Introduction to Education for Sustainability Workshop
This workshop is designed to increase participants’ awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the core concepts, content, and habits of mind that characterize Sustainability and Education for Sustainability (EfS), and living and working toward a sustainable future.
This workshop provides educators with a foundational understanding of sustainability, systems thinking, and how to integrate EfS into curriculum, instruction, and school culture.
It is offered in one OR two days, virtually and in-person.
The full one day session includes the interactive 'Fish Game' simulation, the 'Diminishing Resources' group activity, and discussions on Quality of Life Indicators and Natural Laws and Principles.
During day two, we go deeper with EfS standards and performance indicators, and begin an informal EfS curriculum alignment process. We map participants’ findings to determine where EfS content, skills and attitudes are aligned to existing curriculum in order to determine where to conduct the strengths assessment and/or embed EfS into units of study.
Half days are also possible.
We will address the following questions:
What is Sustainability?
What is Education for Sustainability?
Why Educate for Sustainability?
Where am I going to get the time?
How can I educate for sustainability when I have to teach to the test?
Can EfS enhance students’ experiences in Service Learning?
Are there any Project Based Learning exemplars that educate for sustainability?
Participants will:
Benefit from small group interaction and one-on-one access to EfS leader and Cloud Institute president Jaimie P. Cloud;
Generate personal rationales for educating for sustainability;
Develop a shared understanding and vocabulary of Sustainability and Education for Sustainability (EfS);
Become inspired and hopeful about contributing to the shift toward a sustainable future through education;
Walk away with tools, resources and a new perspective about what is possible through education for sustainability.
Once there is a shared understanding and vocabulary, we:
Deepen participants’ understanding of the core content areas of EfS and look for curriculum alignment and applications.
Discuss the rationale and applications for curriculum documentation and mapping, and review the components of “backwards designed”/UBD curriculum units in the context of EfS.
Engage with faculty and administrators in a comprehensive examination and application of EfS standards and performance indicators, design, documentation, mapping and alignment.
Work with instructional teams to map out pacing calendars and to begin to sketch the scope and sequence of unit flow.
Explore the attributes of Assessments that Produce Learning and self - assess your own practices in an effort to produce evidence of strengths and improve gap areas.
Request a meeting with Jaimie Cloud to learn more and find out if
an Introduction to EfS workshop is a good fit for your school group.
