Geography Teaching Today

A Whole-School Approach

The Government would like every school to be a sustainable school. In practice this means integrating high standards of achievement and behaviour with the goals of healthy living, environmental awareness, community involvement and citizenship - many of the aspirations set forth in Every Child Matters* (2005).
S3 - Sustainable School self-evaluation tool,
DfES, 2006

*www.everychildmatters.gov.uk

This unit started by introducing the Sustainable Schools Strategy and it concludes with a reminder that the scope of this strategy reaches far further than any individual classroom. The quote above comes from the self-evaluation tool - one of the instruments that supports the evaluation of your school through the SEF. Click on the link above to view this evaluation and discuss it with other staff and governors.

• Can you assess your school's starting point and identify the steps needed to move forward?
• Does your school have a named ESD coordinator?
• Does your school have a policy for sustainable development, or is provision made in all other policies for this aspect of education?

These are just some of the many questions from this form. Using the S3 need not be daunting, as it may well be that your school is already doing many of the things considered to be good practice (although they may not be documented or structured coherently).

Task 1: Discuss the S3 with staff and governors.

Task 2: Identify how you can contribute to actions that can inform the School Improvement Plan and further the school's thinking and actions for ESD.

See the Teachernet Sustainable Schools website (this site replaces the old QCA site and is an excellent source of information).

We have discussed how issues such as climate change might be tackled through the curriculum, but how can you encourage pupils and staff to respond to the problems identified through a whole-school ethos?

• How can you reduce energy consumption?
• How can you seek energy funding for alternative energy technologies such as wind, solar or photovoltaic cells (PVC)?
• How could you enable the setting up of a school energy team?

Think about the cycle of environmental literacy again. This is the critical response phase that incorporates decision making and action. This type of thinking also involves active citizenship - another aspect of ESD.

See also:

www.ashdenawards.org
www.create.org.uk

You might also be interested in this PowerPoint Presentation about one school's energy work.

The APG Unit on Citizenship has relevant information if you do not already have a school council. You could consider joining up to become an eco-school (see www.eco-schools.org for more information).

Work in evaluating and reducing energy usage contributes to evidence for one of the 'doorways' from the Sustainable Schools Strategy. Here are just a few examples of how geography might support this:

Curriculum

• investigating climate change and fuel poverty
• understanding changing weather patterns
• mapping energy usage in schools
• understanding how and why places change
• investigating patterns of settlement and migration
• making connections between energy use and climate change
• investigating patterns and modes of travel to school (also links to travel and transport)
• investigating 'food miles' in school lunches (can also link to healthy lifestyles)
• investigating patterns of shopping and energy usage in the home.

Campus

• mapping energy usage in school and setting up an energy team to monitor and record use
• implementing safe routes to school for walkers
• deciding where to site a bike shelter and/or a shelter for walking parents in the school grounds
• mapping energy usage in the school grounds and costing effective solar lighting
• mapping and evaluating the school grounds with regard to energy reduction and carbon offsetting (e.g. tree planting, reed beds to recycle waste water).

Community

• communicating information about all of the above through newsletters, assemblies, websites and blogging
• surveying local public transport needs, and supporting improvements
• surveying local land-use patterns, and identifying areas for improvement, e.g. tree planting
• campaigning for visitors and parents to walk or share cars.

Sustainability in real terms requires active geography:

• to explain human-environment interactions
• to understand how events, places and people are connected at different scales
• to communicate spatial data in a variety of effective ways.

For more ideas, share this interactive poster with staff and pupils.

Other useful links:

Think Leadership User Guide
Global Dimension

Course End