Working towards Target 2030 : supporting the development of new targeted sustainability initiatives in education settings in Scotland

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Quirke, William and McCrorie, Kathryn (2024) Working towards Target 2030 : supporting the development of new targeted sustainability initiatives in education settings in Scotland. In: 12th Annual Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD), 2024-09-19 - 2024-09-21.

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Abstract

Learning for Sustainability is an umbrella term uniquely used in Scottish education to jointly refer to Education for Sustainable Development, Global Citizenship and Outdoor Learning. Learning for Sustainability is the responsibility of all practitioners, as specified by the General Teaching Council for Scotland in the Standard for Full Registration (GTCS 2021) and the entitlement of all learners according to Education Scotland (Education Scotland, n.d.). The publication of the Learning for Sustainability Action Plan 2023 – 2030 by the Scottish Government in June 2023 (Scottish Government, 2023) highlights Learning for Sustainability as a national priority area. The action plan sets an ambition for all 3-18 places of learning to be sustainable educational settings by 2030. This academic poster outlines the activities undertaken by full time primary, secondary and higher education educators enrolled as part-time postgraduate students on a MEd Learning for Sustainability module that supported them in developing new targeted sustainability initiatives in their own places of work. Through participating in an initial reflective task based on the UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development priority action areas of advancing policy, transforming learning and teaching environments, building capacitates of learners and educators, empowering and mobilising youth, and accelerating sustainable solutions at local level, students identified an area of opportunity in which they could plan, deliver and evaluate a sustainability initiative in the educational environment in which they worked. A presentation on their initiative and a written reflection on how their understanding of Learning for Sustainability has developed during the course of the programme formed the module assessment. The success of this module is found in its impact which has resulted in over 4,500 young people engaging in Learning for Sustainability based initiatives in the last 5 years alone. This is a direct result of their teachers taking this module. In addition to module leader and tutor reflections, module evaluations and feedback provided by students support the effectiveness of this practical approach towards sustainability education and identify it as a successful method of providing meaningful and impactful career long professional learning for educators.

ORCID iDs

Quirke, William ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6734-7379 and McCrorie, Kathryn ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4260-3873;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)