“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 for future generations” (Scottish Government, 2010).
As a summary, the Scottish Government have summed up sustainable development perfectly. Being able to satisfy basic human needs while at the same time improving, not deteriorating, the world for future generations. Sustainable development is also about making the world last longer, so our human race gets to live healthier and happier lives and enjoy the benefits that this brings. In today’s society pollution and the overuse of natural resources is what is tarnishing the world. By doing this, societies are creating a better life for themselves, which is of course great, however at the same time, deteriorating it for future generations as they are overusing very scarce valuable natural resources for example oil and air.
The environment, very vaguely, is everything. It is the air we breathe in, the grass we walk on, the river we fish in and the land we live in. Personally, I feel very passionate about the environment as I want to live a sustainable life but more importantly, I want my grandchildren to be able to live as good a life that I have, so far. This forward thinking and constantly thinking about the consequences of our actions today and the effect they have on tomorrow, is what sustainable development and the environment is all about. All aspects of the environment are interconnected but also interdependent for example nature relies on good quality air in order to flourish in the Spring and Summer months and living things need the sea to be clean and not polluted in order for them to live and grow. I think a common perception of the environment is that it will just always be there, no matter what. Too many people take it for granted and don’t understand the consequences their daily actions have for example how driving to work when you could walk has on air pollution. This is false though as if everyone takes it for granted then it won’t last in years to come. Global warming is not just a catchphrase, it is very real, and it is becoming more and more imminent each day. The seriousness of the environment is what I have learned the most and I am able now to reflect on my own life and my own practises and see how I could change for the benefit of the environment.
As a class we looked at our local environment around the university and looked to see if we could find certain types of living and non-living things. For non-living we looked at lichen and tree leaves, trying to distinguish between the different types that are out there in the world. For living things, we looked at our local ‘Bug Hotel’, a make shift home for bugs and little creatures that live in our surrounding area. This was a project set up by university students to try and engage more people with the environment and understand that we aren’t the only living thing in the world. This was an incredibly rewarding lesson in terms of me implementing it within my own classroom in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I could see it through the eyes of a child and how much they would get out of it. These transferable skills are what I will take with me throughout my entire career and continually develop on (GTCS, Standard for Initial Teacher Education, 2006). Children naturally love to be outdoors so if we can install in them as much as we can about the environment and the benefits of saving it then they will become passionate and after all it is their future they are shaping. Curriculum for Excellence at all levels want children to explore, describe and appreciate the environment they live in. Adults tend to be more reserved when it comes to nature and don’t quite like to get their hands dirty, but children are the exact opposite and will quite gladly dig through mud to identify and research other living things.
Within the environment topic I looked at a TED Talk called ‘Incredible Edible’ and it was somewhat inspiring. Incredible Edible was a local project that started in 2008 by a small group of volunteers from a little village of Todmorden. They saw areas of their community that were unused and unloved and had a vision of turning them into something practical and environmental. In short, this movement grew from a small group of volunteers to the entire community ranging from farmers to secondary school pupils being involved in putting this small village on the map. Incredible Edible has reenergised the environment in a productive way that allows people to get something back has now been replicated in more than one hundred ways across the country (Incredible Edible, 2008). Incredible Edible was inspiring to me as it showed me that Pam and Mary, the two women leading the motion, literally changed the lives of their entire village by themselves. Todmorden will never be the same again and it’s this commitment and dedication that I find inspiring.
Throughout this topic I have learned many valuable skills that relate to teaching but also generic skills that I will continually develop throughout my career. Teachers must work effectively in co-operation with other professionals to constantly promote learning (GTCS, Standard for Initial Teacher Education, 2006). In relation to this element of the standard, I had to work collectively as a team with my peers in the most part of this topic. I then had to work myself on my reflective blog posts and Incredible Edible task. Team work is not a skill that I have just learned, however it is a skill that I have developed and refined. A huge part of team work is about being able to listen effectively and respond appropriately. I think this relates to teaching also as the class teacher and the pupils have a special relationship and it is a relationship that works best when both are listened to and understood. A personal skill that I have previously mentioned was in regard to being influenced and motivated through the Incredible Edible task. A teacher inspires a generation and in doing so much be passionate about what they teach. Seeing a project like Incredible Edible has influenced me to make a change in some way, with or without the help of my classroom children.
Being able to reflect is one of the best traits a teacher or even a person could have. Being able to look at a situation and see what worked and what could be improved on allows you to continually develop no matter how long you have been in the industry. The environment topic has allowed me to become more passionate about something I already am fascinated with. I have reflected on my seminars and my independent tasks and have already began to create a ‘back catalogue’ of teaching tasks and resources that I will utilise when out in school. Personally, I think you gain most when you have an open mind about life in general but within academia also and that is how I plan on finishing my degree but also how I plan on teaching my future classes.
References & Resources
General Teaching Council for Scotland (2006) Standard for Initial Teacher Education. [Online] Available: http://www.gtcs.org.uk/web/FILES/the-standards/the-standard-for-initial-teacher-education.pdf [Accessed 24 September 2018]
Incredible Edible.(2008) [Online] Available: http://www.incredibleedible.org.uk [Accessed 25 September 2018]
Smart Learning for All (2015) Living and Non-Living Things. [Module Resource] Available: Plants and Living Things module on Moodle. [Accessed 26 September 2018]
Scottish Government (2010) Learning for Change Report. Edinburgh: Scottish Government
Woodland Trust. Nature Detectives. [Online]
Available: http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/naturedetectives/ [Accessed 25 September 2018]
