Sustainable Development – Learning Log: The Environment
“The goal of sustainable development is to enable all people throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life without compromising the quality of life of future generations.” (Scottish Government, 2010) It is important to teach children and young people about sustainable development as it will give awareness of the environment and the changing world unbeknown to them. This topic also aids all four capacities; successful learners, effective contributors, responsible citizens and confident individuals. As a future teacher, it is important to include in depth lessons on the environment and evolving world as it will help students broaden their knowledge of their own community.
This module so far has been interesting for me. Normally, I would say I would not have a lot of interest or desire to learn about the environment and science. However, as the module started, and we began to look at a different side of our environment, I began to become very intrigued about the things I was going to learn. We were asked to look at our local urban environment and think about various things in our own town like transport, infrastructure, community spaces, and industry and work. This allowed us to engage with our towns and perhaps look at them in a different perspective. Additionally, in the first week of class, we had first-hand experience in learning about our environment but spending lessons outside and studying the nature around us. This was useful as it gave us a useful insight of what the module would entail and allowed us to aid our own learning and reflect on what we already had learnt in previous educational experiences. The Scottish Government produces very helpful documents on outdoor learning and believes that “integrating learning and outdoor experiences, whether through play in the immediate grounds or adventures further afield, provides relevance and depth to the curriculum in ways that are difficult to achieve indoors.” (Scottish Government, 2010). It is possible that outdoor learning could aid every aspect of the curriculum which could help students to strive in their strong areas or even find a new subject to be successful in.
Within the first two weeks of the module, some important, relevant skills have already been developed. Some generic skills would be; critical thinking, inquiring, collaborative team work, research-minded and creativity. Some relevant skills which are specifically related to primary teaching would be: professionalism, motivation, intellectual independence and critical engagement with evidence. These are in regard to the GTCS Professional Standards (http://www.gtcs.org.uk/web/FILES/the-standards/the-standard-for-initial-teacher-education.pdf). Considering the four levels of the Brookfield diagram, these skills are important, not just generically but also as future teachers, as this topic is can be very diverse and intricate. It is important to be able to think of the information critically and ask questions to find out more about the theme. It is essential to be able to work collaboratively and include everyone as different people will have different perspectives on things and listening to other ideas and thoughts can benefit your own learning. Within the module, these skills can be achieved as whenever we are on campus we can work in groups which allows us to be creative with each other and work collaboratively. I found this helped a lot, as I could listen to everyone else’s inputs which allowed me to boost my own thinking for the task at hand. These skills are very relevant as it forms a person’s characteristics and personality. It shows someone can be versatile and can adapt well to different situations. In the future, professionalism and motivation will be a huge aid to be a successful teacher. Therefore, these skills have huge relevance to how successful I will allow myself to be in the future.
These two pictures were taken on our first day of the module where we explored outside. This could be a useful resource for children in your own class as they can document and record what they see on their venture outside. They can develop more critical thinking and reflection skills.
These resources help to provide evidence of the environment around us. It can help pupil’s make comparisons between both rural and their local urban environment. This will help build their knowledge of the theme and allow them to engage more with their own environment around them.
From an autobiographical perspective, this theme in the module has been a good starter and very eye opening. As I said previously, at school I was never interested in the environment and outdoor learning was not a part of our learning as a pupil. However, now I can see how important it is to incorporate outdoor learning into the curriculum as it can make things a lot more enjoyable for children in the class.
From a children’s perspective, outdoor learning can be different and exciting. It will be a nice change of scenery and means they would not be stuck behind a desk. It may also be a topic they are very interested in it meaning they can excel and be confident in their learning.
In terms of peers and colleagues, they may have a better knowledge of the task and topic so can help you with resources and the actual teaching of the theme. This could be very helpful and aid you in being more successful in the delivery of the topic.
Theory and policies say that outdoor learning can strives where indoor learning cannot (Scottish Government, 2010). I believe that as the years go on, outdoor learning will become a larger and more substantial part of the curriculum, if not so already.
References
Scottish Government. (2010) Available: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/SustainableDevelopment [Accessed: 23 November 2018].
Standard For Initial Teacher Education. (2006) Available: http://www.gtcs.org.uk/web/FILES/the-standards/the-standard-for-initial-teacher-education.pdf [Accessed: 12 November 2018].
