Geography Teaching Today

In moving towards becoming sustainable schools, better progress was being made in primary schools than in secondary schools. In several of the primary schools, the theme of healthy eating was used to enrich the curriculum and develop thinking in a range of subjects. Pupils were involved in making decisions about catering, in growing their own food and in discussing the implications of fair trade. They also took an active role in monitoring and reducing energy and water consumption. In secondary and primary schools, pupils drew on knowledge gained in science and geography lessons to contribute to decisions about how to make their schools more energy efficient and to learn about sustainable lifestyles.

Key findings

• In most of the schools visited during the survey, there was little emphasis on sustainable development and limited awareness of national and local government policies for this area.
• In the large majority of the schools, promoting sustainable development through National Curriculum subjects was inconsistent and uncoordinated.
• In many of the schools, sustainable development was a peripheral issue, often confined to extra-curricular activities and involving only a minority of pupils.
• A small number of the schools placed considerable emphasis on sustainable development. In these cases, teaching was good, lessons were stimulating and pupils took an active part in improving the sustainability of the school and the wider community.
• Primary schools were more successful than secondary schools in promoting sustainability, particularly in terms of using their grounds as a resource for learning about it.
• Schools were more successful in developing pupils' understanding of local rather than global issues of sustainability.

Recommendations

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) should:

• give a higher priority to sustainable schools, supporting this through funding for central and local initiatives including staff training and development
• ensure that the curriculum reflects the importance of learning about sustainability and that schools are supported in making it an integral part of their improvement plans
• stress the importance of education for sustainability as part of a broad and balanced curriculum and disseminate good practice in this area.

Additionally, the DCSF should:

• link learning about sustainable development more closely to ‘Building Schools for the Future' and other capital investment, refurbishment and maintenance programmes.

Local authorities and their partners should:

• develop a common vision for a sustainable community in which the contribution of schools is explicit and work together to implement it.

Schools should:

• integrate sustainable development into their development plans and ensure that resources and training are available to support it
• identify a key person to manage and coordinate sustainable development within and outside the classroom
• give all pupils the opportunity to learn about and take an active part in promoting sustainability within the school and beyond, through membership of school councils, eco councils and other groups
• give all pupils the opportunity to put their understanding of local issues into a global context, so that they see how their decisions can have an impact on others now and in the future.

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