Sustainable
development is
learning to look
ahead
Core Curriculum Learning for
Sustainable Development
Basic education 4 - 16 years of age
An example from The Netherlands
SLO • Netherlands institute of curriculum development
Sustainable
development is
learning to look
ahead
Core Curriculum Learning for
Sustainable Development
Basic education 4 - 16 years of age
An example from The Netherlands
Ton Remmers
SLO • Netherlands institute of curriculum development
October 2008
Colophon
Justification
© Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development (SLO), Enschede, the Netherlands.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a computerised
database, or published, in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.
Author:
Ton Remmers
(Sustainable Teachers’ Training Colleges),
Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, NCDO,
With thanks to my colleagues from:APS, CITO, CodenameFuture, Duurzame Pabo’s
Advice:
For information:
Kidslive / Opeduca, Netherlands Ministry of
Saxion Hogescholen, Scholen voor Duurzaamheid (Schools for Sustainability) / IVN, SenterNovem / Programmamanagement Leren voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling (Programme Management Learning for Sustainable Development), SLO, Groningen University, Utrecht University, Wageningen University
Prof. Dr. Wiel Veugelers, University for Humanistics / Amsterdam University
Hans Hooghoff and Jeroen Bron, SLO
SLO, Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development
Marian Nijhuis
P.O. Box 2041, 7500 CA Enschede, the Netherlands
Telephone +31 53 484 03 36
Internet: http://www.slo.nl
Email: [email protected]
Design and production:
Axis Media-ontwerpers, Enschede
AN-number:
7.4607.130
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
‘Sustainable development as a concept and ideal to be striven
for is a fairly recent phenomenon and has come into being
during the last three decades of the previous century. The
actual realisation of sustainable development has only just
begun - it’s an extraordinary assignment for the generation
that is now assuming responsibility.’ Ruud Lubbers
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Contents
Foreword
7
Introduction
9
1. Introduction: a motivating eye opener
11
1.2 The essence of Learning for Sustainable Development
15
1.4 Synopsis
17
1.1 Why a Core Curriculum Learning for Sustainable Development?
1.3 Social support
11
17
2. School and society
21
2.2 Curriculum questions for social topics
21
2.1 Context
3. Thoroughly sustainable: a vision on future-oriented education
3.1 Vision
21
25
25
3.2 Implementation
26
4. Frameworks, opportunities, choices
35
4.1 Autonomy issues
35
4.2 Sustainable Development: an educational mission
36
4.4 Characteristics of Learning for Sustainable Development
41
4.3 Core concepts and core topics
5. About warmth and truth
38
45
5.1 The content’s core
46
5.3 Curricular strands
48
6. Learning for Sustainable Development: the future
51
Literature
54
Summary
59
5.2 An example: Sustainable Development in the world-orientation subjects
47
Appendices:
62
62
1. Account of a consultation concerning the draft
Core Curriculum Learning for Sustainable Development
2. Policy context
3. Attainment levels / core objectives Primary Education/
Secondary Education and Sustainable Development
Footnotes
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72
75
88
Foreword
Youth has the future. We, the adults, are the legators of a world and a society for which we
want our children to want to assume responsibility. But what future are we leaving them?
How sustainable is the quality of the social, economic, and ecologic world we are leaving in
their care?
Sustainable development has become a central topic of conversation in political and social
debates. We are quite spoiled in our part of the world, we have almost too much to choose
from. Sustainable development, however, requires choices that are often quite different
from those brought to mind by our primary impulses. Choices that do not only concern our
own, direct interests. The trick is to learn to take the interests of others into consideration
when making our decisions. Whereby the ‘interests of others’ do not just concern those
living in another part of the world, but also those living in different, future circumstances.
Which is complicated indeed. It involves quite some learning on our part. And education
plays an important role in this.
By publishing this core curriculum, the national expertise centre SLO, the Dutch Institute
for Curriculum Development, contributes to the interpretation of this role. As commis-
sioned by the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science, and through
the national programme Learning for Sustainable Development, this core curriculum
presents a guiding framework for the assessment of current teaching materials and
methods and the development of new ones. During a number of discussion rounds, the text
was presented to representatives from science and education in order to obtain reactions.
From these reactions, we perceive a broad social support for this core curriculum.
We have only just begun. This is no more than the first step on a long, never-ending road.
After all, sustainability is something you’ll never quite achieve. Sustainability is something
to continue to strive for. As it becomes a part of you, you become a part of it. It’s like
learning, which is also a life-long effort.
Prof. Dr. J.J.H. van den Akker
General Director SLO
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Introduction
Sustainable development begins with children. They occupy their own position in the
present world and are the bearers of the future one. Education provides an important
environment in which children learn about issues of sustainability.
A core curriculum provides the core of the attainment levels - the minimum levels of
knowledge and skills children must have attained about a topic. In this case, the minimum
attainment levels of Sustainable Development. That is why this core curriculum intends to:
• describe the essence of Learning for Sustainable Development;
• provide an inspiring guiding framework for school management, teachers and authors of educational material;
incorporate the aspects of sustainable development into their educational practice;
authors of educational material;
for Sustainable Development.
• operate as an eye opener and motivator for school management, teachers and authors to • create commitment to sustainable development in teaching practice, in teachers and • present a frame of reference for the assessment of the quality and content of Learning This core curriculum is not yet finished. Considering the nature of this topic, this isn’t even
possible. We consider it to be a developing document, which allows educational developers,
authors of teaching material, and the schools themselves to decide upon further implementation, make their own interpretations, add to it, and modify it where necessary.
Based on this core curriculum, SLO will develop instruments that will help schools with the
implementation thereof. SLO does this within the context of the national programme
Learning for Sustainable Development. This programme was set up by a number of Dutch
Ministries - Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality; Housing Regional Development and the
Environment; Education, Cultural Affairs and Science; Economic Affairs; Transport and
Public Works; and Foreign Affairs/Overseas Development - as well as the Dutch Provinces
and the district water boards, the latter of which are united in the Dutch Union of District
Water Boards. Learning for Sustainable Development contributes to a society in which
citizens, companies, organisations, and authorities learn about sustainable development
and are desiring, willing, and able to contribute to it.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
1. Learning for Sustainable Development: a motivating eye opener
1.1 Why a Core Curriculum Learning for Sustainable Development?
Policy context
Over the past years, sustainable development has gained priority on political and social
agendas. The United Nations Millennium Objectives, among other issues, formed the basis
for this 1. In the Netherlands, the increasing sense of urgency has resulted in a prominent
position for sustainable development in different policies. In the policy programme 2,
sustainable development is headed by the general guiding phrase ‘Duurzaam moet je doen’
- freely translated as ‘Sustainability is a verb’ - and is explained as follows:
‘Sustainable development requires a coherent approach of the development of economy,
society, and careful husbandry of Mother Nature. Sustainable development also applies to
long-term developments, and the ways we anticipate these and act upon their anticipation.
Many social issues require a sustainable approach, leading to specific challenges for each
particular policy effort.
With the interpretation of the policy programme, the government revealed its ambition to
take a big step on the road to sustainable development. An innovative economy, a high
quality of the living environment, social participation and cohesion, a well-functioning
constitutional state and government, both in the Netherlands and abroad, together form the
pillars of sustainable development. The government will carefully monitor this cohesion
during the implementation of the policy programme and will periodically report the achievements.
In addition to this interpretation of sustainability in its policies, the operational management of the government itself will also become more sustainable. It’s not just a matter of
sustainable purchasing, but also of energy conservation, employee mobility, sustainable
building methods, and a balanced personnel management aimed at diversity and opposing
discrimination and exclusion on the employment market.’
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11
Definition
The term Sustainable Development officially stands for ‘a development in which the needs
of present generations are met, while leaving the possibilities intact for future generations to
meet their own needs’ 3. Three important concepts are stated: People, Planet and Profit 4 - in
short, the three Ps. Sustainability in development grows as there is a growing balance
between the ecological, economic and social effects of human conduct.
For pupils, this especially concerns their connection with the world that immediately
surrounds them; the world in which they live, learn, work and interact - their living
environment. The pupils’ living environment comprises their school, their home, and their
leisure locations. A living environment is all that surrounds people.
These environments concern nature (plant and animal life, geology, weather and climate,
cycles - in a word: Planet) and culture, both material and immaterial, i.e. all the value added
by people (buildings, infrastructure, agriculture, fields and forestry - in a word: Profit). And
in this relationship between man and his living environment, the environment affects
man, and man affects the environment. And, of course, man affects man (People). The
management of this living environment requires the willingness to take responsibility and
to act in a righteous and fair manner.
A vision on Learning for Sustainable Development
Children occupy their own position in present society and are the bearers of the future one.
Both inside and outside of school, they learn to actively contribute to a sustainable future in
which they will be able to live and work.
Education is partly responsible for the realisation of a sustainable society. The function of
education is to teach people the basic knowledge, skills and attitudes with which to be able
to look ahead, make responsible choices, and come up with sustainable solutions.
What came before
Over the past two decades, Learning for Sustainable Development has become deeply
ingrained in a number of other educations, such as citizenship education, world orientation,
development education, environmental education, health education, intercultural educa-
tion, and peace education. It stimulates children in their development and their orientation
in a complex world. In addition to this socialising function, it also contributes to the
pedagogical function of education by asking ethical-philosophical questions.
Leading up to Learning for Sustainable Development, the Netherlands is fortunate in that
Environmental education have always received ardent attention. The link between Environmental education and - especially - basic education seems an obvious one. During the first
few years of primary education, the child’s orientation on the world around him is basal,
small-scale, and close-by. These young children are oriented upon, surprised by, care for,
and experience natural and environmental issues close to home and these aspects need to
12
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
form the basis for lessons in world orientation. As the children’s perception of the environment grows and becomes more complex, these lessons can be scaled up to include a wider
world view.
However, children are also a part of their living environment: they see and hear what is
going on around them, on television and in real life. They view a world that is far away and
become interested in it. Therefore, a second starting point may be Citizenship Education.
Education is meant to prepare people for active participation in society. Sustainable
Development offers youngsters the opportunity to focus upon their future roles as world
citizens. Sustainable Development is not possible without the engagement and participation of the population, including youngsters. Learning for Sustainable Development and
Citizenship Education share important basic principles. In fact, one follows from the other.
The legal status of Citizenship Education (in schools) seems a logical step in the direction of
a broader acceptance of Learning for Sustainable Development. In addition, both traditional
and new subject areas, such as Nature, Life and Technology (NLT) and philosophy, offer
starting points for Learning for Sustainable Development.
This development from the more traditional Environmental education to Learning for
Sustainable Development is expressed quite clearly in the domain description for pupils
aged 10 - 14, published by CITO, the Dutch Central Institute for Test Development. It describes four basic insights, which together point at the developing content of the concept of
Sustainable Development:
1. the organisation of nature, of which man is an inextricable part;
2. the increasing and sometimes excessive use of natural resources by man;
3. the principle of equitable distribution of earthly goods among all people;
4. the combination of the three previous basic insights, which leads to learning for
sustainable development.
In the further development of this core curriculum (see also Chapter 6), these four basic
insights can be used as a basis for tests.
A challenge and an opportunity
The concept of sustainable development provides a great challenge - as well as a great
opportunity - for education. Learning for Sustainable Development touches the real, day-today living environment of pupils, parents and teachers. Attention for sustainable development touches the very core of education: to prepare pupils for their future, their role in it,
and their responsibility for it.
Sustainable development requires choices to be made and creative solutions in case of
adverse interests to be found. Therefore, people should want to make an effort to ensure a
world that is able to meet the needs of people in future as well. People should understand
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
13
that, in order to ensure a sustainable world, we need commitment and new knowledge.
People should be able to carefully balance various interests and have respect for other
people and cultures. People, in short, should be able to develop into responsible world
citizens. And education should provide the necessary inspiration, stimulate creativity, and
teach people to become critical thinkers who are able to closely collaborate 5.
Two important strategies affecting this process are providing information to the present
generation of adults - who are the responsible decision-makers of today - and providing
education to the future generations of adults - who will be the responsible decision-makers
of tomorrow.
The pupils of today have their own position in society and are the world citizens of tomor-
row. Therefore, the Netherlands Ministry of Education asked SLO to increase their focus on
sustainable development in basic education. The first step is this Core Curriculum Sustainable Development for Basic Education. The Minister explicitly indicated that attention to
sustainable development should bear a relationship with the recently introduced Citizenship Education Act, which is aimed at active participation and social integration. This
relationship should be based upon the concept of ‘World Citizenship’.
Sustainable development offers pupils the opportunity to discover their own living
environment. As the pupil grows older, he will gain more insight into the complexity of this
living environment. The broader concept of Sustainable Development - people - planet profit - will gradually appear.
Wish Village: pupils improve their own neighbourhood
In the project De Wenswijk (freely translated as Wish Village) primary-school pupils colla-
borate with council and district organisations to make their own neighbourhood more fun,
more attractive, and generally a better place to be. They investigate topics such as ‘clean’,
‘green’, ‘energy’, ‘play’, ‘traffic’ and ‘safety’ in their neighbourhood. Next, they make their
wishes known to the community. Wish Village stimulates the school and the children to get
in touch with inhabitants and authorities in the neighbourhood and to communicate their
wishes using special communication means, as well as to make their own concrete contribution to the realisation of their wishes. All this is done after a request or invitation from the
council.
The website www.wenswijk.nl basically contains all information needed by schools and/or
councils to set up their own project of Wish Village. A Wish Village toolkit is available from
the national team of coordinators.
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Wish Village provides a stimulating and flexible way for municipalities, schools, facilities of
Environmental education, and district organisations to collaborate with children in improving their neighbourhood. The project actively involves children in the liveability of their
neighbourhood. It allows children to take a closer look at their own living environment and
present their wishes and ideas about its improvement to the community in a clear and
powerful way. This way, the children provide a fresh, new perspective on a clean, attractive
and safe neighbourhood. Collaboration between school and council adds meaning to their
participation. By now, the project has been set up in some forty municipalities, in over fifty
different schools.
A practical example: Primary school De Telgenborgh, Almelo. Each year participated in the
project. The younger children focussed on the prevention of dog dirt in the neighbourhood.
Groups 5 and 6 acted as environmental inspectors in their own school’s playground and
took a field trip to a water-treatment plant. The groups 7 visited the district water board and
the exhibition Poepgoed (all about ‘poop’) in IJmuiden. The pupils of group 8 visited a wasteincineration plant and conducted a neighbourhood survey about reuse.
Source: www.wenswijk.nl; www.sme.nl
1.2 The essence of Learning for Sustainable Development
In the context of ‘the autonomous school’, schools are given more autonomy concerning
content and programme planning. Meanwhile, the government continues to provide the
framework. To this purpose, core objectives and attainment levels have been formulated
and determined upon. Several relevant core objectives for primary education and attainment levels for the new lower school in secondary education can be indicated 6. The
appendices contain a non-exhaustive survey.
In any case, it must be clear what the core, i.e. the minimum levels of knowledge and skill,
should be of this curriculum 7. These will eventually become the criterion. That is why this
core curriculum intends to:
• describe the essence of Learning for Sustainable Development;
• provide an inspiring and guiding framework for school management, teachers and authors of educational material;
the aspects of sustainable development into practice;
• operate as an eye opener and motivate school management, teachers and authors to put sustainable development is learning to look ahead
15
• create commitment to sustainable development in teaching practice, in teachers and authors of educational material;
Education.
• present a frame of reference by which to test the quality and content of Sustainable This Core Curriculum will be directed at the educational practice, i.e. teachers and school
management, and the Department of Educational Development, i.e. curriculum developers
and authors of educational material.
Dry Feet in the Dutch Provinces of Groningen, Drenthe and Overijssel
Droge Voeten, ‘Dry Feet’, is a project in which all aspects of water management are focussed on. Youngsters assume the role of journalist in the world of water management and
research the possibilities to prevent flooding in future. They talk to real experts from district
water boards, provinces and site managers about the problems and perform research in
their own environment.
The project Dry Feet, by Schools for Sustainability, was concluded in the provincial govern-
ment building of Assen on Thursday 19 April 2007. Representatives of sixteen school classes
presented their results here, to real experts of provinces, district water boards and site
managers. They made use of PowerPoint presentations, short films, and a scale model to
show what happens after a terrain is flooded. Pupils from the third year of vwo (pre-univer-
sity education) said: ‘It was great fun to be able to talk to real experts.’ ‘You learn a great deal
from it; it is a more professional approach.’ ‘You become your own teacher as you search the
internet and present your results to the experts.’
The educational method - i.e. the storytelling method - may be conducted as a series of lessons, covering a single subject or subject-transcending. It could also be carried out in a way
that cuts across the school timetable. The website www.droge-voeten.nl provides a digital
learning environment, in which pupils can look for information and publish reports. Tea-
chers receive a complete scenario of the project, in order to adjust depth and presentation
method to particular groups of pupils, school situations or organisations.
Source: www.scholenvoorduurzaamheid.nl
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
1.3 Social support
Much research was done for this core curriculum, covering sources of Dutch and international literature.
The core curriculum should be positioned within the framework of the interdepartmental
programme ‘Learning for Sustainable Development’.
Although the phenomenon of sustainable development remains rather hidden, its presence
within the Dutch educational system appears quite lively indeed. This may be concluded
from the great number of websites by organisations and schools that deal with the topic,
the increasing number of well-attended conferences and workshops concerning sustainable development, and the growing number of networks of institutions and organisations -
including schools - that are based upon this topic. Recent research shows that the public is
greatly concerned about the liveability of the world in the - near - future. This concern is
shared by the youth of today 8.
Next to the source studies, the draft text of this core curriculum has been presented and
was discussed with two specially composed advisory groups: one from the scientific field
and one from the educational field. In addition, the subject-transcending topic and its
interpretation was presented to panels of representatives from educational practice and
science, under the command of prof. dr. Wiel Veugelers, connected to the University for
Humanistics in Utrecht and the University of Amsterdam. The reports of these panel
discussions are included in Appendix 1.
1.4 Synopsis
The government requests society, in particular the schools, to put sustainable development
on the agenda. What does this imply for the knowledge and skills pupils have to master?
Schools can make their own choices as to whether and how it is included in their programmes. Will schools indeed pick up the thematics?
(Chapter 2, School and society)
The vision on Learning for Sustainable Development and the role of education in it was
represented above as follows: ‘Children occupy their own position in present society and
are the bearers of the future one. Both inside and outside of school, they learn to actively
contribute to a sustainable future in which they will be able to live and work. Education is
partly responsible for the realisation of a sustainable society. The function of education is to
teach people the basic knowledge, skills and attitudes with which to be able to look ahead,
make responsible choices, and come up with sustainable solutions.’ This is entered into in
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
17
further detail in Chapter 3.
(Chapter 3, Thoroughly sustainable: a vision)
Education has a purpose, a goal. And this goal should include education about sustainable
development. Therefore, we will describe objectives, characteristics, core concepts and core
topics for education about sustainable development. While doing so, we want to point to
the ways in which it is already interwoven with today’s educational system, as well as list
the criteria of Learning for Sustainable Development.
(Chapter 4, Frameworks, opportunities, choices)
Sustainable development is not a subject that has appeared out of the blue. It is a part of a
social trend. It’s a development that reaches beyond the ‘illusion of the day’. What aspects of
sustainable development should be dealt with in basic education and how? First of all,
sustainable development should not become a separate subject, but the concept should be
embedded in existing and new subjects, such as geography, history, science, world orientation, Nature, Life and Technology, philosophy, and religion.
It should be noted that people are bound to have differences of opinion about what
sustainability entails, and to what extent it is necessary. What may be desirable for one
person, does not necessarily have to be so for another. There will always be conflicts of
interest. Whether development is considered sustainable, or whether an intervention is just
or responsible, depends on the weighing of the pros and cons of economic, social, political,
cultural, natural and individual factors. It’s an ethical, philosophical, and ideological
question. These insights are interpreted in a ‘content’s core’ for Learning for Sustainable
Development.
(Chapter 5, Warmth and truth)
This core curriculum describes the basics for a phased implementation of Learning for
Sustainable Development in basic education. In the final Chapter, we will briefly describe
our intended approach.
(Chapter 6, Learning for Sustainable Development: the future)
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Samsam: working together on global topics
Each year, in March and April the children’s magazine Samsam organises a web expedition:
for five weeks, a central topic (world citizenship) or a country (in 2008, this is India) is discus-
sed. During this period, Dutch pupils can ask questions and exchange information with their
peers in the country concerned. A digital exchange takes place through games, riddles and
films. Prior to the web expedition, five films are recorded and presented to schools on DVD.
SamSam is published seven times per year by the Dutch Commission for International Col-
laboration and Sustainable Development NCDO and is read by 470,000 pupils from the final
years of primary education. The magazine is complemented by an extensive website where
pupils and teachers can find information, projects and games around the monthly topic.
These always concern the life of children, nature and animals around the world. All information from previous issues and volumes is found on the website as well: www.samsam.net.
Source: www.samsam.net
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
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2. School and society
2.1 Context
Education helps pupils to develop themselves and prepare themselves for their functioning
in society and the job market. The content connected with it is continuously shifting. This
results in new curriculum content, such as information technology, new philosophical
movements and social cohesion. Much is added to the school’s agenda, and very little is
removed.
Society’s needs and wishes, however legitimate these may be, are putting the curriculum
under a great deal of pressure. The available teaching time is limited as it is. Moreover, the
danger of fragmentation and lack of cohesion is threatening the curriculum. New movements are proof of a vital and engaged society. At the same time, these threaten the
communal core of the curriculum if the emphasis is only put on social formation and
affective goals.
Question is how the school might be able to adopt social claims from its own responsibility.
Which requests from our changing society do fit in with the teaching programme, and
which do not? What should and should not be a part of the central tasks - the content’s core
- of the school?
Education will continue to be under strain from social and political pressure. After all, we
live in a dynamic, democratic society, in which everyone as a right to participate. Ministers
also like to make use of this right, when it suits them. Policy areas such as sustainability
and overseas development are not primarily the responsibility of the Minister of Education.
Therefore, the question of whether these policy areas should be put on the agenda of
education is not just the responsibility of the Minister of Education. Subject-transcending
topics are, by definition, ‘minister-transcending’ as well.
2.2 Curriculum questions for social topics
It is incorrect and unreal to give the school an exclusive responsibility for education and
upbringing. The child’s home situation, institutions and communities, should also contri-
bute. The mere observation that there are many claims in the form of educational or social
topics that are all jostling for a place in the curriculum, is not an interesting one as such.
From their own discipline, these may contribute to the content of Learning for Sustainable
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
21
Development. More interesting is the question of how these social topics could be placed in
a curricular perspective.
In other words: how can we identify the content - whether pertaining to subjects or
otherwise - in cross-curricular programmes? What are their differences and similarities
according to knowledge, insight and social value patterns? What possibilities do we have to
integrate these into the traditional curriculum? And what strategies could we use to further
develop and embed them into educational practice?
Experience has taught us that educational curriculum development has a number of
specific aspects. The most important aspects to be taken into account when developing
educational curricula, include:
Implementation
Initiatives for the development and implementation of an education are often not taken by
schools and teachers but by interest groups and/or the government. The resulting innova-
tions rarely receive broad social support within the educational system. Only time will tell
whether this will be the case when implementing sustainable development in education.
Learning for Sustainable Development touches the core of both the pedagogical and the
socialising objectives of education. Real innovation will involve the focussing on these
objectives and drawing attention to sustainable development as a frame of thinking.
Laws and regulations
The development and implementation of an education largely depends on whether it has
been adopted in laws and regulations, such as citizenship. Social organisations have, by
now, recognised the importance of this. As a result, more educational time is being claimed
than is available and a selection problem arises: which educations, and which aspects
thereof, should or should not be included in core objectives and examination programmes?
However, the growing number of educations are not only to blame for the pressure on the
curriculum and the overloadedness of the programme. It can be stated with equal force that
education is rather too reluctant to drop the more traditional subject content.
Nature of the innovation
Some educations involve new content and new methods. And as a result they require
expansion of the teacher’s professional repertoire.
Correlation among subjects
Because educations should be included in a number of subjects, optimum correlation is
necessary. This should be laid down in continuous curricular strands. If not, unnecessary
doubling or inconsistencies in content or skills will occur.
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Correlation among educations
The objectives and content of educations should match or overlap. It is desirable to compare
the identities of educations and determine upon their interrelationships and overlap before
interpreting them into examples.
SLO’s role
Also as a result of the pressure put upon education by various social groups, SLO - often
commissioned by the Ministry of Education - was engaged in the development of
educations. Over the years, SLO has carried out a great number of such projects, for
consumer education, development education, health education, nature and the
environment, information technology, road safety education, value development European
dimension, human rights education and WWII education.
The pressure put upon the curriculum by social groups must be appreciated. It shows that
people attach importance to the things taught in school. Also, this pressure may lead to the
envisaged socialising of education.
Some interest groups have been very successful in strengthening their educational position. For example, the education ‘healthy behaviour’ has been adopted in the Primary
Education Act and technology in the Basic Secondary Education Act; environmental
education and road safety education have been embedded in the core objectives and
examination programmes.
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
3. Thoroughly sustainable: a vision on future-oriented education
3.1 Vision
Both inside and outside of school, pupils learn to actively contribute to a sustainable future
in which they will be able to live and work. And education plays an important role in this.
Learning processes are needed for individuals, organisations and society as a whole, to help
us find a new balance between people, planet and profit. There is not one single, ultimate
truth to achieve this. Indeed, there is a wide range of options, choices, and opinions. And
that is what Learning for Sustainable Development is about: how to make choices, how to
choose a position, and how, eventually, to take up responsibility.
Moreover, where sustainable development is concerned, it involves a development. It is a
democratic process, without a fixed and firm final goal. Sustainability cannot be described
as a concrete, unambiguous objective, but rather as a ‘journey’ or a ‘road’ towards a more
sustainable society. Education is and provides a part of the stock-in-trade for this trip.
Learning for Sustainable Development arose from the interaction between Environmental
education on the one hand, and the realisation that a global movement is developing on the
other. On a global scale, ‘nature and the environment’ are being interpreted in a broader
sense than the traditional Environmental education; today, environment is understood to
include a wide range of aspects, such as natural, political, cultural, technological, economic
and social ones. This holistic approach establishes a relationship between our living
environment and our actions. Children learn how their actions affect their environment on
a local, national and global scale.
This way, education contributes to the development of children’s competencies to deal with
their environment in a conscious and responsible manner. While doing so, they learn to
take the consequences of their actions for the living and working conditions of other people
into account, if applicable in other places in the world or in another, future time.
Already, in modern educational practice, a number of traditional subjects or subject areas,
such as geography, biology and physics, are often used to look at a topic from different
perspectives, e.g. social, economic or ecological. This way, an important prerequisite of
Learning for Sustainable Development is met: multi-perspective learning. These helped
develop new subject areas. Coherent education and continuous curricular strands are key
concepts in Learning for Sustainable Development.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
25
However, Learning for Sustainable Development does not just affect educational practice.
Implementation of Learning for Sustainable Development into educational practice will
only succeed if this educational practice shows sustainable characteristics, not only in the
primary process, but also in other areas of the educational process, such as school boards
and educational organisation as a whole.
Primary school De Singel, Schiedam: Thick Sweater Day
In the Dutch province of Zuid-Holland, and actually all over the Netherlands, 16 February
2007 was Thick Sweater Day. On the day of the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, sixty
schools turned down their heaters a few degrees - or off altogether - while the pupils all
wore warm clothing to school. Ali B, a well-known rap artist in the Netherlands, conducted a
climate quiz on school television, organised by the campaign ‘Hier’. Ali B called on all schools
in the Netherlands to join in the Thick Sweater Day. Together with Miss Netherlands, Sheryl
Baas, he visited primary school De Singel, in Schiedam. It was a festive occasion. The alderman for the environment was there and the Groen Links, the Dutch environmental party,
distributed hot chocolate.
Provincial Executive Van Heijningen, who supports the campaign, visited a school in Zuid-
land, on the island of Voorne Putten. In Delft, Hillegom and Zoeterwoude, aldermen visited
the schools to add authority to the event and to discuss measures that could be taken to
counteract the effects of climate change. Even in the provincial government building in The
Hague, the heaters were turned down and sweaters put on. A pupils’ jury elected the best
dressed official, Al Gore’s film was watched, and everyone calculated their foot print. The
provincial government building set a good example. The press made the most of this action.
The news for young people prepared an extensive item and Thick Sweater Day even reached
the national news broadcast.
Source: www.digitalehangplek.nl/raadvoorhetklimaat
3.2 Implementation
Learning to make substantiated and responsible choices
The world we live in is getting more and more complex. Tomorrow’s world demands choices
in which the interests of people, planet and profit are taken into account. Only if based on
such choices will the world be able to develop in a sustainable way.
26
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
However, these choices are often quite different from those brought to mind by our
primary impulses. Today’s world revolves around the production of goods and services, in
order to generate an income to live on and provide wealth. Especially in the western world,
the relationship between our personal and economic actions on the one hand, and nature,
social relationships and the distribution of wealth on the other, is rather obscured and
many of us no longer realise just how our behaviour and use of natural resources affect the
environment. We are finding it increasingly difficult to strike a balance between people,
planet and profit. Learning processes are needed for individuals, organisations and society
as a whole, in order to learn to search for this balance anew.
Sustainable development explicitly concerns development. In fact, it is a dynamic and
infinite process, aimed at a completely sustainable society. Sustainable in the sense of
future-proof, as a result of the careful weighing of interests and contributions of people,
planet and profit. Within the framework of the Decade for ESD, the European Commission
distinguishes the following:
A distinction must be made between education about sustainable development and educa-
tion for sustainable development: while the first is an awareness lesson or theoretical discussion, the second is the use of education as a tool to achieve sustainability 9.
It is also a democratic process, without a fixed and firm final goal. During talks, debates and
discussions, and in their choices and actions, people will continue to shape sustainable
development. The considerations they make may vary from one situation to the next,
which, in turn, will have consequences for the future. As mentioned earlier, sustainability is
a journey - a trip without a univocal, concrete final goal.
Concepts, components and contexts
Sustainable development concerns a broad, holistic approach of social responsibility, in
which different elements are interconnected. Content and knowledge elements are placed
next to skills and reflection. It concerns a broad mix of teaching and learning activities,
both inside and outside of the classroom. In this context, we could use the terms concepts,
components and contexts.
Elaborating on Kennedy 10, we can distinguish active and passive elements of engagement
and sustainability. The active elements concern ‘doing’ (active practice) and the passive
with ‘being’ (a state or status).
The active elements comprise:
1. conventional engagement: being engaged in and participating in conventional activities;
2. social engagement: being engaged in and participating in voluntary activities for the benefit of the local and/or global community (the world);
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
27
3. social change: being engaged in and participating in activities concerning political and social change, at home and abroad;
ting in self-regulating activities, concerning ideals or other objectives;
4. participation aimed at the economy or entrepreneurship: being engaged in and participa-
In relation to sustainable development, it may concern different concepts. These may be
organised in three categories:
1. core values, such as humanitarian values and social responsibility;
2. legal values, such as democracy and civil rights;
3. human values, such as tolerance, honesty and empathy.
In order to further develop the pupils’ understanding of these concepts, they have to work
with the following components:
1. attitude and perception of values;
2. skills and competencies;
3. knowledge and concepts;
4. creativity and entrepreneurship.
The concepts and components are connected by means of attitudinal aspects.
Using the concepts and components of sustainable development, we set to work on the
different contexts within and outside of the school.
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In different countries, certain contexts are emphasised. In Japan, for example, the emphasis
lies on the school community within the context of the wider community. New Zealand
puts the emphasis on the curriculum part in combination with the wider community. In
the Netherlands, all contexts receive an equal amount of emphasis. In the quotation below,
Kerr 11 indicates that a broad holistic approach is suitable to be placed in the centre of the
diagram, thereby utilising all contexts equally. England, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland,
the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales are examples of countries with a more holistic
approach.
3CHOOLCURRICULUM
BASICKNOWLEDGE
4HEMATICANDSUBJECT
TRANSCENDING
#ONTEXTSFOR3$
3CHOOLCOMMUNITY
#OMMUNITYHERE
ANDELSEWHERENOW
ANDLATER
‘It could be argued that, where citizenship education is conceived broadly as addressing a
range of concepts and values, and developing various components (knowledge and understanding, skills and competencies, values and dispositions and creativity and enterprise)
across multiple contexts (curriculum, extra-curricular, school community and wider community), there is good opportunity to promote an active process to link these concepts, components and contexts, and bring them to life. Put simply, this means that in countries with a
more holistic approach to citizenship education, active citizenship is coming to be viewed as
the process by which an education for citizenship can be made active.’
The figure showing the contexts should be regarded as target model, because it demonstrates that as countries are able to assume a more central position, they are better able to
create firm relationships between the four contexts in which Learning for Sustainable
Development and world citizenship are able to develop. As strong relationships are laid
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
29
between the concepts, components and contexts based upon a holistic model, sustainable
development becomes more and more concrete, in combination with active citizenship.
On a policy level, the Netherlands takes up a good position in the conceptual framework: in
the centre of the diagram. In other words, research shows that Dutch policy is directed at a
broad, holistic approach with a balanced distribution of attention across the different
concepts, components and contexts. However, in practice, a Dutch school, picked at random,
may look quite differently. This is caused by the level of autonomy given to schools in the
Netherlands. The government provides the framework, but within this framework, each
school is able to make its own interpretations. Therefore, in practice, such schools will show
minimum and maximum varieties.
Coherent education
Coherent education is a collective term, which is put on the agenda in discussions about
educational development for many different reasons and in many different forms.
As more coherence is created between subjects, pupils acquire a knowledge base with
interconnections between subject areas, rather than knowledge of individual subject
elements. This way, overlap and fragmentation of educational content is avoided and the
pupils are given the opportunity to link subject content to each other.
Three variants to create coherence between subjects present themselves:
- subject integration,
- subject-transcending projects,
- correlation.
The most far-reaching of the variants is subject integration. Separate subjects or parts
thereof are merged into a new, integrated subject or subject area.
Correlation is more concerned with a consistent use of terminology in related subjects. For
example subject concepts, univocal definitions, and attuning of specific skills. Concerning
the educational content, there are different possibilities of attunement: the moment that is
picked to discuss certain topics, or the application of knowledge acquired in one subject in
another subject 12. Subject-transcending projects are found in-between the other two 13.
Continuous curricular strands
More and more subjects and topics are provided with ‘continuous curricular strands’,
otherwise called vertical integration. Young children are predominantly living - and
learning - in the ‘here’ and ‘now’. As they get older, they become more conscious of their
environment, enabling them to think about ‘there’ and ‘later’. A continuous learning line is
an educational structure in which pupils from each stage receive a programme that is in
line with and built upon the previous stage. This programme includes content, skills,
didactics and attitudes.
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Thanks to the continuous curricular strands, pupils avoid being faced with too many
repetitions and are encouraged to recognise what was learned before and apply this
knowledge to the next stage of education. It may concern a continuous learning line for a
single subject, or for the whole educational process. In Scotland, for example, a national
curriculum was designed for ‘Environmental Studies’ for 5 to 14-year-olds, with the components Social Subjects, Science and Technology. Coherent attainment levels were described
for these three components in the area of knowledge and insight, skills and attitudes,
differentiated into six levels. In the final years, the Scottish schools choose the subjects they
will be presenting, one of which is ‘Environmental Studies’. Continuous curricular strands
have already been developed in sub aspects of sustainable development, such as ‘water’,
‘biodiversity’ and ‘nature’.
Sustainable development may also be seen as the leitmotiv through all other curricular
strands. In general, the pupils’ development is such that they learn to understand and
weigh up an increasing number of sustainability aspects.
The school as an organisation
Although the school as an organisation is not a part of a curriculum, it does provide the
environment responsible for the pedagogical-didactical climate. Sustainable actions are not
just a part of education. They represent an attitude, a thinking and acting framework, in
which the school as an organisation has a certain responsibility and can develop its own
vision: the ‘Whole School Approach’. This is an approach whereby the school embeds its
principles concerning curriculum and didactics in its policy. Interpreted towards sustaina-
ble development, this means that pupils do not only learn about sustainable development
by way of education, but also by following the example set by the school itself. For example,
the school may stimulate responsible nutrition, operate a waste protocol, apply sustainable
building materials, have an environment-friendly transport plan, and support sustainable
water and energy plans. This way, the pupils are shown viable solutions firsthand.
Another part of this whole school approach may be certain rules of conduct pertaining to
diversity and pestering. The whole school culture emanates its connection with local and
global sustainable development. Current and practical issues from the immediate living
environment in and around the school are integrated in the curriculum in a considerate
manner. The school is able to pursue measurable results in the area of education and the
ecological, social and economic living environment.
The school itself benefits from its positioning as a sustainable organisation. Opportunities
are created to increase engagement with day-to-day issues and developments and to link
these to curriculum requirements, which, in turn, may contribute to the professional
development of teachers. Within the local community, the school can profile itself as a
sustainable organisation. Moreover, sustainable management often turns out to be costsaving.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
31
In 80% of the classrooms, the CO2 concentration is far too high, which indicates poor
ventilation and a bad air quality. This negatively affects absenteeism among teachers
and the pupils’ learning performance.
Schools spend ten times more on personnel than they do on their buildings. That is why
building investments that have a positive effect on the physical working environment,
absenteeism among teachers, cleanliness, and energy consumption, will be recovered
quickly. A quick calculation shows that a renovation costing between € 300 and € 400
per m2 will pay for itself within 6 years. After which some ten years follow during which
a substantial amount of money is saved on the total budget.
From: Wat wilt u weten over frisse scholen (‘All you need to know about fresh schools’),
SenterNovem, Utrecht/Den Haag, 2006
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4. Learning for Sustainable Development: frameworks, opportunities, choices
4.1 Autonomy issues
In 2005, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE set up a strategy for
Education for Sustainable Development. In it, the following was laid down 14:
Dealing with the ethical dimension, including topics such as fairness, solidarity and
interdependence within the current generation and between generations, as well as the
relationship between people and nature and the relationship between rich and poor, are
central issues for sustainable development and are, therefore, of vital importance for
Learning for Sustainable Development. Responsibility is inherent to ethics and is ideally
put into practice by means of Learning for Sustainable Development.
Key topics of sustainable development include poverty control, citizenship, peace, ethics,
responsibility in local and global contexts, democracy and government, justice, safety,
human rights, health, gender, equality, cultural diversity, country and town development,
economics, production and consumption patterns, responsibility of trade & industry, care
for the environment, management of natural resources, and biological and landscape
diversity.
The role played by the government concerning educational practice is particularly framework-providing, facilitating and monitoring. In the end, the schools themselves have the
autonomy to make their own choices regarding content, as long as they remain within the
framework provided. An earlier publication by SLO, concerning citizenship education, deals
extensively with this subject 15. Like active citizenship and social integration, sustainability
touches upon the ideological and philosophical principles of the school. As an autonomous
institution, the school is able to make its own choices concerning curriculum issues around
sustainable development. Among other issues, these include content, didactics, time, place
and testing. Schools are encouraged to focus upon their principles and core values and
interpret this task from there. For the moment, they receive plenty of room to do so. A lot
will depend upon the school’s vision, the parents’ engagement and the characteristics of the
school population.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
35
The Dutch Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science traditionally gives schools a
lot of autonomy on curricular and didactical issues. Policy documents have explained this
as follows: ‘The school’s broad social commitment cannot be laid down by the government.
Each school is different and this has to do with regional differences and differences among
pupils and parents in a certain neighbourhood. That is why each school develops its own
approach to prepare pupils for their examinations and for good citizenship.’ In addition, a
number of obligations are listed, including: the protection of rights and freedoms and the
teaching of the core values of our society.
Sector councils for Primary Education, Secondary Education and Intermediate Vocational
Training were set up to channel the means for educational reform provided by the government within these autonomous relationships. Wherever this core curriculum will lead to
innovations, this will be directed through the sector councils’ channels. That is why these
sector councils must explicitly be involved in the implementation of this core curriculum
(see also Chapter 6).
4.2 Sustainable Development: an opportunity for education
The objective of education is to draw the pupils’ attention to current topics and initiate
learning processes that take the long term into account. Sustainable development starts
with pupils and youth. After all, their future is determined to a great extent by aspects of
sustainability. If employees of the future are expected to be able to contribute to a liveable
world in a balanced and creative way, it is important to lay the foundation for this in
education in a pedagogically and didactically sound manner. Through education, virtually
all of the children and youngsters, i.e. future citizens, are reached. Through education, they
learn skills that are important for the development of their attitude towards the world
around them and far away.
Learning for Sustainable Development invites us to lay the link between subject content in
school and the social reality around the school, in a natural way. A reality that is presented
as an increasingly complex issue. Eventually, the earth’s support and the solution of
distribution issues will determine what type of society is possible. Knowledge about these
issues and skills to be able to weigh up the alternatives are literally a matter of life and
death, both in the short and in the long term.
Sustainable development provides pupils with room to discover the world from their own
living environment. In the modern information society, the concept of segregated subjects
proves increasingly unsatisfactory. Sustainable development offers a real-life context,
which greatly facilitates the learning process. Learning for Sustainable Development is
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
learning to deal with a variety of subject content in its natural context. Sustainable
development can lay the link between lessons learned within the school and lessons
learned outside of it.
Children create Mediaeval nature in the province of Drenthe
In 2007, 222 pupils from eleven primary schools in the Dutch province of Drenthe partici-
pated in a unique combination of nature conservation and cultural history. It concerned a
programme of activities around the Klinkenberg. This area is located south of the forestry
area of Gees, at the Geeserstroom river. Over seven centuries ago, this area included two
large hills. On the higher one, called the Klinkenberg, a castle, or mottekasteel, was built. The
other hill, called the Keutershoogte, was the associated front castle. The hills were surrounded by a deep moat.
The pupils helped to create new nature. In order to lay the connections with the history of
the area, pupils adopted the identities of mediaeval people. They were cutting turf and pruning trees. The branches and sods were taken to the Klinkenberg with a horse and carriage.
Upon arrival, the children made fire and built turf huts, made pots out of clay and baked
bread, and all this while music was played and a historic play enacted by students of the
Hogeschool Drenthe who are training to be teachers.
Source: www.scholenvoorduurzaamheid.nl
General objective
Education should provide the necessary inspiration, stimulate creativity, and teach people
to become critical thinkers and responsible citizens. Sustainable development requires the
making of choices and the finding of creative solutions in case of dilemmas and adverse
interests. Education should provide people with basic knowledge, insights, values, skills,
concepts and attitudes to enable them to make sound choices as responsible citizens.
In terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes, the objectives can be defined as follows 16:
Knowledge objective
At the conclusion of his basic education, the pupil knows, at a level suitable for him:
• what sustainable development means in terms of the relationship between economic development, social and cultural development, and ecological development.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
37
Objectives concerning skills
At the conclusion of his basic education, the pupil, in addition to the usual subject-transcending skills, is able to, at a level suitable for him:
• research and use concepts such as living environment, the environment, the living community, world citizenship, society, development, and technology, and to place these concepts in terms of space and time - local, national, and global events and experiences;
• ask meaningful questions that give direction to the search for relevant information and answers;
answers;
• critically consider and use a spectrum of sources and technologies when looking for • collaborate and participate in decision-making processes in heterogeneous groups;
• recognise different interests;
• develop a vision of the future;
• analyse and assess information, reflect upon it critically, familiarise it, and use it as arguments;
perspectives;
• think inclusively, taking into account the complexity of things in terms of system • reason and discuss - aspects of citizenship.
Objectives concerning attitude
At the conclusion of his basic education, the pupil has developed a basic attitude, at a level
suitable for him, that is characterised by:
• surprise and curiosity;
• appreciation and respect for the interdependence and equality of all life forms;
• appreciation and respect from his own culture and own community for other cultures;
• recognition of interdependence within the global community;
• insight into imbalances and unjustness in the distribution of wealth, and commitment to human rights and peaceful solutions to conflicts;
• balanced considerations in conflicts of interests;
• own choice for a sustainable and participating life style.
4.3 Core concepts and core topics
As a part of the earlier described consultation procedure, the core concepts and core topics
for Learning for Sustainable Development were requested. In the table below, these core
concepts are linked to the objectives presented above.
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EDUCATIONAL CONTENT
Knowledge/insight
Skills
Attitude
• The pupil knows what
Sustainable Development
means, in terms of the
relationship between economic
development, social and
cultural development, and
ecological development.
• The pupil has knowledge about
and insight in the importance
and value of the cultural,
social, economic and ecological
diversity of life.
• The pupil has knowledge of
and insight in the use and
limitations of natural resources,
in relationship to the global
development possibilities, the
distribution of wealth, poverty
issues, and the (decline of the)
living environment.
• The pupil has insight into the
limitations of what we know
and are able to do, prompting us
to take care of humanity and of
our planet.
• The pupil has insight in the
underlying causes of inequality
and the fact that sustainable
development should lead to
a steady improvement of the
living standard of people, rather
than the undue preference of
one at the expense of another.
• The pupil understands that
what we do now affects life in
future.
• The pupil has insight in the
necessity of taking the rights
and needs of others into
account.
• The pupil is able to ask
meaningful questions.
• The pupil is able to critically
assess and use a spectrum of
sources and technologies when
looking for answers;
• The pupil is able to use concepts
such as living environment,
the environment, the living
community, world citizenship,
society, development,
and technology, and their
interrelationships, when
analysing and assessing local,
national, and global events and
experiences.
• The pupil is able to discuss
different points of view
in relation to each other,
distinguish interests in these, and
communicate effectively about
information and insights.
• For this communication, the
pupil is able to use various
forms of dialogue, listen actively,
collaborate and participate in
decision-making processes in
various groups.
• The pupil is able to participate in
society as a responsible citizen.
• The pupil is able to view his own
actions in a reflective manner.
• The pupil demonstrates a
realistic understanding of his
own and the human ability to
affect and permanently alter the
living environment.
• The pupil demonstrates a sense
of self-esteem, related to his own
culture and community.
• The pupil shows respect for other
cultures in their interdependence
within the global community.
• The pupil demonstrates
care about imbalances and
unjustness in the distribution of
wealth.
• The pupil demonstrates
commitment to human rights
and peaceful solutions of
conflicts.
• The pupil behaves in a balanced
manner when weighing up
conflicting interests.
• The pupil demonstrates a
positive personal and social
outlook on the future.
• The pupil shows appreciation
and respect for nature and
recognises the interdependence
and equality of all life forms.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
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TOPICS
• Economic: economic development, competitive position, profit.
• Social-cultural: liveability, diversity, health, fair dealing and fair distribution, conflict control, human rights,
world citizenship.
• Ecology: space, the environment, the earth and its natural resources, interdependence of all living organisms
around us and further away.
• Space: globalisation, the shifting of problems to other parts of the world, global cohesion of problems and their
solutions.
• Time: the shifting of issues to future generations.
• Participation: engagement, interaction, democracy.
CORE CONCEPTS
40
Interdependence
• Globalisation, social fairness and equality.
• Nature and the environment.
• Natural balance.
• (Bio)diversity.
• Interaction between global and local social and physical processes.
• Consumptive values.
• Raw materials and energy.
• Climate.
• Shifting.
Diversity
• Culture, migration and diversity.
• Human rights and democracy.
• World citizenship.
• The immediate living environment.
• Poverty and issues concerning distribution.
• Economic and natural cycles.
• Globalisation, social fairness and equality.
• Consumptive values.
Support
• Exhaustion of natural resources.
• Consumptive values.
• Interaction between man and nature.
Rights and Duties
• World citizenship.
• Consumptive values.
• Learning together with the private sector.
Equality and fairness
• World citizenship.
• Globalisation, social fairness and equality.
• Fairness
• Responsibility.
• Engagement.
• Participation.
• Development of values.
• Citizenship and stewardship.
• Appreciation and respect.
Insecurity and care
• Interaction between global and local social and physical processes.
• Interaction between man and nature.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Litter in school
At home and in school, pupils are faced with a variety of waste materials. It is important to
separate and sort waste products at the basis, wherever possible. Recycling and reuse are
important concepts, which we can give concrete meaning by our behaviour. The playful
teaching package ‘Troep’ (‘Litter’) contains a wealth of information about waste separation,
including recycling and reuse. Pupils make use of the internet, among other sources, to look
for information and/or play educational games. The package comprises: a pupils’ magazine,
a teachers’ manual, a work book, and a cut-out of a refuse lorry, which can be glued onto an
empty 1.5-litre milk carton.
Source: www.weizigtnmc.nl
4.4 Characteristics of Learning for Sustainable Development
In a publication by the Council of Europe, which is soon to be published, fifteen educational
projects around Learning for Sustainable Development from thirteen countries are presented and analysed. In it, the authors have drawn up the following list of characteristics of
education for sustainable development 17. A single marginal comment should be placed
here: these characteristics are particularly of a general pedagogical-didactical nature.
1. Learning for Sustainable Development concerns the tension field between people,
planet and profit
Children are faced with and cross many boundaries. Those from the home into the world of
school, from the school world into the world of sports, they meet peers from different
countries and cultures and make friends with them, they cross the line from primary to
secondary education, etc. This may cause dilemmas or even conflicts of interests. They may
touch all three Ps. Sometimes it is bilateral, when it touches only two of the three Ps.
However, when all three are simultaneously involved in the process, an issue of sustainable
development is concerned. Children learn from dealing with dilemmas and conflicts.
2. Learning for Sustainable Development is pupil-oriented
The learning process starts with the ideas, values and perspectives of the child. Pupils can
participate actively in their gathering of knowledge. They can ask their own questions, for
which the answers may not at first be unambiguous, fixed or clear.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
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3. Learning for Sustainable Development is connected with day-to-day living and the
child’s direct living environment
The topics that may come up, occur on a local level. Pupils and the school may collaborate
with the local community. Their knowledge of the environment can be linked to the more
general knowledge the children gather in school. This way, by means of a communal and
interactive process, children learn about a living environment of which they are a part
(social learning).
4. Learning for Sustainable Development is future-oriented
Children have images of their future, their world view, and their own role in it - whether are
realistic or not. They develop ideas about the quality of life they want for themselves. This
development of ideas helps pupils create a sustainable and satisfactory future, both for
themselves and for others. It also helps them to increase and expand their world view.
5. Learning for Sustainable Development is action-oriented
In daily life, pupils gather knowledge and learn skills they will need in the future. They do
this by linking the information they receive to experiences, emotions and values, and by
thinking about these connections. This way, they learn to deal with uncertain and rapidly
changing situations in a responsible and independent way, as future citizens.
6. Learning for Sustainable Development stimulates critical thinking
Children are swamped with information that is often contradictory and rarely objective.
They have to learn to think about this. Learning for Sustainable Development also means:
learning to see through presumptions and opinions.
7. Learning for Sustainable Development is value-oriented
From an educational point of view, Learning for Sustainable Development does not simply
involve the transfer of values and standards. Rather, these have to be developed and must
be subject to discussion. Where does the freedom of one person end, and that of others
begin? What is the difference between ‘equality’ and ‘egalitarianism’? When is a value or
standard actually shared?
8. Learning for Sustainable Development views complexity as a challenge
The Latin complexus means that things are interwoven or interconnected. By viewing
complexity as a challenge, pupils develop insight into and an understanding of the fact that
separate, natural processes may not always run along straight lines, may sometimes seem
rather unnecessary, and often appear quite random and unpredictable. Multiple causes and
effects appear to be the rule rather than the exception. Dealing with this requires the skill
to be able to act in uncertain situations, to face risks and unpredictable aspects of concrete
situations, and still remain in control.
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9. Learning for Sustainable Development requires participation
Democracy in school is not just a matter of education, in particular citizenship education,
but also a matter of behaviour. By experiencing participation in the classroom, where
children are allowed to be responsible for their own actions and learning efforts, they are
given the opportunity to develop a shared feeling of responsibility. Participation is not a
spontaneous action, and assertiveness and influence are not the most important things to
be learned. Pupils learn to participate in a conscious manner by listening to each other and
taking each other’s opinions into account, by expressing their own opinions and insights
without imposing them on others, by persuading and negotiating.
Beyers Naudé Leeuwarden: creative in Schools for Sustainability
On Tuesday 5 June 2007, the Leeuwarden Council Chamber was the setting of a spectacular
presentation of the Schools for Sustainability project called Plan Your Own Space. Three
municipal institution projects were scrutinised by the pupils and provided with critical comments. Alderman Sluiter and the project leaders of the Leeuwarden Council were pleasantly
surprised by the creative ideas the pupils came up with.
The fifth-year gymnasium students from the Beyers Naudé Christian Gymnasium in Leeu-
warden pored over three municipal institution projects. Sustainability and the conservation
of cultural-historic values were the most important points of attention: what are the best
solutions taking into consideration our rich past and a clean, liveable future?
Source: www.scholenvoorduurzaamheid.nl
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5. About warmth and truth
Attention to sustainable development in topical discussions is strongly linked to the
expected climate changes. However, the two concepts are not synonyms: sustainable
development concerns more than just climate changes. Everyone knows that the climate is
changing as a result of the global warming, but there is discussion about the influence of
human behaviour versus the autonomous developments of nature, and the gravity of the
situation; in other words, the large ‘alarmist camp’ versus the ‘sceptical camp’.
From the arguments in this debate, we may conclude one thing: there is no such thing as
the ultimate truth. Indeed, there is a wide range of options, choices, and opinions. And that
is what Learning for Sustainable Development is about: how to choose a position, how to
make choices, and how, eventually, to take up responsibility.
Young people in Zuid-Holland are choosing for the future
In the Dutch province of Zuid-Holland, youngsters set out to discover ways to ensure
sustainable development in their province. They enter into debates with members of social
organisations and local government authorities. Their objective is to put their plans on the
agendas of political parties in their municipality.
Within the framework of the project ‘Choose for the Future’, youngsters drew up research
dossiers about three climate topics:
Cause: the use of fossil fuels as the most important cause of CO2 emissions, the main cause of climate change
Effect: climate change,
Result: changes in water balance in the Netherlands and in the world.
After having concluded their research, the pupils drew up an improvement plan.
Supported by a Crib Sheet, each pupil had to do some homework: discuss this subject with
your parents. These discussions should include the provincial elections. Next, the pupils
enter into talks with politicians. They invite aldermen to their school for a debate, in order to
bring them around to their own point of view. The pupils look after their own publicity.
Source: www.digitalehangplek.nl/raadvoorhetklimaat or www.codenamefuture.nl
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
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5.1
The content’s core
The relationship between man and environment
As mentioned earlier, sustainable development, especially in education, is ingrained in
Environmental education on the one hand, and in the growing realisation of things being
interrelated on a global scale, on the other. In the junior years of basic education, teachers
and pupils work in the here and now; in the senior years moving on to elsewhere and later,
and from simple to more complex relationships and problems. This particularly concerns
their connection with the world that immediately surrounds them; the world in which they
live, learn, work and interact - their own living environment within the larger world. The
management of this living environment requires the willingness to take responsibility and
to act in a righteous and fair manner.
The pupils’ living environment comprises their school, their home, and their leisure
locations. These environments concern nature (plant and animal life, geology, weather and
climate, cycles - in a word: Planet) and culture, both material and immaterial, i.e. all the
value added by people (buildings, infrastructure, agriculture, fields, forestry, art, culture,
education, etc. - in a word: Profit). And in this relationship between man and his living
environment, the environment affects man and vice versa. And, of course, man affects man
(People).
Questions concerning of Sustainable Topics
From the objectives and characteristics of Learning for Sustainable Development that are
used to set up the framework, we can formulate a number of questions. The answer to these
questions should lead to educationally sound choices when practically interpreting and
implementing Learning for Sustainable Development – both content-wise and didactically:
the ‘how’ question. The interpretation and implementation are basically thematic.
The following questions, factors and connections with characteristics were formulated:
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Question
Factor
Characteristics (see 4.4)
How does the intervention
affect the wellbeing of
(groups of) people?
Social factor
2-3-5
Who should be able to
decide on this intervention
and how is the decisionmaking process formed?
Political factor
8
What values, based on
religious, philosophical,
meaning-giving, scientific,
art-historic, natureperceptive, or other intrinsic
values, play a role in the
decision?
Cultural factor
3-5-6
What does the intervention
do to ‘nature’?
Ecological factor
2-5-7
What do those immediately
involved feel and experience
after the intervention?
Individual factor
1-2-7
What are the profits or
losses, respectively?
Economic factor
9
5.2 An example
By means of objectives, characteristics and factors, we formulate a schematic tool with
which to fit in sustainable development with other subjects, particularly the world-
orientation subjects, such as geography, history, nature and technology, and the stimulation
of sound behaviour and the ability to cope. What are the topics within these subjects that
are concerned? Which are suitable to inspire and motivate pupils?
Pupils in basic education are discovering the big world on a small scale. They live some-
where; they go somewhere - e.g. on a field trip or on holidays; they watch a film on televi-
sion; they read a book. In each of these cases they discover a part of the world by looking at
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
47
it through a magnifying glass, as it were. They observe and see many small details. After all,
it is a close-up.
From such a detailed observation in a close-up, in a micro situation, pupils can make the
transfer to a larger area. To a certain extent, they are able to generalise, or zoom out, to a
region, a country, a continent, or even the whole world.
This way, pupils in basic education can become ‘masters of the world’. They get a grip on the
world. And education serves its purpose when situations are created in which they feel
engaged. Situations that presume closeness, that are or appear to be close by, in which they
can touch things, explore, look at closely, copy - by taking pictures or making drawings, and
can ask questions about - e.g. by interviewing people or by communicating via the internet.
5.3
Curricular strands
In order to be able to function in a multiform democratic society, the pupil must have the
required knowledge and insight, be able to perform a wide range of skills, and be willing to
demonstrate a certain behaviour. In this context, the term often used is competency. A
competency is demonstrated by observable behaviour that requires, knowledge, skills and
attitudes. A person will develop such a competency during his life, while the basis for it is
often laid in education. This means that the school is only partly responsible for the
formation of - budding - citizens. Many other socialising factors are involved, including the
family, the media, the street, social connections such as clubs, study, and work. All the more
reason to look for connections with learning experiences gained outside of the school. The
school may use these out-of-school learning experiences for its own purposes, and, in turn,
influence the learning process outside of the school.
Next to the ‘where’, the ‘when’ is important. Competencies develop in a permanent process.
This requires a systematic approach over the school years. A consistent learning line
reinforces education’s contribution to the pupil’s development. Such a learning line should
not only take the development of pupils and their experiences into account, it should also
meet the objectives - especially the core objectives - that are set for the particular school
type. In addition, there should be a cohesive curriculum, which ensures the structural
inclusion of content and, where applicable, its cyclic reoccurrence.
The model below fulfils these requirements. Vertically - the columns - the model shows educational content and experiences. The educational content is subdivided into knowledge,
skills and attitudes. The experiences are subdivided into those gained inside of the school
and those gained outside of it. The age groups are placed on the horizontal axis - the rows.
Primary education is subdivided into the groups 1 - 4 and 5 - 8. In the model, secondary
education has been limited to the lower school.
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
In secondary education, no levels are included, because the learning line applies to all pupils.
For example, differences between vmbo, havo and vwo can be interpreted by the school
itself and may vary according to the subject packages. Within a domain, content may
reappear at different points in time. This indicates the concentric development of the
content concerned. The table can be further enhanced according to the development of
continuous curricular strands and by including sustainable topics.
Educational content
Knowledge
Skills
Desires
Experiences
Inside of school
Outside of school
Primary 1-4
Primary 5-8
Secondary
- lower
school
The left side of the table includes the preconditions for demonstrating certain behavioural
aspects: knowledge, skills and desires. To the right, experiences gained by pupils, both
inside and outside of the school, are listed.
Education particularly concerns knowledge and skills. Desires are rather more difficult to
realise and manage. Experiences are an important contributor to this. As far as experiences
inside of the school are concerned, these can be directed by the school. And those gained
outside of the school can be used for educational purposes. From top to bottom, the
different stages of basic education followed by pupils are represented. It shows the structure of the continuous learning line for Sustainable Development.
A recent publication called ‘Sustainable Development for Primary Education’, published by
the Dutch Central Institute for Test Development, CITO, was sent to all primary schools in
the Netherlands. It provides the schools with a domain description and ample tips and
suggestions to be used for pupils in groups 7 and 8 to prepare them for the topic.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
49
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
6. Learning for Sustainable Development: the future
Schools in the Netherlands can choose educational content and methods in an autonomous
fashion. This applies even more so to the topic ‘Learning for Sustainable Development’.
There is no legal obligation to include this topic in the educational programme. No core
objectives have been determined for it. It is not linked to any particular subject or subject
area. For the topic to be adopted by Dutch schools, strong powers of persuasion are needed.
Learning for Sustainable Development should provide relief. In educational practice, it
should be seen as a useful stepping stone connecting a variety of educational content. To
pupils, Learning for Sustainable Development should bridge past, present and future, and
their own position within these. Four basic principles apply:
1. Learning for Sustainable Development touches the very core of education: pupils are prepared for their future in an optimum way, teaching them about their role in it and as a matter of course. However, this attention deserves to be shifted into the limelight of their responsibility for it. Education already pays much attention to this, implicitly and sustainable development. That is why it cannot be linked to any particular subject area with particular core objectives.
2. Learning for Sustainable Development requires a focussed frame of thinking and aims particularly at aspects of attitude and behaviour: in collaboration with Cito, a method of beyond the pupil’s knowledge expansion. That is why it makes very special demands of testing and evaluation of learning and project results is being drawn up. These results go the testing and evaluation method.
3. Learning for Sustainable Development is recognised in the real, day-to-day living environment of all parties involved: pupils, as well as their parents, as well as their teachers. This makes it very stimulating and motivating.
4. Including citizenship in the basic principles of sustainable development enables the development of world citizenship.
During the coming years, SLO will undertake a number of actions based on these starting
points. These actions, as well as the products arising from them, should be in line with the
objectives and characteristics of Learning for Sustainable Development as described in this
curriculum.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
51
Actions concerning content
• Describe a framework concerning the content for sustainable development, including its embedding in existing learning areas and its connections with existing assessment targets and curricular strands.
• Develop descriptive and quality criteria for learning and teaching material.
• List and describe all presently available learning and teaching material, analysed according to the above-mentioned criteria.
Development.
• List and describe existing educational practices in the area of Learning for Sustainable • Develop thematic curricular strands that cover the full extent of basic education;
• Look for links with social stages.
• In collaboration with Cito, develop instruments for the evaluation of learning and project
results and for the self-evaluation of schools regarding sustainable development.
• Attune and implement Citizenship Education.
Actions concerning embedding
• Reinforce the knowledge infrastructure by setting up pilot projects and organise school networks around these projects.
• Develop recommendations based on the various analyses, for authors and publishers.
• Develop forms of collaboration between schools and organisations in the neighbour-
hood, concerning learning inside and outside of the school.
tation of educational practice and the application of research.
partners.
• Set up a platform, or advisory group, for the policy-making, development and implemen-
• Develop a strategic long-term policy in collaboration with national and international • Education and training.
52
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
53
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Literature
The bibliography below does not distinguish between quoted literature and
background literature. Quoted literature is explicitly listed in the footnotes.
• Aarts, W. and Grin, Prof. Dr. J. (2007) En nu echt aan de slag met Duurzame Ontwikkeling. (Sustainable Development: let’s get on with it) Utrecht: SenterNovem
Citizenship in education) Amsterdam: NCDO
van Natuur- en Milieueducatie. (Basic document NMe, a design for the content of • Béneker, T. & R. van der Vaart, (2007) Wereldburgerschap in het onderwijs. (World • Bleijerveld, K. and Greven, J. (1994). Basisdocument NMe, Een ontwerp voor de inhoud Environmental education.) Enschede : SLO
• Boerstra, Ir. A. a.o., (2006) Wat wilt u weten over Frisse Scholen. (All you need to know about fresh schools.) Utrecht/The Hague: SenterNovem
van de leraar bij onderwijsinnovaties, een verkenning o.b.v. literatuur (Engaging • Bolt, L. van der, Studulski, F., Vegt, A.L. van der, Bontje, D., (2006) De betrokkenheid the teacher in educational innovations, a study based on literature), Labour Market and Human Resource Management in Education), no. 140.
Beleidsonderzoek Arbeidsmarkt en Personeelsbeleid Onderwijs (Policy Study of The Hague/Utrecht: OCW/Sardes
• Both, K. and Van Graft, M., (2002) Taal in andere vakken. Achtergrondinformatie over wereldoriëntatie en taal. (Language in other subjects. Background information about world orientation and language.) Enschede : SLO
• Breiting, Dr. S, Mayer, Dr. M. en Mogensen, F. (2005) Kwaliteitsindicatoren voor EDO-scholen, leidraad t.b.v. kwaliteitsontwikkeling voor Educatie voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling. (Quality indicators for EDO Schools (schools for education for Sustainable Development.) Vienna, ENSI
sustainable development), guideline for the quality development for Education for • Bron, J. (2006) Een basis voor burgerschap. (A basis for citizenship.) Enschede, SLO
• Brundtland, G., (1987) ‘Our common future’. New York, United Nations
• De Duurzame School (The Sustainable School), (2004) Den Haag, CodenameFuture
• Graft, M. van; Jansen, P. and Schilperoord, A. (2006) Natuur en techniek op de Pabo: Didactiekontwikkeling in fasen. (Nature and technology in the teachers’ training college: Development of Didactics, stage by stage.) Enschede, SLO
• Europese Commissie, (2005) Approaching sustainability from a cultural and human rights perspective. Brussels
(TULE). (Social Studies; Assessment targets and curricular strands, TULE.) Enschede, SLO
• Greven, J (red), (2001) Oriëntatie op mens en wereld; Tussendoelen en leerlijnen 54
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
• Groot, M. en Donkers, H, Wetenschappers ruziën over invloedrijkste klimaatgrafiek. (Scientists argue about the most influential climate graph.) Geografie, (June 2005)
international review of whole-school sustainability programmes.
• Henderson, K., D. Tilbury, (2004) Whole-school approaches to sustainability: an Sydney, ARIES - Australian Government
(The acoustics of social learning.) Utrecht, SenterNovem
technologische Zivilization. (The principle of accountability. An essay on ethics for
• Hoeven, N. van der, Prof. Dr. A. Wals, H. Blanken (2007) De akoestiek van sociaal leren. • Jonas, H. (1984) Das Prinzip Verantwortung. Versuch einer Ethik für die a technological civilisation.) Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main
learning, systematic thinking in a learning school.) Consent, Sittard
(Sustainable government? It’s time for a Sustainable Regime.) Utrecht, SenterNovem
passive citizenship. Unpublished report
practices and outcomes. Final report. London: QCA & NFER
for intermediate vocational training and Sustainable Development.)
• Jutten J., (2003) Natuurlijk Leren, systeemdenken in een lerende school. (Natural • Kellerman, A. (2007) Duurzame Overheid? Tijd voor duurzaam Leiderschap. • Kennedy, K.J. (2006). Towards a conceptual framework for understanding active and • Kerr, D. & Nelson, J. (2006) Active citizenship in INCA countries: definitions, policies, • Knecht, D. de, (2006) Denkraam MBO en Duurzame Ontwikkeling. (Thinking frame See: www.duurzaammbo.nl
• Koppen, Prof. Dr. K. van (2005) Zorg voor de natuur in de eeuw van de consument. (Care for nature in the century of the consumer.) Utrecht, University of Utrecht
• Kyburz-Graber, Dr. R., Hart, P., Posch, Dr. P. and Robottom, I. (Eds), (2006) Reflective practice in teacher education; learning from case studies of environmental education, Bern, Peter Lang AG
klimaatverandering. (Not man, but sun is responsible for the climate change.) • Linden, M. van der, (2005) Niet de mens, maar de zon veroorzaakt Geografie, June
• Mayr K., Schratz, M., (2006) Education for Sustainable Development towards Responsible Global Citizenship: Conference Report, Vienna, March 13-15, 2006. Innsbruck, University of Innsbruck
• Margadant, M. (1988) Dierenjuf. (Animal teacher.) A dissertation. Utrecht, Rijksuniversiteit
hands of children.) Enschede, SLO
Sustainable Development; school practice in grade 5 to 9. Strasbourg, Council
• Margadant, M. Van Kempen, M. van (1991) Natuur in kinderhanden. (Nature in the • Mayer, Dr. M & Dr. J. Tschapka (Eds.), (2007, in voorbereiding) Engaging Youth in of Europe
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• Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (2003) Leren voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling: van marge naar mainstream. (Learning for Sustainable Development: from margin to mainstream.) The Hague.
• Netherlands Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science (2006) Kerndoelen Primair Onderwijs. (Core Objectives Primary Education)
http://www.minocw.nl/documenten/kerndoelenboekje.pdf
beleidsprogramma 2007 - 2011. (‘Working together, living together’, policy • Netherlands Ministry of General Affairs, (2007) “Samen Werken, Samen Leven”, programma 2007 - 2011.) The Hague
• Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Regional Development and the Environment, (2006) Draagvlak voor Natuur- en Milieueducatie. The Hague
• Mogensen, F. and Mayer, Dr. M. (2005) ECO schools: trends and divergences; a comparative study on ECO-school development processes in 13 countries,
Wenen, ENSI
management.) Utrecht, SenterNovem
(Environmental education: a few phychological-didactical aspects.) (1995) In: Natuur- didactical point of view.) Van Bergeijk, J. e. a. (Ed.) Wageningen, Wageningen Pers
Uitgangspunten en uitwerkingen. (Core Curriculum Nature and Environmental • Noordegraaf, M. and K. van Lierop, (2007) Duurzaam Besturen. (Sustainable • Oers, B. van. Natuur- en milieu-educatie: enkele psychisch-didactische aspecten. en milieu-educatie didactisch beschouwd. (Environmental education from a • Pieters, M. (Final ed.) (1990) Kernleerplan Natuur- en Milieu-Educatie: Education: Basic principles and interpretations.) Enschede, SLO
• Roorda, N. (2005) Basisboek Duurzame Ontwikkeling (Basic Book Sustainable Development). Groningen, Wolters Noordhof
• Closing Statement Kiev Conference, (May 2003), Article 58.
• Sollart, K.M. (2004) Effectiviteit van het Natuur- en Milieu-educatiebeleid. (Effectiveness of the policy for Nature and Environmental Education)
Wageningen, WUR
• Tilbury, Prof. Dr. D., Wortman, D. (2004) Engaging people in sustainability, IUCN, Gland (Switzerland) and Cambridge (UK)
Resolution A/res/55/2, New York
education for sustainable development) (2005)
• United Nations, (2000) United Nations Millennium Declaration,
• UNECE strategie voor educatie voor duurzame ontwikkeling (UNECE strategy for • Verhagen, H. (2007) Onze gezamenlijke toekomst; een tussenbalans van duurzame 56
ontwikkeling (Our communal future; taking stock of sustainable development), Utrecht, SenterNovem
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
• Wagenaar, Drs. H. (Ed.) (2007) Duurzame Ontwikkeling voor de Basisschool; domeinbeschrijving en voorbeeldlessen. (Sustainable Development for the primary school; domain description and example lessons.) Arnhem, CITO
participatie en duurzaamheid. (Have a discussion in the neighbourhood; Cailin Partners
• Wijffels, B. and K. Verreck, (2004) Zet een boom op in de wijk; over bewoners-
about residents’ participation and sustainability) Rotterdam/The Hague,
• Wijffels, B. en K. Verreck, (2005) ‘Ondernemen’ in de wijk; een verkenning naar de mogelijkheden van intersectorale aanpak (sociaal en fysiek) van duurzame ontwikkeling op wijkniveau. (‘Entrepreneurship’ in the neighbourhood; a - of sustainable development at neighbourhood level.) Rotterdam/The Hague, Cailin study into the possibilities of an intersectoral approach - both socially and physically Partners
• www.schoolnet.ca/learning/teacher/index_en.html
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Summary
Sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Sustainable development begins with children. It relates to their immediate surroundings,
their own living environment. Both inside and outside of school, children learn to actively
contribute to that living environment, and, consequently, to a sustainable future in which
they can live and work.
The pupils’ living environment consists of school, home, and leisure environment. In those
environments, nature (planet), material culture (profit), and people play an important role.
The management of this living environment requires the willingness to take responsibility
and to act in a righteous and fair manner.
Education is partly responsible for the creation of a sustainable society. Here, pupils acquire
the basic knowledge and the basic skills and attitudes to be able to make sensible and wise
choices. Education can draw the pupils’ attention to current topics and initiate learning
processes that take long-term development into account.
Learning for Sustainable Development invites us to lay the link between subject content in
school and the social reality around the school, in a natural way. Sustainable development
provides pupils with the opportunity to discover the world - both near and far - starting
with their own living environment. Learning for Sustainable Development is learning to
deal with a variety of subject content in its natural context.
Is this another, new task for the school? No, it isn’t. Implicitly, the aspects mentioned are all
addressed in the present educational practice. Question is, how to place these social topics
in a curricular perspective.
In other words: how can we identify the content - whether pertaining to subjects or
otherwise - in cross-curricular programmes? What possibilities do we have to integrate
these in the traditional curriculum? And what strategies could we use to further develop
and embed them into educational practice? This Core Curriculum Learning for Sustainable
Development is intended to be a model for achieving this.
Why a core curriculum?
We need learning processes for individuals, for organisations, and for society as a whole, to
help us find a new balance between people, planet and profit. Sustainability cannot be
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
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described as a concrete, unambiguous objective, but rather as a ‘journey’ or a ‘road’ towards
a more sustainable society. We are explicitly talking about a development. It is, by definition, a democratic process, without a fixed and firm final goal.
In Learning for Sustainable Development, one subject involves the perspective of another,
thus creating coherence between the different subjects. Coherent education and continuous
curricular strands are key concepts in Learning for Sustainable Development.
However, Learning for Sustainable Development is not just about the educational process.
Implementation into educational practice will only succeed if this educational practice
shows sustainable characteristics, not only in the primary process, but also in other areas of
the educational process, such as school boards and the educational organisation as a whole.
The exemplary function of the school becomes evident in every respect.
In this core curriculum, the objectives for Learning for Sustainable Development are
described in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes for primary and secondary education,
i.e. the 4 to 16-year-olds. It describes characteristics and offers learning content, topics and
core concepts: the core, i.e. the minimum knowledge and skills, of this curriculum.
This core curriculum particularly addresses teachers, school managers, developers and
authors of educational material. It is meant to be an inspiring framework and guideline to
motivate them to incorporate the aspects of sustainable development into their educational
practice; This way, it will present a frame of reference for the assessment of the quality and
the content of Learning for Sustainable Development.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Report of the panel discussions: learning for sustainable development
September 2007
Prof. dr. Wiel Veugelers
University for Humanistics / Amsterdam University
by commission of SLO
The panels’ procedure
Upon request by SLO, three panels were organised in which the draft core curriculum
‘Learning for Sustainable Development’ was discussed. The report below describes the
various discussions about the draft. The report includes the panels’ positive views, their
points of criticism, and their recommendations on the draft presented to them. At the
conclusion of the consultation process, the investigator, Wiel Veugelers, gave his comments
on the final version of the paper. He observed that:
• this final version included many of the panels’ suggestions;
• the visions in it show more coherence;
• it refers extensively to relevant core objectives and attainment levels;
• it contains more practical examples than before;
• the document, on the whole, does justice to the outcomes of the panel discussions.
The panels comprised teachers and principals from primary and secondary education,
representatives from educational organisations and organisations in the area of nature and
environmental education, and scientific researchers. In all, thirty people took part in the
panels.
The panel members were asked to indicate to what extent they agree with the propositions
in the draft core curriculum and to formulate modifications and additions. The objective of
the panel discussions was to view the matter from the different perspectives on learning
for sustainable development and to find out which propositions already enjoy broad social
support. The three panel meetings were very lively and many participants felt highly
positive about this opportunity to voice their opinions about the curriculum.
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The panel discussions were led by prof. dr. Wiel Veugelers of the University for Humanistics
and the Amsterdam University. The location was the University for Humanistics in Utrecht.
The panel meetings took place during the second half of June of 2007.
The panels’ participants were recommended by SLO or by the researchers, or were approached by means of the snow-ball method. The panels were composed in a very diverse
manner considering school type, denomination, school subjects, region, and the type of
organisation.
Naturally, panel discussions will not give a systematic survey of views. However, these
panel discussions did make it clear once again how much panels can contribute to the
generation of new proposals, the creation of social support, and the extension of networks.
This way, curriculum development is rather more than just a desk job – it is done in
consultation with the field. Which clearly shows that the expertise in the field is highly
valued. This way, the curriculum will create greater social support.
Maarten Rector and Joanne Veluwenkamp, of the University for Humanistics, have drawn
up detailed reports of the panel discussions. SLO closely studied these reports while
reviewing of the draft core curriculum. On the basis of the panel reports, Wiel Veugelers
created an exhaustive report for SLO. A summary of this report is included in the present
document.
General reaction to the draft
The panel participants appreciate the fact that SLO is developing a core curriculum. They
also observe that the paper already contains many excellent elements.
Positive remarks include:
- sustainable development is represented as a comparative assessment of factors;
- various perspectives and contributions from different school subjects are highlighted;
- much autonomy is given to the schools in their interpretation.
Important points of criticism include:
- many different definitions are used; the concepts used are not described in a sufficiently precise way;
- the vision could be more inspiring;
- the text remains too abstract; more concrete objectives are desirable;
- all too often, sustainable development is presented as a problem, rather than the need to strike up a new balance;
- insufficient use was made of earlier experiences and research.
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Concrete recommendations
- reason more from a practical point of view, taking into account the teachers’ interests;
- make better use of the children’s natural ability to wonder;
- put more emphasis on the relationship between man, nature and technology;
- provide more examples;
- the objectives and methods based on this text should last ten years at least; therefore, a long-term vision should be provided;
development should be focussed on more;
organisations in the further development.
- the development side, i.e. the development of attitudes, of learning for sustainable - engage as many as possible teachers, principals, researchers and representatives of The present final version meets the majority of the above-mentioned points of criticism
and recommendations.
Summary of the discussions
Vision
The panels often discussed the vision on sustainable development and the vision on
learning for sustainable development. Most participants agreed that the vision should be
developed in further detail.
‘Based on the three Ps, I would look for issues in the area of tension between man and the
environment, between wealth and wellness, between nature and the environment, etcetera.
There is so much more at stake.’
‘A powerful part of the definition is the balance between the different aspects. What is the
core of sustainability and how do we want to teach this in the schools? It is important to
strike a balance between those different aspects.’
Planet, people, profit, prosperity
Often, it was observed that the paper clearly focuses on relationships, which is expressed in
a concrete fashion in the relationship of the three Ps: ‘planet’, ‘people’, and ‘profit’.
Yet, this relationship can be developed in further detail. Especially the concept ‘profit’
should be given more emphasis. On a number of occasions, people suggested to replace the
concept of ‘profit’ by that of ‘prosperity’, or to add this term as a fourth P!
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
‘Make sure the whole world is included. The focus should not just be on the local environment.’
‘A compromise has to be made, every time. In the past, the scales would tend to tip in favour
of ecology and the environment, but we have long since realised that this is just not possible. Money is needed for progress, and the economy is no longer ostracised.’
‘Profit is currently represented in a negative way. I do, however, believe that the concept of
sustainability concerns equal units in the field. Profit is an important aspect in our presentday society. And I think it is a good thing to bring back the balance.’
‘The three Ps usually refer to people, planet and profit. However, the third P is often cal-
led ‘prosperity’ in the teacher students’ network. I believe we should adopt this concept.
From this point of view, it serves a better purpose than ‘profit’. Presently, it is written from a
‘people’ point of view. Should it perhaps be written more from a general point of view?’
One of the school representatives pointed to the gap between the high level of abstraction
of the thinking about sustainable learning and the concrete, practical situation in the
school.
Citizenship and sustainable development
The relationship between sustainable development and citizenship education should be
reinforced, especially on a global scale. The relationship between sustainable development
and citizenship education can be interpreted in two different ways:
1. as participation in the thinking and policy-making about sustainable development;
2. citizenship is not only regarded as living together in harmony with other people, but also living in harmony with nature. It actually concerns an attitude to living in general.
‘Sometimes I imagined crossing out Sustainable Development and replacing the term by
the word Citizenship - and the whole concept remained equally logical. Therefore, I concluded that the two terms are very closely related. I think that Sustainable Development is, in
fact, a very prominent part of Citizenship Education. Let’s see what the optimum proportions will turn out to be.’
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
65
Ethics/religion
The underlying thought of sustainable development may be backed up more, however, the
ethical burden on children must be taken into account. It is important to keep their
development stage into account as well. The approach that makes use of the children’s
natural ability to wonder seems a more desirable one than one that focuses on problems.
‘The text could be enhanced by including ethical points of view, for example when discussing the attitude component. This component is dealt with a number of times, which is a
good thing, but I was thinking, how could we stimulate attitude, and this may well be the
ethical approach.’
‘Because children, especially primary-school children, will be able to understand the enormous responsibility that is involved - after all, they already have the knowledge.’ ‘Indeed,
how to deal with this issue? How to set up various attractive and fun initiatives around
sustainable development while making sure, at the same time, that the topic does not
become too heavy-handed for the particular group you’re working with?’
Learning for sustainable development as a social responsibility
It is inspiring to see that the school has a choice. They can state: this is the job we have as a
school, as viewed from our own vision.
‘One wants to look ahead, from one’s own point of view. I consider this document to provide
sufficient stimulus to do so. For example regarding publishers, to give their interpretation…
what should they do with this development?’
Motivation for learning for sustainable development
The text shows that education is faced with many challenges. Which is good. On the other
hand, the text could be more motivating by visibly demonstrating the importance of
learning for sustainable development.
66
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
‘I read this chapter as a sort of apology for this paper having been written. While, actually, it
is an opportunity we are presented with! Let’s please focus on it being a good idea. Rather
than emphasising the pressure on the curriculum, let’s focus on the possibilities! From the
field’s point of view, we could do with a bit of inspiration.’
‘On the one hand, the tone of voice is rather defensive, it’s true, I recognise that. However, on
the other hand, I feel that the tension field in education was recognised. The fact that pri-
mary schools are overcrowded. When speaking of strategies, it is important to create broad
social support. If you don’t, the gap will only grow wider.’
‘I was glad to read that the authors are aware of the fact that much is demanded of schools.
And that they will not, by definition, find this important. They are already very busy. Government and society are placing heavy demands on education. For schools, it must be clear
whether demands are made by society, or by the government.’
Choices for schools
It is important for schools to be able to lay their own accents.
Maintaining feasibility
Schools should be given the feeling that they can link objectives to their own situation. That
they can interpret the curriculum according to their own conditions.
‘Not everything can be realised in the curriculum. If schools are given more autonomy, some
of the pressure that is laid upon the teachers is relieved. Look at what can be achieved, while
maintaining a good quality and enriching the children’s experiences. Open up own ideas
about these concepts, and own experiences with social concepts. This means that the total
educational programme should be given a ‘cut and paste’ overhaul. If individual schools are
given this opportunity, a whole new type of education will be achieved. And I believe the
turmoil in schools should be allowed to settle down. Because what we’re following now
is an ad-hoc policy (citizenship, sustainability, etc.). Every day, every principal receives piles
of plans from various social organisations. If we are to concern ourselves with sustainable
development, we want to make sure the chosen approach will really work.’
‘We consider it our task as a school to determine our vision. I looked at the definition, and I
should say, look at the primary necessities of life first, for example in disadvantaged areas,
where children arrive at school with empty stomachs. Depending on the situation, it should
be determined to what extent to comply.’
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
67
Professionalisation of teachers
Teachers should have the feeling that they have a say in the matter, especially when it
concerns sustainable development. Within a certain framework, they should have the
feeling that they can interpret the matter from their own professionalism.
‘There must be a point to doing something; it should matter. And I believe that quite a lot of
people start teaching from this social responsibility, because they feel the need to do
something that matters. The examples must be concrete and easy to pick up, and it should
be very clear what it is in connection with, where you can pick it up, so as not to give the
feeling you have to do something extra, but that part of the teaching programme can be
replaced by it. Try to avoid a number of stumbling blocks. But before everything else, there
should be this urge, this need to do something. The desire to do it. And it’s the enticing,
inspiring tone of voice that I find lacking in the text. The tone of responsibility is there, how-
ever. That’s good, and it’s a parallel to the whole topic, including the seriousness of it. To pass
from guilt to responsibility, perhaps it should also contain a more definite link to ‘profit’. If
we keep limiting ourselves to mentioning the tension field between ‘planet’ and ‘people’,
we will keep emphasising this tension field. Until, one day, we are so completely over-stres-
sed that, in our desperation, we all set off for a holiday by air. When, in fact, these dilemmas
occur every day, and pupils are quite aware of this. If you address the sense of responsibility
in teachers, and indeed in pupils, this will ensure a good feeling. I believe that a sense of
responsibility that is graspable will be most workable.’
Objectives
According to the participants, there are many more core objectives that include sustainable
development.
Moreover, the details can be presented in a more systematic manner. High demands are
already made of pupils in the area of sustainable living.
Objectives concerning attitude
The participants acknowledge that learning for sustainable development is normative.
However, they would like to leave the pupils with sufficient room to make their own choices.
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
‘What is important is to raise awareness, to make sure that every act is a conscious choice.
Choose what you want, as long as you know what you are choosing. To do this, the extra
room is needed.’
‘I do not have the ambition to turn every pupil into a socially sustainable pupil.’
‘I don’t know if this is what I should want. It’s an interesting question. It has a lot to do with
values. Naturally, it implies certain margins. Anti-social and destructive are quite different
terms from impassioned, sustainable, and social. There is much grey area in-between.’
Objectives concerning knowledge
Despite the attention given to attitudes, knowledge objectives are very important as well.
‘I like the concept ‘the ability to wonder’. However, many children also want to know what
is out there. They want to learn about the problems, because it is more stimulating to start
with what’s in the news. The real world.’
Objectives concerning skills
Skills are not abstract actions. They are given meaning in certain contexts.
Characteristics of sustainable education
In general, the participants support the vision on learning formulated here. For many, these
are the characteristics of good education. When paying attention to sustainable develop-
ment, the own world of teachers and pupils should be taken into consideration. This is especially true for primary education.
Connecting up to the own living environment is a starting point. It is the teacher’s pedagogical task to make sure the thinking in raised to a higher level.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
69
‘Perhaps the teacher’s exemplary position can be addressed. And, together with the children
in the classroom, to look at things on a very small scale, to see what can be improved. This
way, things are made more concrete and tangible.’
‘I also think: understand how relationships fit together. You are talking about taking
responsibility. But let’s create an understanding first. How do you bake a loaf of bread and
how is this linked to nature? Understanding that the relationship between man and nature
is always there, in everything. And that it can be extended to an understanding that some
products are manufactured abroad, by people who may not particularly enjoy doing so.’
‘That is where the wonder should arise. This diversity makes for a fabulous topic.’
Subjects and coherence
Nature of the curriculum document
The participants agree that the curriculum should remain relatively open. However, it is
also agreed that a lot of example material should be developed. Some participants would
like to see that this document indicates in more detail what exactly is expected of schools.
However, it is also understood that SLO is rather reticent in laying down requirements and
implementations. That is why an interactive curriculum development would be the best
solution.
Methods are quite influential. Many teachers observe the programme quite strictly. In
addition, most subjects contain a few methods that dominate the market. That is why close
contact with publishers appears desirable.
‘If it’s not in the method, it will not happen. Or it should be that it’s a teacher’s favourite
hobby.’
Subjects and learning areas
In the opinion of the panel participants, there is insufficient systematic attention in
primary education for the relationship between man and nature.
Their image of secondary education varies per subject – the opinions about biology are
pessimistic, those about geography rather more positive.
The learning areas in the lower school of secondary education present new possibilities.
However, specific topics are in danger of being overlooked. In addition, there is the chance
that the contrast between nature and society becomes even greater. One especially good
thing about the present plan is that nature and society are clearly interconnected.
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
‘Nature education in primary school is dramatic; almost no attention is paid to it. The rela-
tionship between man and nature is hardly discussed at all. When you look at the material
that is available, it’s mostly about nature. Many teachers are trained not to be afraid of the
small animals children bring to class.’
‘In primary school, a lot is taught in the form of projects rather than by using methods. In
that context, a teacher will be quick to say, let’s do this in the form of a project? Once in
Group 4 and once in group 7, and that’s that. Therefore, these schools should be assessed.’
Factors
The factors mentioned refer to various scientific perspectives. That is fine in itself, only they
should be linked much more strongly to objectives and educational content.
Coherence
The issue of coherence is dealt with in two ways:
1. how to bring coherence in the attention for sustainable development, which are, or should be, dealt with in various places within the curriculum and within the school;
particular educations.
2. another issue concerning coherence is the connection with other learning content, in More attitude than content
Attention for sustainable living does not only concern content, but also, and especially,
attitude. The development side of learning for sustainable development should be focussed
on more.
‘One has to think more about the development and attitude of the teacher than about the
subject material. Much depends on the teacher who is teaching at that moment. It’s like
looking at things through different glasses. The text should focus more on the creation of
more awareness in the teacher, who will then be able to pass this awareness on to the pupils. For example, it’s about not being afraid of the snail, as well as about switching off the
lights when you’re done. It should become a way of thinking about life. Less subject-specific
and more concerning attitudes.’
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
71
Appendix 2 Policy context
International
The concept of Sustainable Development was first launched in 1987, in the report ‘Our
common future’, published by Brundtland. This report prompted the UN to organise the
UNCED conference (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) in 1992,
in Rio de Janeiro. The UNCED was the first major worldwide conference concerning a global
issue. Virtually all countries sent their head of government to the conclusion of the confe-
rence. A bulky final report was made, known as the ‘Agenda 21’. It contains a large number
of proposals for policy measures for national governments, as well as for local governments
and even citizens. In 2002, in Johannesburg, a follow-up conference took place, where the
results after ten years were discussed.
Various international treaties followed, including the Kyoto Protocol and the biodiversity
report, which contained sections requiring activities in the areas of communication,
education and awareness-raising. In 2005, during a ministers’ conference in Kiev, the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) set up its strategy regarding
sustainable development. Also in 2005, the DESD, Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development, is launched by UNESCO. A broad alliance of Dutch organisations and
companies dedicated themselves to this. The SLO also joined this alliance. In 2006, the EU
set up a programme aimed at the stimulation of Sustainable Development.
For the past twenty years, the international network ENSI (European Network for School
Initiatives) has been connecting schools and research institutions around Nature and
Environmental Education and sustainable topics.
The Netherlands 18
In 2000, the programme ‘Learning for Sustainability’ is started up, as the implementation
programme of the memorandum ‘NME 21, Learning for a sustainable society’. This programme is built upon government programmes from the last decade of last century that related
to Nature and Environmental Education (NME). ‘Learning for Sustainability’ continues up to
and including 2003. The objective of the programme is as follows: To contribute to the social
debate and the learning processes resulting from it aimed at the raising of social awareness
and decisiveness to reinforce sustainable development.
Compared to previous programmes, the content of this programme is characterised by a
broadening of nature and the environment to sustainable development as a central topic.
In other words, the aspects concerning nature and the environment are presented in
coherence with social, cultural and economic interests. Also, the global dimension - in the
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sustainable development is learning to look ahead
sense of overseas development - and the prevention of ‘passing the buck’ regarding the
consequences of our actions to the generations following ours, have been included in the
programme.
Thanks, for a major part, to this broadening towards sustainable development, the pro-
gramme may be characterised as an ‘exploration’. With the slogan ‘Laat duizend bloemen
bloeien’ (‘Bring a thousand flowers into blossom’) numerous activities and projects were
initiated under the direction of provincial authorities, featuring a kaleidoscope of form and
content. Many new coalitions were forged in these projects and an increasing number of
dimensions of sustainable development were involved in cohesion. The executive partners
experienced a deepening of understanding regarding ‘sustainability’ and ‘learning’. The
enthusiasm for the projects proved to be such that the budgets made available by the
provincial authorities were greatly overcharged. In addition, the embedding of sustainable
development (one of the spearheads of the programme) proved to be rather tricky, and the
shift of traditional NME subjects towards projects containing all dimensions of sustainable
development takes time. Furthermore, the majority of projects took place in the margins of
society.
While filling in the new programme ‘Learning for Sustainable Development’ 19, this social
embedding was particularly focussed on. It was given a face in the subtitle of the program-
me: from margin to mainstream. This subtitle indicates that future activities will, providing
the preconditions are present, be embedded in the mainstream of social activities.
Towards a new programme
The implementation of the new programme is particularly determined by national and
international trends in the area of sustainable development. Early 2002, in the build up to
the World Summit Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, a National Strategy
Sustainable Development (NSDO) was initiated in the Netherlands. After an exploratory
study by the Government Policy (January 2002) and a Social Investigation (May 2002), the
national strategy was rounded out further. The way in which the Dutch Government
intends to implement sustainable development at a national level, was laid down in the
Action Programme Sustainable Development (ADO). This Action Programme provides the
policy framework for the activities of the new programme Learning for Sustainability.
The activities within ADO are contained in so-called illustrative programmes, which are
concrete projects considered to be representative for long-term strategies. The programme
‘Learning for Sustainability’ is included in the Action Programme as one of the illustrative
programmes. In July 2003, ADO was discussed in the Dutch Cabinet and sent to the Lower
Chamber. On an international scale, there are also developments in the areas of ‘learning’
and sustainable development. In the Closing Statement of the WSSD, a number of action
points concern the further development and implementation of knowledge, competency
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
73
development, and education for the benefit of sustainable development. The UN adopts a
proposal put forward by Japan to arrive at a ‘Decade for Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2015’ (ESD). At the European Ministers’ Summit in Kiev, in May 2003, a Strategy
for ESD was drawn up, which was cosigned on behalf of the Dutch government by the state
secretary of Housing Regional Development and the Environment.
We recognize that education is a fundamental tool for environmental protection and
sustainable development and that environmental education has increasingly addressed a
wide range of issues included in Agenda 21. We invite all countries to integrate sustainable
development into education systems at all levels, from pre-school to higher education and
non-formal as well as informal education, in order to promote education as a key agent for
change 20.
Learning for Sustainable Development 2004 -2007
Within the context of these developments, the programme ‘Learning for Sustainable
Development 2004 - 2007’ was developed, under the responsibility of the interdepartmental and intergovernmental steering committee ‘Learning for Sustainability’. In order to do
justice to the dynamics of the concept, the word ‘sustainability’ in the programme title is
replaced by the term ‘sustainable development’. Thus, the title of the new programme
becomes ‘Learning for Sustainable Development’. Based on frequent consultation with the
steering committee and with organisations involved in the subject, a number of content
innovations were implemented. These can be summarised as follows:
• ‘from margin to mainstream’ becomes the guiding principle: the programme will categorise as many learning processes as possible under mainstream decision-making National Environmental Policy Plan 4, Metropolitan Policy, ADO, etc.);
processes. Also, the programme will provide links with mainstream initiatives (e.g. the • further broadening towards sustainable development: the NME sector will no longer take up a central position. The sector occupies a position similar to other educational and sustainable development in the broad sense of the term;
organisations, such as those in the areas of welfare, overseas development, economics, • from ‘laat duizend bloemen bloeien’ (‘bring a thousand flowers into blossom’) towards the focus on particular actors and subjects;
of partners;
• from education towards the emphasis on social learning processes with a large diversity • from knowledge distribution towards participation and competency stimulation;
• intensification of collaboration among the different governmental layers: national 74
government, provincial authorities, councils, district water boards.
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Appendix 3 Attainment levels / core objectives Primary Education/Secondary Education and Sustainable Development
The following core objectives for Primary Education and attainment levels for Secondary
Education are also realised by means of sustainability topics. Sometimes, this relationship
is very explicit, and in some cases even expressed in the objective itself (second column:
Explicit SD). The objectives and attainment levels in the column ‘By assignments’ do not
have a direct relationship with the topic Learning for Sustainable Development. Which does
not alter the fact that sustainability topics are highly suitable for these objectives and
attainment levels. Take, for instance, core objective Primary Education (PE) 1: The pupils
learn to acquire information from spoken language. Each time, they learn to reproduce this
information - orally or in writing - in a structured way. Learning to acquire and use information is very well suited to a topic such as Wish Village (one of the practical examples).
Although some core objectives and/or attainment levels do not refer directly to sustainability in their description, they can indeed be directly linked to the objectives, core concepts
and topics as described in Chapter 4 of this core curriculum. In those cases, they could be
marked in both columns.
A. Core Objectives Primary Education (PE)
Expliciet
DO
Core objective
Explicitly SD
PE1. The pupils learn to acquire information from spoken language. Each
time, they learn to reproduce this information - orally or in writing - in a
structured way.
By
assignA.d.h.v.
ments
opdrachten
X
X
PE2. Pupils learn to express themselves in a meaningful and engaging
manner when giving or requesting information, reporting, giving
explanations, instructing, and participating in discussions.
X
X
PE3. The pupils learn to assess information in discussions and in
conversations that are informative or opinion forming in nature and learn
to respond with arguments.
X
X
PE4. The pupils learn to retrieve information from informative and
instructive texts, including diagrams, tables and digital sources.
PE5. The pupils learn to write meaningful and attractive texts with
different functions, including: informative, instructive, convincing, or
enjoyable.
PE6. The pupils learn to structure information and opinions when reading
educational, study-oriented, and other instructive texts, as well as
systematically structured sources, including digital ones.
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
75
PE7. The pupils learn to compare and assess information and opinions in
different textual forms.
X
X
PE8. The pupils learn to structure information and opinions when writing
a letter, a report, a form, or a paper.
X
X
PE14. The pupils learn to ask and give information in English about simple
subjects while developing a confident attitude in expressing themselves
in that language.
X
X
PE34. The pupils learn to care for their own physical and psychological
health and that of others.
X
PE37. The pupils learn to behave from a sense of respect for generally
accepted standards and values
X
X
X
PE39. The pupils learn to handle the environment with care.
X
X
X
PE45. The pupils learn to design, realise and evaluate solutions for
technical problems.
PE47. The pupils learn to compare the spatial developments of their own
environment with other environments in the Netherlands and abroad,
from the perspectives of landscape, living, working, government, traffic,
recreation, welfare, culture, and religion. Attention is at least given to two
member states of the EU and two countries that became a member in
2004, to the US, and to a country in Asia, one in Africa, and one in SouthAmerica.
X
X
PE48. The pupils learn about measures that are taken/ have been taken in
the Netherlands in order to enable living in areas threatened by water.
PE49. The pupils learn about global spatial spread of population densities
and religions, about climates, energy sources and natural landscapes such
as volcanoes, deserts, tropical rainforests, high mountain ranges, and
rivers.
X
X
PE51. The pupils learn to use simple historic sources and learn to handle
time indications and arrangements.
X
PE54. Pupils learn to use images, language, music, games and movement
to express their feelings and experiences and to communicate with.
X
PE55. Pupils learn to reflect upon their own work and the work of others.
X
PE56. Pupils acquire knowledge about and learn to appreciate aspects of
cultural heritage.
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X
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
X
X
B. Core Objectives Basic Secundary Education (SBE)
Expliciet
DO
Core objective
Explicitly SD
BSE04. The pupil learns to use strategies to acquire information from
spoken and written texts.
By
assignA.d.h.v.
ments
opdrachten
X
X
BSE05. The pupil learns to find, arrange and assess information in written
and digital sources, for themselves and others.
X
X
BSE06. The pupil learns to participate in meetings, planning and group
discussions.
X
BSE07. The pupil learns to give oral presentations.
X
BSE10. The pupil learns to reflect upon his own speaking and writing skills
and, on the basis of this as well as by other people’s reactions, learns to
revise his own written texts.
X
X
BSE13. The pupil learns to use strategies to acquire information from
spoken and written English texts.
X
BSE14. The pupil learns to find, arrange and assess information in written
and digital sources in English, for themselves and others.
X
BSE17. The pupil learns to maintain informal contacts in English by email,
letter and chat.
X
BSE21. The pupil learns to distinguish mathematical argumentation from
opinions and allegations, and learns to give and receive criticism while
respecting other people’s ways of thinking.
X
BSE27. The pupil learns to systematically describe, structure and visualise
data from statistical research, and learns to assess statistical data,
representations and conclusions.
X
BSE29. The pupil learns to acquire knowledge about and insight into key
concepts in living and non-living nature.
X
BSE30. The pupil learns to relate scientific key concepts to situations from
everyday life.
X
BSE31. The pupil learns that humans, animals and plants are interrelated
with each other and their environment, and that scientific applications
may influence both positively and negatively the sustainable quality of
the environment.
X
BSE32. By carrying out practical assignments, the pupil learns to acquire
knowledge about and insight into energy, matter, and information.
X
BSE34. By carrying out research, the pupil learns to acquire knowledge
about technical products and systems that are relevant to him and assess
these products and systems.
X
X
X
BSE36. By carrying out practical assignments, the pupil learns to acquire
knowledge about the growth and development of organisms in relation
to their environment.
X
BSE37. The pupil learns to understand the essentials about build and
function of the human body, link these to the promotion of physical and
emotional health, and learns to take his own responsibility in this.
X
X
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
77
BSE38. The pupil learns about care and learns to care for himself, for
others, and for his environment.
X
BSE39. The pupil learns how to positively influence his own safety and
that of others in different living situations (living, learning, working, going
out, participating in traffic).
X
BSE40. The pupil learns to ask meaningful questions about social issues
and phenomena, take a substantiated point of view concerning these,
defend it, and deal with criticism in a respectful way.
X
BSE42. The pupil learns to use an up-to-date geographic view of his own
environment, the Netherlands, Europe, and the world, in order to correctly
place phenomena and developments in their environment.
X
BSE43. The pupil learns to use historic sources to form a picture for
himself or to find answers to specific questions.
X
BSE44. The pupil learns to use the atlas as a source of information, learns
to read and analyse maps in order to orient himself, to form an image of
an area, or to find answers to specific questions.
78
X
X
X
BSE45. The pupil learns to carry out a simple research into a current social
phenomenon and give a presentation of the results of it.
X
BSE46. In his own environment, the pupil learns to recognise effects
caused by choices made in the area of working and living, leisure and
recreation, traffic and nature/environment.
X
BSE47. The pupil learns about agreements, differences and changes in
culture and religion in the Netherlands, learns to connect his or her own,
as well as someone else’s lifestyle with these, and learns that respect for
each other’s views and lifestyles will enhance society.
X
BSE49. The pupil learns about European collaboration and learns the
meaning of the EU for himself, the Netherlands, and the world.
X
BSE50. The pupil learns to place current tensions and conflicts in the
world against their backgrounds and, while doing so, learns to recognise
the tremendous interdependence that exists in the world and the
significance of global collaboration.
X
BSE51. The pupil learns about the distribution of wealth and poverty
in the world, to recognise its implication on the population and the
environment, and to connect these to (his own) life in the Netherlands.
X
X
BSE52. By using elementary skills (technologies and means), the pupil
learns to research and apply the power of expression of different artistic
disciplines, in order to express his own feelings, record experiences, shape
his imagination, and realise communication.
X
BSE53. The pupil learn to reflect upon his own work and the work of
others, including artists, orally or in writing.
X
BSE60. During exercise activities, the pupil learns to be sportive, take
the possibilities and preferences of others into consideration, and have
respect for and care for each other.
X
sustainable development is learning to look ahead
Footnotes
1. United Nations, (2000) United Nations Millennium Declaration, Resolution A/res/55/2, New York
programma 2007 - 2011. (‘Working together, living together’, policy programma
2. Netherlands Ministry of General Affairs, (2007) “Samen Werken, Samen Leven”, beleids
2007 - 2011.) The Hague
3. Brundtland, (1987) ‘Our common future’. New York, United Nations
4. Instead of ‘profit’ the term ‘prosperity’ is sometimes used. This concept has a meaning that approaches the term ‘wellbeing’ or ‘welfare’ more closely than the term ‘profit’, term ‘profit’ is widely used. That is why we have decided to join in with the use of
which is all too often associated with financial wealth. However, on a global basis, the this term.
5. See also: www.duurzaammbo.nl, Denkraam MBO en Duurzame Ontwikkeling (Thinking frame for intermediate vocational training and Sustainable Development)
6. See www.slo.nl
7. The core of a curriculum concerns the objectives and content of learning. According to Van den Akker (2003) a curriculum can be viewed as a combined action of different • Rationale or vision. Why are we learning? What are the views that education is components that are interrelated. Usually, the following components are distinguished:
based upon? What are its central functions and principles?
• Objectives. What are the broad and/or specific results that learning should lead to?
• Content. What is it that should be learned, or what educational content forms the basis • Learning activities. How is learning realised? What are the concrete learning tasks and • Teacher roles. Which role does the teacher play in the stimulation of learning? What • Materials & sources. What are we learning with? What tools are used to stimulate and • Grouping. Who are we learning with? Does the pupil learn alone, or does learning take • Time. When does learning take place and for how long?
of learning?
processes that are aimed for?
expertise is necessary for this?
support learning?
place in small or larger groups?
• Place. Where does learning take place? In school, or outside of it? What are the social/
• Evaluation of learning. How do we evaluate to what results the learning has led?
Draagvlak voor Natuur- en Milieueducatie. The Hague
physical characteristics of the learning environment?
8. Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Regional Development and the Environment, (2006) sustainable development is learning to look ahead
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9. Europese Commissie, (2005) Approaching sustainability from a cultural and human rights perspective, Brussels
passive citizenship. Unpublished report.
practices and outcomes. Final report. London: QCA & NFER.
leraar bij onderwijsinnovaties, een verkenning o.b.v. literatuur (Engaging the teacher in Personeelsbeleid Onderwijs (Policy Study of Labour Market and Human Resource 10.Kennedy, K.J. (2006). Towards a conceptual framework for understanding active and 11. Kerr, D. & Nelson, J. (2006). Active citizenship in INCA countries: definitions, policies, 12. Bolt, L. van der, Studulski, F., Vegt, A.L. van der, Bontje, D., (2006) De betrokkenheid van de educational innovations, a study based on literature), Beleidsonderzoek Arbeidsmarkt en Management in Education), no. 140. The Hague/Utrecht: OCW/Sardes
13.See, for example: Biology course from 4 - 18, sustainability as a concept www.nibi.nl, 2006
education for sustainable development) (2005)
14.UNECE strategie voor educatie voor duurzame ontwikkeling (UNECE strategy for 15.Bron, J. (2006) Een basis voor burgerschap. (A basis for citizenship.) Enschede, SLO
16.http://www.schoolnet.ca/learning/teacher/index_en.html
17.Mayer, Dr. M & Dr. J. Tschapka (Eds.), (2007, not yet published) Engaging Youth in Sustainable Development; school practice in grade 5 to 9. Strasbourg, Council of Europe
18.CodenameFuture (2004) De Duurzame School, The Hague,
19. Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (2003) Leren voor Duur-
zame Ontwikkeling: van marge naar mainstream.
(Learning for Sustainable Development: from margin to mainstream.) The Hague.
20.Closing Statement Kiev Conference, (May 2003), Article 58.
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