An exemplification of the standards relating to qualified teacher status (QTS) in the context of ESD.
This example shows how standards contained in the TTA document Qualifying to Teach (2002) might be interpreted in the context of ESD. NB it is nothing other than a personal interpretation.
1 Professional Values and Practice
The professional code of the GTC is consistent with teachers and schools that promote sustainability as a frame of mind. This rests on widely shared humanistic values, promotes the co-evolution of human and non-human nature, and draws on a wide range of knowledge from across the sciences, arts and humanities. In translating this frame of mind into teaching and learning strategies, trainees should acknowledge the contested nature of sustainable development, its five dimensions (ecological, economic, social, cultural and personal) and the need to introduce technologies (tools, institutions and ideas) that conserve ecological resources and services; develop knowledge and skills relevant to sustainable production and consumption; promote social and environmental justice; value cultural diversity alongside biodiversity; and develop each person’s full potential.
In seeking to realise the multiple dimensions of sustainability schools should learn alongside the wider community. Teachers, support staff, and others should introduce pupils to technologies and forms of social organisation that may be considered more sustainable and the pupils themselves should play an active role in deciding which of these are introduced into the school, the locality, and the wider world. By guiding reflection and action on sustainable alternatives, teachers and others should develop pupils’ powers as critical and participative citizens.
In evaluating their teaching and considering their professional development, teachers should be guided by the ethics of sustainability and the long term needs of their pupils and society. They should constantly consider whether their work is contributing to a more sustainable world.
2 Knowledge and Understanding
Since sustainable development is a Government priority reflected in the aims of the national curriculum, all teachers should be provided with foundation knowledge and understanding of ESD. This should cover theories of contemporary social/global change, the emergence of new kinds of knowledge and frameworks for knowledge, and the ethics, substance, tools and politics of sustainable development. It should pay particular attention to discourses of sustainable development and relate these to models of democracy and citizenship that are and should be reflected in the curriculum. Teachers should understand the benefits and limitations of liberal democracy and consider other models of democracy (ecological democracy, cosmopolitan democracy) that may provide more appropriate foundations for sustainable development.
In knowing and understanding their chosen subject/s, and its curriculum and guidance, all teachers should constantly consider the values, aims and purposes of the national curriculum and the role of their teaching in promoting sustainability as a frame of mind. This may require a reordering of priorities so that knowledge and skills are valued less in their own right, or as a means of realising attainment targets, and more in terms of their role in promoting more sustainable ways of living.
The integrative or holistic nature of sustainable development means that all teachers should understand how the contributions of their subject/s and key stage/s to ESD is complemented by those of other subjects/key stages. They should be able to contribute to topic or project work in which academic knowledge and popular/local knowledge are combined in original ways to address issues of sustainable development.
New information and communications technologies provide new media for teaching and learning for sustainable development. All teachers should understand the role of media and discourse in shaping identity, the need for media literacy, and the potential of discourses of sustainable development to constructively challenge individualism and consumerism. They should also understand the power of ICT to create global communities that reflect and seek new kinds of democracy.
3 Teaching
3.1 Planning, expectations and targets
All teachers should be able to set teaching and learning objectives, plan lessons, select and prepare resources, and assess pupils’ work in ways that reflect the aims of ESD. In such planning teachers should consider orientations to learning, the different forms taken by ESD, and the need for critical and postmodern pedagogy.
In their planning of ESD, teachers should be able to take account of pupils’ developing identities, the role or popular culture and consumerism in their lives, and the need to present attractive and credible alternative lifestyles that are more sustainable.
Teachers should be able to plan fieldwork and community based learning projects that develop pupils’ understanding of ecological limits and the role of appropriate technology and good governance in promoting sustainable development. They should know where to find appropriate support and guidance when planning such work.
3.2 Monitoring and assessment
Teachers should understand action research and be able to use it to evaluate their performance and that of their pupils. Action research underpins pedagogy, curriculum development, professional development, and community development in ESD. Understanding such research means being able to distinguish between its technical, interpretive and critical forms and being able to use them in appropriate combinations.
Teachers should be able to recognise various levels of attainment in the theoretical and practical understanding of sustainable development and should be able to keep appropriate records. Those teaching at KS4 and above should know of appropriate qualifications and careers for older pupils.
3.3 Teaching and class management
In teaching the required or expected knowledge, understanding and skills relevant to their subject/s and key stage/s, teachers should pay regular attention to ESD as a cross-curricular theme.
Teachers should ensure that sustainability values are reflected in the learning environment, the presentation of lessons, and class management. The objectives, content, activities and modes of assessment in ESD should be negotiated with pupils and experiential pedagogy that develops critical thinking should play a significant role.
Teachers should be able to educate for sustainable development in ways that reflect the needs and backgrounds of pupils and the imperatives of social and environmental justice.
Teachers should be able to teach and manage pupils’ behaviour using a wide range of activities, resources and media. These should be able to use ICT to develop links with schools and communities elsewhere in the world and to foster pupils’ understanding of the development of both real and virtual communities and environments.
