The Ebb and Flow of Environmental and Sustainability Education in UK Schools

Abstract

This chapter describes and reflects upon the recent history and contemporary situation regarding Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) in the UK. It discusses how ESE is practised and understood in schools and other educational institutions and describes influencers (e.g. policy) on the practice and conceptualisation of ESE. While the focus is on the situation in England, the chapter also refers to publications and policy about ESE in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; in so doing the chapter illustrates what may be known as the 'green school movement' elsewhere. A picture emerges of multi-directional influences including policy, public opinion, civil society organisations and businesses, academic research and schools. To illustrate this varied landscape, the chapter includes three case studies, one from policy, one from school-based practice and one from civil society. The chapter concludes with commentary on the influence of the Sustainable Development Goals, wellbeing and nature connectedness and the potential of social media to shape ESE in schools in the future. Introduction -and a question of definitionsWhile the term 'green schools' is more commonly used in the US, the UK has a strong tradition of formal schooling addressing parallel issues. In the UK, schools that tackle 'green' issues are most likely to be 'eco-schools' or 'sustainable schools'. Both of these terms are significant because they arise from international policy initiatives and so demonstrate the interplay between practice in schools and the policies of both national and global initiatives. The international Eco-Schools programme, that claims to reach 18 million children worldwide, has influenced the adoption and proliferation of this label. This programme of the Danish-based Foundation for Environmental Education has been particularly successful in the UK, although this varies a little across the devolved parts of the UK. In England, according to current data, around 18 000 schools (approximately two thirds of all schools across England) have registered on the scheme with 12 000 of these holding an Eco-Schools award comprising Bronze, Silver or a Green Flag 1 . In Scotland 3 000 schools are registered with the programme through Keep Scotland Beautiful, which is also about two thirds of all of the schools in Scotland; the programme is also prevalent in schools in Wales and Northern Ireland. Alongside this,

Teaching (super) wicked problems: authentic learning about climate change

“…What is important for this research is that most schools currently fail to address climate change in their teaching, and that the young people who have mobilized to critique their learning in school will soon begin their higher education experience. For a review of how climate change is taught in schools: Waldron et al (2020) provide a detailed discussion on climate change education in Ireland; while Lee et al (2020) review the shifting situation in England, making comparison with Scotland, Wales and NI (Lee et al, 2020). The marked rise in young people's engagement with climate change is now also re-focusing attention on climate change in the higher education curriculum.…”