtually, then, at a conference on Educating for a Low Carbon Future organised by the University of Highlands and Islands, SEAM Centre at Inverness College, CIFAL...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-talks-and-presentations"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}