http://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/learning-resources/teaching-children-abou...
all out of date but just putting this here as part of my collection on educating children about sustainability
Teaching Children About Sustainability
SCHUMACHER COLLEGE
An International Centre for Ecological Studies
TEACHING CHILDREN ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY
Caroline Walker, who taught (and cooked) for years at the Small School, Hartland and facilitated the first Roots of Learning course and wrote of her experiences.
Listening to participants at the introductory session, I became aware of the range of experiences, ages and backgrounds being brought together – teachers from private schools, from referral units, from urban primaries and rural secondaries, and artists working in the community; experienced educators alongside teachers in training and the newly-qualified. I felt keenly the responsibility of helping each person get what they wanted from the course and ensuring coherence and continuity between the learning experiences offered by the various tutors. Little did I know that my most difficult challenge would be getting participants to tear themselves away from their animated conversations at coffee breaks!
Our first day saw us outside most of the time, with Jon Cree from Bishopswood. An experienced practitioner of Earth Education, Jon took us through a series of activities in the grounds and woodland around Schumacher College. We walked with our eyes in the sky, made up a poem about a tree, we showed each other pictures in a stunning natural ‘gallery’. Later that day we walked up to Park School, where we saw how they use their grounds to enhance the children’s learning.
Sue Clifford on day 2 talked of the work of Common Ground, an organisation which celebrates local distinctiveness. In a beautiful series of images she convinced us of how precious are the, in a sense, ordinary things people value about the place they live. Common Ground invented Apple Day, when communities can raise awareness of local varieties of apple – and other fruit – and help to keep traditional skills and knowledge alive. Schools can play a vital role in this and Common Ground has encouraged many schools and local communities to plant apple trees and care for them. Fired by Sue’s enthusiasm we went off after lunch to plan Apple Days at our various places of work.
Participants had the chance to talk about their work each evening and also to do a short presentation at the morning meeting. Perhaps the most effective of these was Ganesh’s demonstration of how to make a flower holder/bird feeder out of willow. He had thoughtfully brought a bundle of willow and some jigs, and we watched spellbound as he transformed five willow wands into a thing of beauty; immediately everyone wanted to try. From then on at almost any time during the course someone was sitting in the hall weaving willow. A perfect example of teaching and learning at its best.
Prue Leith arrived preceded by her reputation as a great cook and campaigner for good food in schools. She told us about the RSA’s Focus on Food campaign, informed us about an innovative scheme to get children to eat more fruit and vegetables (check out the Food Dudes) – and then made us cook. Twenty-five teachers all trying to make fresh pasta and foccaccia dough in the Schumacher dining room was a sight to see, and some of us were too faint hearted to venture into the kitchen itself where sharp knives flashed and soup, sauce and salads materialised as if by magic.
Mary Tasker (chair of the Human Scale Education Movement) came on Day 4 to underpin our learning with a very necessary academic framework. Unless we know where our modern worldview comes from, how can we understand the power of the modern (and post modern) paradigms that shape (or will shape) our lives? Mary also explained to us the Reggio Emilia system of nursery teaching that has impressed so many educators around the world. Another fine afternoon drew us to work outside in groups on putting principles into practice.
On the final morning, Wendy gave us a proverb which neatly mirrored the themes of our days to take away –
“if you want to invest for a year, plant rice;
if you want to invest for ten years, plant an orchard;
if you want to invest for a hundred years, invest in education”.
Caroline Walker April 2002
Courses in 2002/3 :
THE ROOTS OF LEARNING: EDUCATION, ECOLOGY AND IMAGINATION
Lindsay Clarke & John Moat
October 27-November 1, 2002
Although we live in a time when education seems to be all about imparting information, it is actually through the imagination that children and adults perceive and interpret our world. This course examines the vital role of the imagination in educating both the self and others for a whole sense of life. Through writing and other creative forms of expression, participants will develop their own capacity to work with the imagination in ways which open up on wider educational and ecological concerns. This course follows a TANDEM model (the Teachers and Artists Alliance), providing an opportunity for teachers to work with experienced artists within the context of Schumacher College’s ecological perspective.
Lindsay Clarke is author of The Chymical Wedding and most recently Parzival and the Stone from Heaven. He was a teacher for 18 years, is Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Cardiff, and runs writing workshops in Bath and London. John Moat is a poet and novelist, and was one of the co-founders of the Arvon Foundation. He also helped set up, and teaches for, TANDEM (the Teachers and Artists Alliance).
THE ROOTS OF LEARNING: DESIGNING A SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
Eileen Adams, Matt Dunwell, Peter Harper & Mark Letcher
April 12-17, 2003
A bewildering array of technologies and techniques are now available to make buildings and grounds function more ecologically – from windmills to living machines, permaculture gardens to solar panels. This course brings together experts in the areas of alternative technologies, sustainable energy systems, and landscape design to discuss ways that schools can apply these methodologies in ways that are affordable, practical and educationally valuable.
Eileen Adams is an educational consultant who works with Learning through Landscapes
www.ltl.org.uk and specialises in helping involve all school members in the design process. Matt Dunwell is one of the leading permaculture designers in the UK. He founded Ragmans Lane Farm
www.ragmans.co.uk, an established permaculture farm which has been used as a teaching venue for nine years, and has been developed to demonstrate a wide range of permaculture systems. Peter Harper was originator of the term “alternative technology” and is Head of Research and Innovation at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales
www.cat.org.uk Mark Letcher is Manager of Research and Implementations at the Centre for Sustainable Energy in Bristol
www.cse.org.uk, a nationally recognised centre of excellence for sustainable energy policy and practice.
For more information about Schumacher College and its courses, please contact :
The Administrator, Schumacher College,
The Old Postern, Dartington, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6EA.
Tel : +44 (0)1803 865934 Fax : +44 (0)1803 866899
Email :
admin@schumachercollege.org.uk
Website :
www.schumachercollege.org.uk