Learning for Sustainability: young people and practitioner perspectives

6. Conclusion and refresh recommendations

The conclusions are presented under the five priority areas from the 'One Planet Schools' (2012) and the 'Vision 2030+ Concluding Report of the LfS Implementation Group' (2016) in order to highlight the synergies with these documents and demonstrate where new strategies and processes may be enacted.

Learners should have an entitlement for Learning for Sustainability

The findings and discussion sections above make clear that young people believe that they have an entitlement to LfS but their options are currently limited.

The first issue is the language associated with LfS. Many had not heard the term "Learning for Sustainability" but were familiar with other terminology such as climate change, environmental education or Forest School. However, when discussing LfS in the World Café settings, they associated many areas of understanding gained through school (often through memories of primary school), CLD settings or in the community. This highlights the general awareness young people have about sustainability issues, in spite of the language issues, and demonstrates that it is gained through a variety of routes. Standardising terminology and ensuring it is used throughout the curriculum would reduce the confusion and make content about sustainability more recognisable and accessible.

What is learned about LfS in schools emerges through specific subjects such as the sciences and geography related lessons. While there are some examples of project learning in schools and CLD settings, these are short-term and engage relatively few young people. Practitioners support the young persons' right to LfS but are constrained by workload, curriculum priorities, time, and funding. COP26 did impact on the LfS opportunities but not across all sites. The extent to which these were embraced was dependent on school resources, flexibility and the good will of practitioners to integrate the relevant content. However, young people want and need to see LfS integrated throughout their school curriculum and CLD programmes in order for it to be a dynamic and engaging awareness in all contexts and therefore a meaningful part of their lives.

Young people believe they should have greater opportunities for outdoor learning. This will support the synergy of practice and theory allowing them to relate LfS to the outdoor settings, to integrated curriculum areas and to many contexts in the community. Practitioners require additional time and understanding of outdoor education opportunities in order to implement this practice. It is clear that outdoor learning opportunities need to be broadened and made far more frequent to meet this need.

Young people want agency. They want to be consulted on how LfS is integrated into the curriculum and to be able to make decisions about the ways in which they can work with it in partnership with schools/CLD settings and in the community. They want to make meaningful contributions and make a difference to their schools, their communities and their lives.

Recommendation 1: Standardise terminology and ensure it is used throughout the curriculum to reduce confusion and make content about sustainability more explicitly, recognisable and accessible.

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

Recommendation 3: Enhance opportunities for outdoor learning so they are more frequent and broader in scope.

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

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 believed they demonstrated LfS in their practice. World Café and focus group participants also believed they did so but within the constraints of their subject area, time and resources. They acknowledged that the young people may not recognise the content of their engagement as LfS and many of the practitioners did not acknowledge that they were engaged in LfS. The prompts provided in the World Café resources linking LfS to many other areas of the social, civic and educational realms of life enabled more discussion of the ways in which their subjects were related. This realisation also highlighted the extent to which much more could be done to integrate LfS into the curriculum. A number of actions are needed to make this a reality.

Similar to the young people, terminology relating to LfS is an issue for practitioners and standardisation of it is recommended. Integration of LfS into school/CLD policy and at local authority level is recommended to guide practice and identify required outcomes.

Time is required for practitioners to integrate LfS content into their respective areas of teaching and engagement. Time is also needed to attend training events to support learning and collaboration with colleagues about innovative LfS practice. Additional planning time for practitioners may also be required in the earlier stages of this work to normalise the process of LfS integration.

Funding is required to support training of all staff but also employment of LfS leads in every school. This would help to ensure that policy is disseminated, practitioners are aware of and collaboratively enacting good practice locally and regionally, and that LfS activities are mapped across school and CLD settings.

Recommendation 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.

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

Recommendation 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.

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 policy and training initiatives recommended above support the development of a whole-school approach to LfS, but additional initiatives are required to achieve this aim.

Participants made clear that the whole-school approach is not yet being fully realised in the local authorities included in this research, although emerging elements were evident. Findings highlight the value of including all stakeholders: young people, community and family members and school leaders, in contributing to the whole-school approach. Young people made it clear they wanted agency including engagement in how LfS is integrated through schools/CLD settings and the ways in which they engage with the broader community. An LfS lead in the local authority and at school/CLD level would be a first step in developing robust channels of communication. Steering groups with rotating membership for family, community, school practitioners and young people would provide an opportunity for ongoing planning and monitoring of LfS initiatives. Such groups would be supported by the school/CLD leadership and the local authority. Their remit could include the following.

• planning and monitoring of integration of LfS in school and CLD settings
• assisting in identifying appropriate training for integration of LfS
• planning and supporting inter-sectoral engagement in LfS activities in the community
• working with the local authority on projects where broad stakeholder groups could participate and contribute

Recommendation 8: Appoint LfS leads in local authorities and at school/CLD level.

Recommendation 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.

All school buildings, grounds and policies should support Learning for Sustainability

Participants thought that policy needs to be developed to support LfS at all levels. This includes school and CLD sites, local authority and national level. Practitioners made it clear that policy needs to clearly identify and articulate the following.

• the expectations for integration of LfS as a core curriculum principle
• role of stakeholders involved in implementing LfS
• the scope for schools and CLD settings to localise the policy implementation
• opportunities for support and funding
• the recommendation from young people that LfS needs to be a core school value to support their future and that of the community

The findings indicate that school grounds and buildings can be developed to incorporate technology related to LfS and could be considered as a practical cost saving measure and – critically - a learning example. This includes renewable energy generation where possible, development of school/ community gardens with robust plans for engagement and maintenance, places where young people and practitioners can enjoy being outdoors with elements of the natural world and where habitat for local species is supported.

Recommendation 10: Develop policy to support LfS at all levels. Ensure it includes LfS as a core value for schools and CLD settings.

Recommendation 11: Consider ways in which school and CLD grounds and buildings can be developed to incorporate renewable energy generation where possible, development of school/community gardens with robust plans for engagement and maintenance, places where young people and practitioners can enjoy being outdoors with elements of the natural world present and potentially where habitat for local species is supported.

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

Few participants in this study were familiar with the Learning for Sustainability Vision 2030+ report and the LfS Action Plan. The existing strategic national plan should be redeveloped to overcome the barriers identified in this study and to support the refreshment of the LfS Action Plan. This plan needs to incorporate the UN SDGs; NPF; Scottish Attainment Challenge; Developing the Young Workforce; STEM Education Strategy; and GIRFEC. It also needs to incorporate principles for living a sustainable life as identified by the Paris Agreement Framework Convention on Climate Change (United Nations, 2015), COP26 and 27.

The refreshed strategic plan should provide additional opportunities for representative stakeholder groups, and in particular young people, to participate in their respective communities. Regional implementation of the national plan would be coordinated by local authorities and evaluation of the regional implementation, against pre-established performance indicators conducted by a stakeholder group.

The strategic plan should highlight LfS as a core principle in education for young people and communities. This would help to identify the pathways required to implement regionally adaptable LfS as curriculum options, funding, infrastructure, training and support for practitioners, which necessitates ensuring LfS is a core requirement in ITE, CLD programmes.

Recommendation 12: Redevelop the existing strategic national plan to overcome the barriers identified in this study and to support the refreshment of the LfS Action Plan. This plan needs to incorporate the UN SDGs; NPF; Scottish Attainment Challenge; Developing the Young Workforce; STEM Education Strategy; and GIRFEC, and principles for living a sustainable life as identified by the Paris Agreement Framework Convention on Climate Change (United Nations, 2015), COP26 and 27.

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

Recommendation 14: Task local authorities with implementation of the national plan and evaluation of its regional implementation. Include regional stakeholder groups in evaluation of the plan against pre-established performance indicators.

Recommendation 15: Highlight LfS as a core principle in education for young people and communities. Identify the pathways required to implement regionally adaptable LfS through curriculum options, funding, infrastructure, training and support for practitioners. Designate LfS as core component requirement in ITE and CLD programmes.