Learning for Sustainability: young people and practitioner perspectives

Executive Summary

Introduction

This research was commissioned by the Scottish Government as part of the refresh of the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) 2030 Action Plan. The researchers were asked to investigate the following questions.

• how LfS is understood and implemented by the school and Community Learning and Development (CLD) workforce
• to learn from LfS 'best practice' taking place around the system
• the voices of young people and practitioners to feed directly into LfS policy and the refresh of the Action Plan
• the successes and challenges LfS has faced since 2019
• the impact of the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) on LfS

Background and context

In 2019, the Scottish Government published its Action Plan for Learning for Sustainability, stating that children and young people in Scotland have an entitlement to learn about sustainability. This was set against a backdrop of sustainability-related activities. In 2014, at the end of the UN's Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014, it was reported that the Scottish Government's commitment to develop the concept of 'One Planet Schools' (Higgins, 2014) took on added significance. LfS was developed and informed by the work of the 'One Planet Schools' working group and the 'Learning for Sustainability National Implementation Group'. This work culminated in the 2016 Vision 2030+ report which recommended five priorities for LfS. These priorities are used to outline the key findings and recommendations for action.

Methodology

A mixed methods approach was undertaken for this snapshot small-sample research, incorporating a quantitative scoping survey and in-person focus groups with eight local authorities using World Café and 3 Horizons methods. Data collection methods included audio recordings, sheet notes, still images and post-it notes. In total 80 individual transcripts were shared across the research team for analysis.

Summary of findings

The five strategic priorities from the 'One Planet Schools' (2012) and the 'Vision 2030+ National Implementation Group' (2016) have been used to give short executive summaries of the main findings alongside proposals for the LfS Action Plan refresh. The findings and analysis provide a snapshot of what is currently happening in Scotland and a clear picture of what stakeholders would like to see happening to support LfS in schools, CLD settings and communities. Calls to action from the Children's Parliament research with children from nursery to S3 have also been included as a synthesis of the overall research project.

Learners should have an entitlement for Learning for Sustainability

The findings make it clear that young people believe they have an entitlement to LfS but their options are currently very limited.

• young people do not recognise the term LfS but can talk to many elements of sustainability related issues when prompted with resources that create explict links
• young people have a general awareness of sustainability issues, gained through a variety of settings
• young people engage with LfS in schools through specific subjects such as the sciences and geography related lessons
• there are some examples of project learning both in schools and CLD settings but these opportunities are short lived and engage relatively few young people – for example, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) provided LfS opportunities for young people but not across all sites
• young people believe they should have far greater opportunities for outdoor learning and that this will support the synergy of practice and theory allowing them to relate LfS to the outdoors in their school and community settings
• young people want to be consulted on, and influence, how LfS is integrated into the curriculum within schools/CLD settings and in the community

Recommendations:

1. standardise terminology and ensure it is used throughout the curriculum to reduce confusion and make content about sustainability more explicity recognisable and accessible

2. integrate LfS throughout the school curriculum and CLD programmes to promote a dynamic and engaging awareness of sustainability issues in all contexts and make it a meaningful part of the lives of young people

3. enhance opportunties for outdoor learning so they are more frequent and broader in scope

4. provide meaningful and genuine opportunities for young people to exercise agency in contributing to LfS in their communities and include LfS in national discussions of educational transformation

Children's Parliament Call to Action link:

• children and adults should have opportunities to work together on children's rights, climate change and sustainability
• children should be able to regularly learn about climate change and sustainability outside in nature
• children are passionate about climate change; their views, ideas and opinions should be included in how and what they learn about this subject

In line with the new GTCS Professional Standards, every practitioner, school and education leader should demonstrate Learning for Sustainability in their practice.

• most respondents in the scoping survey (Section 3) believed they demonstrated LfS in their practice
• focus group participants also believed they demonstrated LfS in their practice but within the constraints of their subject area
• both acknowledged that young people may not recognise the content of their engagement as LfS and many of the practitioners did not state whether or not they were engaged in LfS
• practitioners feel they do not have time to integrate LfS into their subject programmes or the required knowledge to do so
• practitioners said they need in-house guidance with a dedicated LfS lead in each school and local authority

Recommendations:

5. integrate LfS into policy at school, CLD and local authority level to guide practice and support stakeholders to identify good practice and related outcomes

6. provide time and training for practitioners to integrate LfS content into their respective areas of teaching and engagement

7. appoint LfS leads in every school to ensure policy is disseminated, practitioners are aware of and enact good practice locally and regionally and that LfS activities are mapped across school and CLD settings

Children's Parliament Call to Action link:

• adults in school and adults who decide what we learn, need to learn about the climate emergency too
• all adults, especially Scottish Government, should take urgent action to provide a healthy, happy, and safe environment and planet for children now and in the future

Every school should have a whole-school approach to Learning for Sustainability that is robust, demonstrable, evaluated and supported by leadership at all levels

• the whole-school approach, as reflected through integration of LfS in curriculum, policy, school grounds layout and features, energy generation/use and recycling practice, has not yet been fullly achieved in the local authorities included in this research

Recommendations:

8. appoint LfS leads in local authorities and at school/CLD level

9. create steering groups with LfS leads and rotating membership for family, community, school practitioners and young people for ongoing planning, monitoring and evaluation of LfS initiatives

Children's Parliament Call to Action link:

• all adults, especially Scottish Government, should take urgent action to provide a healthy, happy, and safe environment and planet for children now and in the future
• children are passionate about climate change; their views, ideas and opinions should be included in how and what they learn about this subject
• children and adults should have opportunities to work together on children's rights, climate change and sustainability

All school buildings, grounds and policies should support LfS

• practitioners believe policy needs to clearly articulate the following expectations:

• integration of LfS as a core curriculum principle
• the stakeholders involved in implementing LfS
• the scope for schools and CLD settings to localise the policy implementation
• opportunities for support and funding
• processes for evaluation
• LfS needs to be a core school value to support their future and that of the community
• school grounds and buildings need to be upgraded to incorporate technology related to LfS and human engagement with the natural world

Recommendations:

10. develop policy to support LfS at all levels and ensure it includes LfS as a core value for schools and CLD settings

11. consider ways that school and CLD grounds and buildings can be developed to incorporate renewable energy generation where possible, including the development of school/community gardens

Children's Parliament Call to Action link:

• all adults, especially Scottish Government, should take urgent action to provide a healthy, happy, and safe environment and planet for children now and in the future
• children should be able to regularly learn about climate change and sustainability outside in nature

A strategic national approach to supporting Learning for Sustainability should be established

• few participants in this study were familiar with the existing LfS Action Plan

Recommendations:

12. redevelop the existing strategic national plan to overcome the barriers identified in this study and to support the refresh of the Action Plan for LfS

13. provide additional opportunities in developing the refreshed plan, for representative stakeholder groups, and in particular young people, to participate in their respective communities

14. task local authorities with implementation of the national plan and evaluation of its regional implementation and include regional stakeholder groups in evaluation of the plan against pre-established performance indicators

15. highlight LfS as a core principle in education for young people and communities and identify the pathways required to implement regionally adaptable LfS through curriculum options, funding, infrastructure, training and support for practitioners

Children's Parliament Call to Action link:

• children and adults should have opportunities to work together on children's rights, climate change and sustainability
• all adults, especially Scottish Government, should take urgent action to provide a healthy, happy, and safe environment and planet for children now and in the future