Category Archives: Learning for Sustainability

Learning for Sustainability, Uncategorized

LfS at the SLF

Leave a comment

SLF_2015logo260_tcm4-846426

There is still time to register for seminars at the Scottish Learning Festival 2015.

The Scottish Learning Festival (SLF) is the key education event in Scotland welcoming thousands of education professionals.

SLF 2015 takes place on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 September in the SECC, Glasgow.

Below are some of the key seminars relating to learning for sustainability. Remember that even if the seminars are showing up as full when you register, it can be worth trying to attend on the day, as spaces often become available.

Staff will also be on hand at the Education Scotland stand to discuss learning for sustainability between 3:00 and  3:30pm on Wed 23rd and 12:30 and 1:00pm on Thu 24th.

Wednesday 23rd September

Learning for Sustainability: National Progress, Local Success

Ian Menzies, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE B1E

Participation – collaborating with children and young people to raise attainment and achievement

Paul McWatt, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE A1B

Scotland Lights Up Malawi

Alastair Davidson, Keep Scotland Beautiful, SEMINAR CODE K3A

If You Go Down to the Woods – Developing Forest Kindergartens

Marian Cairns, Forestry Commission Scotland, SEMINAR CODE B2C

‘Joined up Thinking’. Using the John Muir Award

Phil Thompson, Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre, SEMINAR CODE A2E

Social Studies Resource Launch

Lynne Robertson, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE C2E

The Unexpected Outcomes of Youth Achievement Awards

Aileen McGovern, West Lothian Council, SEMINAR CODE C1E

Establishing and developing a successful link with France

Thomas Chaurin, Institut Français d’Écosse, SEMINAR CODE K3C

How do the Scottish Teacher Education Standards and the GTCS Code of Professionalism & Conduct set parameters for teacher professionalism in Scotland?

Tom Hamilton and Lindsay Thomson, GTCS, SEMINAR CODE L2D

Better Eating, Better Learning – practical ideas to put the guidance into practice

Lorna Aitken, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE C1B

 

Thursday 24th September 

Working in tandem – using bicycles in the curriculum

Sustrans Scotland and Harestanes Primary School

SEMINAR CODE A1F

Think about it! Philosophy with children and young people

Joe Walker, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE M1F

Making it into Higher Education

Martin Davidson, The Outward Bound Trust, SEMINAR CODE A1G

PAS promoting education for all in the planning process

Julia Frost, PAS, SEMINAR CODE D2H

World War One Whole School Context – a collaborative approach

Jenny Watson, Middleton Park School, SEMINAR CODE N1H

Collaboration, shared self-evaluation and partnership with the third sector

Alona Murray, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE D1I

Making Rights Real: A Framework for Rights Based Learning

South Lanarkshire Council, Curriculum Quality Improvement Service, SEM CODE L2I

Embedding international education in school: A whole school approach to raising attainment

Lucy Young, British Council Scotland, SEMINAR CODE D2I

Air Quality Learning and Teaching Package

Ben Jackson, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, SEMINAR CODE M1I

 

Learning for Sustainability

Twig and Tigtag Announcement

Leave a comment

Twig and Tigtag GraphicWe are pleased to announce that Twig and Tigtag have been procured, through competitive tender, by Education Scotland for a further 12 months through to July 2016.  As a result, these award-winning online resources will continue to be available to all schools through Glow for use by educators and learners across Scotland.

New resources, Twig assignments and Tigtag Junior, will also be added in late autumn to the existing package available. An accompanying resource, Reach-Out CPD – a professional learning resource from Twig World to support primary science – has also been recently made available to Glow users.

As part of the national recommendations on learning for sustainability, all learners should have an entitlement to learning for sustainability. This resource provides a range of short films, ready-made lesson plans, practical activities and hundreds of images and diagrams, many of which explore key concepts of sustainability. For example,  the Twig resource for ecosystems, provides a range of short films and extension questions around effects of climate change and loss of biodiversity. The Tigtag resource on energy sources explores sustainable energy and water use and the links between society and environment.

Learners and practitioners (including those in early learning and childcare, additional support needs, primary and secondary school settings) are encouraged to make use of these resources which can be found on the App Library of Glow.

Global Citizenship, Learning for Sustainability

Global Citizenship News and Resources

Leave a comment

Scottish teachers are able to benefit from a wide range of free resources produced by charities and NGOs to support global citizenship education and learning for sustainability. The online magazine Stride, produced by the IDEAS forum in Scotland, is a very helpful means of finding out about new projects and materials for education. The summer 2015 edition includes an article about a Literacy project linking Scotland and Rwanda , features such as ‘taking global learning outdoors locally’ , and class activity suggestions.

The IDEAS forum is also behind “Signposts for Global Citizenship“, a new searchable collection of resources which can support education practitioners.

One fresh example is a resource created by education staff at Oxfam, ‘Maths and Global Citizenship’, which describes how maths can be taught with a global citizenship approach. They argue that “Global Citizenship provides real-life contexts which engage learners’ curiosity and make them want to use maths to explore patterns and formulate ideas about the world. The motivation for mathematical learning often hinges on its application. Therefore using real-life statistics is a great way to demonstrate the purpose of maths to learners and to inspire them.

In early 2014, Oxfam found that the world’s 85 richest people owned the same wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population. By January 2015, this number had fallen to 80. What story about inequality do these statistics tell? Are the numbers reliable? How was the research carried out? Does everyone agree with these figures? Learners can develop their mathematical understanding both in making sense of such data and by investigating its context and validity. Through a Global Citizenship approach to maths, learners critically analyse the statistics they are exposed to in daily life; make connections between the local and the global and then share their understanding with others.”

Learning for Sustainability

Young Reporters Scotland

Leave a comment

yreCircleImageWebKeep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) have launched a national journalism programme for young people. Young Reporters Scotland (YRS) is a sustainable development initiative which offers young people the opportunity to build their skills and experience in journalism and be part of an international group producing creative solutions to issues within their communities.

Schools and community groups running relevant clubs and activities are invited to enter the 2015 national competition by submitting entries which investigate an environmental problem or sustainability issue.  A range of suggested themes are designed to support entrants to identify topics.  Creativity is encouraged so entries can be in a range of different media; articles, blogs, videos, animations and photographs are all eligible.

Find out more, register to take part and access support materials at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/yrs or email enquiries to lyndsay.sutton@keepscotlandbeautiful.org.

Learning for Sustainability, Outdoor Learning

‘Out to Play’ with Eco Drama

Leave a comment

LfS wordcloud

During a number of recent events and presentations about learning for sustainability, I have displayed the above word cloud with the question “Where do we start?”. Different practitioners offer different responses. My response is to assure everyone that where you start is far less important than actually getting started and making the connections between the many exciting areas of this agenda.

Making connections is exactly what Ben Mali MacFadyen from Eco Drama has been doing throughout the Out to Play project. Working with children and teachers across Glasgow, Out to Play seeks to facilitate interaction with the natural world through quality artistic experiences, re-thinking traditional views of nature as merely ‘sites’ and ‘reserves’, noticing and appreciating nature on our doorstep. Eco-Drama

Sessions have been tailored to the unique surroundings of each school, and through imaginative play & adventurous learning, Out to Play aims to deepen young people’s connection to our natural world.

Ben’s blog  offers a detailed and reflective account of the process thus far, providing some wonderful insights into the children’s learning. He has also shared a number of very practical ideas and approaches for engaging pupils in the outdoors.

For further information on Education Scotland support for outdoor learning, click here.

Global Citizenship, Learning for Sustainability, Outdoor Learning

Kenyan Connections Conference: Inverness, Monday 8th June

Leave a comment

Kenyan Connections is a partnership between Crofting Connections and NECOFA Kenya School Gardens Initiative which works with rural schools and communities in the Eastern Rift Valley of Kenya.

Four Crofting Connections schools have been awarded funding through the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme to host exchange teacher visits with Kenyan schools, using food growing in the school gardens as a starting point for learning about local food production and for delivering learning for sustainability.

This conference is part of a visit to Scotland by Kenyan teachers to the participating Crofting Connections schools. It provides  a valuable CLPL opportunity for teachers, as the Scottish and Kenyan partner schools share their learning with other schools.

Speakers include Dr Margaret Bennett, writer, folklorist, singer and broadcaster; Dr Rehema White, lecturer in Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews; Samuel Muhunyu, director of NECOFA Kenya, and Catriona Willis, Global Learning coordinator at Highland One World.

For further information and to book a place at this event, click here.

 

 

Learning for Sustainability, Outdoor Learning

Learning for sustainability: outdoor learning showcase

Leave a comment

Page 14 - Activity 2Dreghorn Primary School in North Ayshire will host an LfS-focussed outdoor learning showcase on Thursday 28th May from 4pm to 6pm. The event is aimed at practitioners and leaders across North, East and South Ayrshire and is bookable via the North Ayshire CPD service.

Presentations from practitioners, learners and Education Scotland staff will be followed by a “market place” event where delegates can discuss outdoor learning approaches with a range of key partners. Grounds for Learning, the Soil Association, the Royal Highland Education Trust, the John Muir Trust, Outdoor and Woodland Learning Scotland, Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Adventure Centre for Education will be joined by the North Ayrshire Ranger service.

These providers will be on hand to offer advice and support on delivering outdoor learning as a regular, progressive curriculum-led experience for all learners.

For further information, contact Julia Kerr at Dreghorn Primary School.

 

 

 

Learning for Sustainability

GLOW Meet – Weather and Climate Change

Leave a comment

weather and climate change

Holidaying in Ibiza or even backpacking across Europe was not an option last summer for four inspirational undergraduate students from all across Scotland, who spurned the ordinary and instead single-handedly organised an extraordinary trip to the Arctic.

The main purpose of the trip was to study how climate change is affecting the landscape and the people of the Arctic.

Team leader, Cameron MacKay, was motivated to go on the trip due to his strong interest in climate change. To record the effects of climate change they used camera drones, art and social research. They responded to what they saw through creating music and art work.

To hear more from Cameron and the rest of his team tune in to our Glow meet on Wednesday 27th May, 10.45 – 11.45. They will be showing footage of the trip and answering your questions.

Take a look beforehand on Education Scotland’s Weather and Climate Change page http://bit.ly/WeatherandClimateChange Click on Climate Change then Climate Change in Greenland.

This Glow meet is aimed at upper primary and lower secondary.

To register : https://meet.glowscotland.org.uk/climatechange/event/event_info.html 

Global Citizenship, Learning for Sustainability

Global Citizenship Primary Conference

Leave a comment

scotdec-logoThe national recommendations on learning for sustainability (LfS) require all practitioners to embed LfS in their everyday values and practice. SCOTDEC is hosting a free one day conference on Thursday 14th May, entitled ‘Global Citizenship Matters’. It is aimed at primary practitioners and leaders, providing a space to share, reflect and network. Practical workshops including storytelling, numeracy, health, sustainable living and rights and participation will provide an opportunity to explore a range of global contexts and LfS themes and approaches.

Click here for further details and booking information.

Learning for Sustainability, Outdoor Learning

John Muir Graphic Novel – Teaching Resources Available

Leave a comment

JMAWill your school be celebrating John Muir Day on the 20th April? Looking for resources to explore the life of the “Father of our National Parks”? A graphic novel based upon the life of John Muir and produced by the Scottish Book Trust is available to download. Teaching support notes and pupil activities across all curricular areas also accompany the book. Muir’s story is brought to life in a new way, and the novel is intended to develop a deeper understanding and awareness of the natural environment and the importance of protecting wild places.

For further information on the John Muir Award click here.