Winter News | Oxford International Sustainability Curriculum + 2024 Design Studio

Introduction to EfS will immerse participants in systems thinking games and simulations, group discussions about economics and quality of life, and the science of sustainability.

Stories and case studies will be shared, we will explore contemporary ideas in EfS and we will envision what is possible when we educate for sustainability.

During the Curriculum Design Studio, we will use backwards design/ Understanding by Design (UbD), to re-orient, innovate, build, and map curricula designed to meet academic standards in addition to EfS standards, performance indicators, and enduring understandings - without additional class time.

Join us for the popular Intro to Education for Sustainability (EfS) One Day Workshop or a full week of Curriculum Design and Coaching.

---

We're Proud to Announce the New Oxford International Curriculum for Sustainability!

The Cloud Institute is proud to announce the new Oxford International Curriculum for Sustainability! Now more than ever, teachers are increasingly looking for ways to bring the attributes of Education for Sustainability into the classroom, and today’s young people are counting on all of us to learn how to work together to make the shift toward a sustainable future.

The Cloud Institute is working closely with the Oxford International Curriculum team at Oxford University Press to build the vertically articulated series of project- based learning experiences from 1st year to 9th year (K-8 in the U.S.).

We wrote the Learning Outcomes and Assessment Framework for the series and are working closely with the lesson authors to make them come alive for students and teachers in classrooms all over the world!

---

Apart, Together - A Book About Transformation

Educating for sustainability means inspiring children to think about the world, their relationship to it, and their ability to influence it in an entirely new way. Children learn the knowledge, skills, and mindsets to work towards their preferred future - a new paradigm for living with one another on Earth that celebrates our capability to thrive over time in the context of a rapidly changing and interdependent world.

Apart, Together - A Book About Transformation uses everyday scenes such as gardening, mixing color, playing a sport, and playing with blocks, to invite children and their grownups to read, discuss, play, imagine, and together, be curious about the connections that make up their world.

Having these types of conversations helps children build the muscle to see not only objects — a bee, soil, a soccer player— but to imagine how the interconnections and interactions among those objects can create something entirely new.

With each new page, critical thinking skills grow (such as observation, prediction, and sharing their ideas about how change happens) and the brain itself grows! And whether you’re 5 or 55, imagining how different parts interact to produce the results we see, is the first step in “systems thinking.” Developing early habits to imagine interconnections helps children feel more confident when dealing with complex problems as they grow.

---

Planting The Seeds of Sustainability

Planting the seeds for a sustainable future starts early for these young students. It's at the core of one charter school's mission from how it's built, to what it serves.

We are happy to share this CBS feature about Mundo Verde Public Charter School, a PreK-5 bilingual school that serves students across two campuses in Washington D.C.

The Cloud Institute has been working with Mundo Verde for several years now because they are dedicated to educating for a sustainable future. It’s working!

---

Announcing the 2024 Green Schools Conference

The Green Schools Conference (GSC) brings together everyone involved in creating and advocating for green schools, focusing on those leading their schools and school systems toward whole-school sustainability. Now in its 14th year, the three-day event provides a platform for the green schools community that inspires and facilitates the progress of the green schools movement.

Each year, the conference program includes a variety of educational formats that offer a deep dive into the most pressing green school topics within the areas of environmental impact, health and wellness, environmental and sustainability education, and whole-school sustainability culture.

Visit greenschoolsconference.org to learn more.

---

The EfS Reservoir of Curriculum Exemplars

The EfS Reservoir is a multi-media repository of exemplars aligned to the EfS Benchmarks. The exemplars include quality curriculum units, courses, assessments, performance criteria, student work samples and eventually stories, interviews, discussions, images, narration and film that will illustrate the contexts and the impact of this work in schools and communities.

Do you have exemplary curricula or lesson plans that showcase the attributes of Education for Sustainability? We invite you to share your lesson plans and learning experiences for professional review. Help us grow the collection for quality curricula that educates for sustainability.

---

Your Support Is Appreciated

The Cloud Institute exists to ensure the viability of sustainable communities by leveraging changes in PreK-12 school systems so that we may prepare young people for the shift toward a sustainable future. Friends like you make it possible.

Your donation gives us the flexibility to create new opportunities for the teachers, students and the communities we serve.

OPINION: Jump in, the water is rising — it’s time to educate students for a sustainable future

by Jaimie P. Cloud for the Hechinger Report

We get what we educate for. That’s why it’s time to educate for the future we want: healthy, just and sustainable for ourselves and for generations to come. There are lots of ways to begin.

In early grades, connecting children to the places where they live helps them learn to take care of those places — so the places can take care of them over time. Teachers and students can learn by doing place-based projects together, all the while meeting and exceeding required academic standards in authentic and meaningful ways. Distinguishing weather from climate is a good foundational step. Children can also collect and publish oral histories about a place. They can test water and soil, plant trees, compost and build soil fertility. They can “green up” their schoolyards; they can garden and grow food.

Honoring Herman Daly

image of herman daly from rightlivelihood.org

Herman Daly, Ecological Economist, Professor, Author, passed away on October 28th, 2022. Herman was one of the first contemporary economists to pioneer the notion of an ecological economic system. His work continues to be instrumental to ours. In 2008 the Cloud Institute received a contract to write a curriculum unit on “sustainable economics” for secondary students called The Paper Trail: Connecting Economic and Natural Systems.

I immediately called Herman’s office at the University of Maryland. I wanted to ask Herman if he would lend us some graduate students as content advisors to help us teach secondary students about ecological economics. Herman’s response was thrilling. He said, “Jaim—I think I better do it myself—because I would like to see how the heck you are going to get this way of thinking to secondary students!”

He and Robert Costanza worked closely with me and the two authors, Win Armstrong, Ecological Economist and Margaret Mansfield, Curriculum Developer and Teacher of Economics to build that exemplar with gusto. I will never forget the generosity, the humility, and the not-so- common-sense with which Herman participated in those design meetings--asking more questions than he answered, and answering our questions with his.

The world will miss a great man and great economist. - Jaimie P. Cloud

Click the link below to read articles by Herman Daly.

Fall Newsletter | EfS Standard Sustainable Economics

Education for Sustainability Standards and Performance Indicators: Sustainable Economics

The knowledge, skills, attitudes and habits of mind of Education for Sustainability (EfS) are embedded in The Cloud Institute's Education for Sustainability Standards and Performance Indicators.

Aligned to national and state educational standards, each EfS Standard has a set of coded Performance Indicators used to guide educators as they infuse their school culture, curriculum, instruction and assessment practices with Education for Sustainability. We believe that by meeting these EfS standards, young people will be prepared to participate in, and lead with us, the shift toward a sustainable future.

Sustainable Economics is Standard D and includes the evolving set of theories and practices of economics that integrates the economic, and social systems with the ecological systems required to support and maintain life on the planet. Students will know and understand 21st century economic practices and will produce and consume in ways that contribute to the health of the financial, social, and natural capital.

---

Presenting at the Teaching & Learning Forum in Qatar

Jaimie Cloud was invited to speak at the Teaching and Learning Forum sponsored by the Education Development Institute (EDI) at the Qatar Foundation in Doha, Qatar in October 2022.

The events theme was Learning in Service and Action; Creating meaningful connections, and developing local and global learning communities.

Jaimie shared the “what” and the “why” of Education for Sustainability and explored the kind of thinking required to teach and learn in schools to contribute to the future we want. She also facilitated a new session on “All the ways we Un-Intentionally Educate for Un-Sustainability” which was very well received by participants.

EDI’s Teaching and Learning Forum 2022 called educators to mobilize pedagogical approaches which integrate knowledge, skills, dispositions and understandings with community service action, as an integral part of the learning process to address societal, ecological and community needs within and beyond the school sites.

Follow Education Development Institute on Instagram

---

Register for The Green Schools Conference 2023

February 27 - March 1, 2023
Sheraton New Orleans

The Green Schools Conference (GSC) is the only event to bring together all the players involved in making green schools a reality: people who lead, operate, build and teach in schools. Designed to educate, connect and inspire, attendees of the three-day in person conference will explore interdisciplinary content during general sessions, while also having dedicated time with peers to work through specific challenges, share best practices, and generate momentum to further green school actions across the country.

---

We’re Now Working with Chinese International School

The Cloud Institute is now working with Chinese International School to develop curriculum exemplars for every grade level and discipline.

Curriculum innovation is connected to the school’s Vision ‘33 goals for personalized learning and the sustainability pledge.

CIS is a community of learners at the confluence of East and West, empowered by a bilingual, inter-cultural program to discover new paths, build bridges, and flourish in pursuit of excellence, commitment to service, and stewardship.

---

The Cloud Institute exists to ensure the viability of sustainable communities by leveraging changes in PreK-12 school systems so that we may prepare young people for the shift toward a sustainable future. Friends like you make it possible.

Your gift to The Cloud Institute gives us the flexibility to create new opportunities for the teachers, students and the communities we serve.

How To Be Socially Impactful As A Young Person

As part of the annual Sustainability Week with DC BOCES in April 2022, student and Climate Justice Activist Xiye Bastida shares her story about how she began creating awareness on the urgency of the climate crisis at school, then citywide and soon worldwide.

Here she conveys that even if you are young, you can make yourself heard when you have a solid argument and a personal story. Xiye gives ten tips on how to become involved in the climate justice movement as someone passionate about creating a livable future for all.

About The Speaker: Xiye Bastida is a 19-year old Climate Justice Activist who advocates for the centering of frontline communities in the Climate Movement. She was born in Mexico as part of the Otomi-Toltec Indigenous community where she saw the impacts of the climate crisis first hand when her town flooded in 2015. She began organizing climate strikes with Fridays For Future when realizing the power that youth have in changing the narrative. In 2020, she co-founded Re-Earth Initiative, a youth-led organization that focuses on highlighting the intersectionality of the climate crisis. Xiye is the author of the opening essay in All We Can Save. She attends the University of Pennsylvania where she is pursuing a degree in Environment Studies and Latinx Studies.

Kids Inherit The Earth

Kids inquire: What are our rights in the cafeteria?

In starting to think about the way we, as civic-minded humans, relate to our planet, our team zoomed in on a relatable microcosm of democracy - the school cafeteria. A cafeteria is clearly a bountiful common (shared) space - and a veritable cornucopia of conflicting civic values for 5th graders, which is our grade focus. It’s a place all kids have a relationship with and strong opinions about.