Jaimie Cloud was invited to speak at the Teaching and Learning Forum 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.
The Education Development Institute’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.
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We support the design and development of curriculum and instructional materials that educate for sustainability, and are documented, mapped and aligned to academic standards. We also support the building of assessments that measure and produce meaningful learning.
Let's explore together what Understanding By Design/Backwards Design has to do with Education for Sustainability (EfS), what other popular frameworks and strategic initiatives align to the EfS Standards and Indicators, and what integrating EfS into your core curriculum and instruction will look like.
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Join us for the popular Intro to Education for Sustainability (EfS) 1-Day Workshop or a full week of Curriculum Design & Coaching
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.
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For many organizations this year, survival-mode has been the norm. In the opening keynote of the NeuroLeadership’s 2022 Summit, you’ll learn how to get out of depletive and exploitative mindsets to set your organization up to adapt faster and make the shift toward sustainability and regeneration.
“I think it's incredibly exciting that the brain science can help us with moving from where we've been to where we wanna be... to the future we want.”
- Jaimie P. Cloud
In June 2020, New Jersey became the first state in the U.S. to incorporate K-12 climate change education across content areas when the State Board of Education adopted the 2020 New Jersey Student Learning Standards. Jaimie Cloud is a member of the Thought Leader Committee for this report.
New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy was a strong supporter of this initiative, and praised the State Board for its action. “The adoption of these standards is much more than an added educational requirement; it is a symbol of a partnership between generations,” said Murphy in a statement.
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Whole School Approach (WSA) provides a framework for re-orienting and redesigning education considering emerging global sustainability challenges4. It invites a holistic, systemic, co-creative and reflexive effort by all stakeholders involved in education to meaningfully engage students in complex sustainability challenges.
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Gwinnett Students Vigilance Keeps Lots Of Food Out Of Trash Can by Arlinda Smith Broady
Gwinnett County schools were participants in a nationwide initiative on food waste and its impact on the planet. Students’ findings have led to changes that mean a lot less food ends up in the garbage.
At Mason Elementary, one of 13 Gwinnett schools in the Food Waste Warriors Project the 3rd grade class took on the task of determining how much food is wasted, why it’s wasted and finding ways to turn those numbers around. The students succeeded in reducing food waste by 53% over 12 weeks.
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Celebrating Big Ideas
EfS Benchmarks for Individual and Social Learning
Big Ideas are also known as “Enduring Understandings”. They operate at the level of principles that are transferable. They describe the concepts that students will understand, and that will have lasting value in the real world over time.
The EfS Benchmarks for Individual and Social Learning recognizes the processes that include a whole system of dynamic and interconnected elements considered essential to educating for a sustainable future. The Big Ideas collectively frame the other essential elements of EfS and distinguish EfS from other fields of study.
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Using Online Curriculum Mapping tools, a procedure for documenting, mapping, viewing, reviewing, analyzing and evolving the operational curriculum in a classroom, school and/or district [a departure from the old paper binder days] was introduced in the mid 1990’s by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. Several companies have created mapping software and google drive is home for the curriculum maps of many schools. The benefits of curriculum mapping include increased student achievement, optimized collaboration among teachers, vertical articulation and continuity of curriculum, lateral interdisciplinary cohesiveness, and an innovative, flexible approach to teaching and learning.
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We educators are responsible for preparing young people with the knowledge, skills and habits of mind that will build their capability to thrive over time. It is our role to understand and facilitate learning that equips us all to navigate the unique challenges that define our era — reversing global warming and adapting to climate change; regenerating the integrity of ecosystems; achieving social justice; developing sustainable, just and humane food systems; revitalizing the health of our oceans; improving the well-being of people; protecting biodiversity; and accelerating the shift toward a green economy and clean, renewable energy.
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With support from GreenFutures, a program of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), the Fairmount Water Works, the educational outreach arm of the Philadelphia Water Department, the Cloud Institute and a cohort of elementary faculty from the SDP developed and piloted two new Units of Study for the 4th and 5th grades to expand FWW’s 6-UNIT Middle School Curriculum (grades 6-8 ) Understanding the Urban Watershed Curriculum. These 4th Grade and 5th Grade Units provide an opportunity for upper elementary school teachers to connect their students to the community and to the environment outside of their classroom, and to one of the most fundamental elements of all living things-water. Together, teachers and students explore their role and responsibility to individually and collectively protect and sustain this shared resource for today, for tomorrow and for future generations.
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Check out the Climate Change Education Resource Guide for Schools produced by the team at the Center for Sustainability and Climate Education at the Dutchess County BOCES. Find ideas, resources and activities to start the conversation about our climate and the actions that we, our students and colleagues can take as global citizens.
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We don’t know too many schools and districts that are teaching about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030.
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Living and Breathing Education for Sustainability - Sequoia Group Singapore EfS Podcast. In this podcast Jaimie discusses creating awareness, fostering commitment and guiding actions towards a healthy, secure and sustainable future.
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