ESF : Reorienting Formal Education



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Recommendations from the Workshops

Reorienting Formal Education

• Vision, policy and strategy
• Pedagogy
• Capacity building
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Partnership and networking

Vision, Policy and Strategy

Vision statements given by the participants:

To make everyone a life long learner (students, teachers, stakeholders in formal and non-formal education)
To make the world a better place
To be more caring
To empower people to take control of their own lives
To make them aware of risks and hazards they are faced with and contributing to
To consider and acquire scientific basis of environment
For critical, active citizenship for sustainability with holistic understanding
To enable people to live and take decisions leading to sustainable future
To make people aware of their responsibilities and accountability for their local environment
To take informed decisions
To respect themselves and others / settings values and principles
To create leaders towards collective efforts towards jobs, justice freedom and food
To develop life styles that support sustainable living
To equip students with problem solving skills and train teachers to deliver the messages effectively.
The formal education system to foster sustainable environment on scientific basis.

Responses and Additions

The culture of traditional Indian society was that of saving. In the process of globalization, culture of society is transforming from saving to consumeristic. We need to develop a caring society.
Vision statement should not exclude people who do not know these words who are in majority.
We need comprehensive, systematic and holistic statements
ESD should be the vehicle to promote responsible use of earth resource for this and future generation.
A good vision is an evolving process involving dialogue.
How common man works towards achieving the vision of ESF
It is difficult to form one vision statement. Every local unit should identify their own goals yet we need standard vision.

Pedagogy
We need to be adaptive AND transformative

	Issue	Strategy
1	What curriculum structure? We should create an overall national framework but promote significant local ownership and structure. Recognising that young people and society have needs which can only be met through local ownership of the curriculum	Reduce the role of the centralised curriculum structures in developing centralised programmes and change their brief to be responsible for overall curriculum frameworks and support, based on the needs of local schools and communities. Schools should create local curricula based on national overall frameworks.
2	What values are the foundations of our learning? We should foster common values that focus on meeting needs within the limits of natural capital Recognising that we have current setoff values that equates happiness with consumption	Work with schools and communities to develop their own set of sustainability values statements - and relate these to all aspects of school life.
3	Who does the teaching? We should involve members of the local community, NGOs, and young people themselves. Recognising that young people learn from society and each other not just teachers	When planning learning schools should ensure that the local community is used as a resource Systems should be established to help local communities feel comfortable in contributing towards young people's learning.
4	Schools as models of sustainability We should ensure that schools work in a sustainable way - socially, economically and naturally Recognising that young people learn through observation and what happens in real life.	Establish networks of Sustainable Schools based on economic social and environmental criteria where teaching is complemented by management processes and policies Example - FEE Eco Schools Network Develop a schools eco foot print process to guide a measurement of sustainability. Example - Victoria (Australia) Eco footprint tool Develop sustainable building guidelines for schools Example - UK Building guidelines
5	Action to Action We should ensure that we have an approach to change that encourages community action and then better action Recognising that information and awareness do not just on their own do not promote change	Schools and communities should develop action plans to build sustainability and work together to implement these in a systematic way. Example - Samvardhan II
6	Indigenous knowledge We should ensure that young peoples' learning makes full use of local knowledge about the local environment. Recognising that communities have a tremendous amount of local knowledge and learning that is often not valued and often lost	Local knowledge should be integrated into the development of local curricula by schools.
7	Understanding of ESD We should ensure that we have an approach to SD that focuses of developing economic and political systems that promote sustainability as well as individual behaviour change Recognising that our current approaches to sustainability focus on individual behaviour and do not consider the root cause issues.	Materials should be developed to promote challenging approaches to SD, and teachers and communities trained to give understanding of key issues.
8	Training of Teachers We should build the capacity of teachers to lead and deliver the learning in a student centred open learning process	Develop completely new models of pre service and in-service teacher training to ensure teachers have the capacity to be effective in a sustainable school context.
9	Methodology We should promote open learning processes building on the knowledge and experiences of young people encouraging critical thinking and real student centred approaches. Recognising that young	Train teachers to be able to deliver learning using a variety of student centres approaches such as open processes, critical thinking, decision making and futures approaches. Develop models to demonstrate how learning can be effective through focusing on holistic approaches to local, national regional and global issues

All of which should lead to LOCAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES
All the issues need to be tackled as part of a holistic approach in the creation of local learning communities.

Capacity Building

	Issue	Strategy	Key Players
1	Need Motivation	Extrinsic (awards, certificates etc) Peer recognition Partnerships and networking	Trainers (teachers, Education Board, policy makers, NGO's, Community leaders)
2	Content of capacity building	Need-based Participatory development Locale specific and future orientation	Teachers, Community, Research institutions
3	Reorientation of the curriculum	Participatory learning	Teachers, text book developers, exam question setters, exam boards (Students / Children)
4	Target audience	Reach beyond teachers	Teachers, educators, administrators, NGOs, parents, leaders, business houses
5	Implementation	Improve follow up Effective feedback mechanisms Action research Repeated capacity building Monitoring and evluation	Teachers, administrators, researchers and NGOs
6	Sharing � learning	Sharing learnings / experiences during capacity building Network (learning communities)	Trainers and trainees Government Agencies

Responses and Additions

Children are the important key players and need to be considered
Match / link with the curriculum helps in motivation
Match the activities of environment with the curriculum
Availability of resource is one of the main issue to be addressed in capacity building
For sustainability and location of schools at proper place may help in motivating capacity building
Repeated exposures to capacity building help in motivating the teachers
Look at successful models
Provision should be made for trained teachers to share the learning's gained from the training programme in the school. A special time may be allocated for this purpose.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Ideal and ideology for change (Ideal for transformation)
Vision for transformation
Evaluation leading to ideology

Issues

Evaluation should go beyond memory and rote to include practice and activity.
Quick and Narrow evaluation can be problematic.
Cataloging tick box, narrow log frame assessment are seldom helpful
Assessment criteria of draft DESD on page 53 don't link to objectives on page 5.
Capacity in participatory evaluation is needed.
Processes are as important as outcomes
Lifestyle choices around engaged living practices are needed
Study material needs evaluation
Information management is needed

Strategies

One should clarify the objectives and orientation of the evaluation before evaluation commences
Evaluation should be on going � pre, during and post
Should be congruent with educational ideology
Data should include case profiles including social and cultural issues.
Local case stories can provide depth and link to the curriculum
Mobilize communities prior knowledge and understanding (indigenous)
Ecological footprints tools can help for testing own ideas and assumptions.
Local scientific indicators should be encouraged, generated and managed at the local level.
Portfolio assessment can compliment the exam system

Key players

External evaluation has a place
Communities can play a role in generating localized data and working with it. (Elders, school children and parents.
Teacher Trainers need support in evaluation techniques through ESD exposure
Formal education should link to local bodies (communities)

Responses and Additions

A system of validating the scientific indicator is required
Assessments can be in 3 domains Cognitive, Psych motor and Affective. Performance can be assessed through grades than marks.
Is it possible to evaluate for ESD? Huge amount of evaluation has been done in preparing the UNDESD document.
We have no frequency of evaluation. Evaluation should be frequent and revise accordingly.
Add the words �literate and well aware� local body than mere local body.
Consider the qualitative assessment.

Partnerships and Networking

Issues

Cutting across the barriers / mindsets of the people (politico- socio- cultural barriers)
Changing life style patterns
Conserve natural resources and heritage

Strategy

Understanding and accept experiences of others
Have shared vision
Identify local partners
Adapt models and good practices
Need inventory of resources, institutions, people, resources
Work within the system

Key Players

School system
Relevant government agencies
NGOs
Relevant international and regional agencies
Community (parents and local leaders)
Religious leaders
Business and industry
Chamber of commerce
Corporate sector

Networking is an effective tool to cut across politico socio and economic benefits to come together with a shared vision to conserve natural resource to promote sustainable future.

Responses and Additions

We should work with open system than closed system
Teachers and text book developers should work together
Curriculum developers and receivers should work together
Strong teacher and people partnership in developing curriculum
Curriculum draft is prepared and circulated to teachers and final draft is made in Maharastra (India). Even parents are considered.

Click here to view the concept paper that formed the basis for the workshop discussions...


				This conference has been undertaken with part financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)