How to Teach a Sustainable Curriculum For High School
In some ways the high school teacher is lucky to be teaching a sustainability curriculum to this particular age group. Young people tend to be idealistic rather than jaded and may therefore already be concerned about the environment. Indeed they often take quite a moralistic tone when trying to persuade their parents and other elders about the absolute need to save the environment. There are so many subjects that lend themselves to teaching sustainability, particulary geography, RE (religious education), art and science. There are also many interschool projects and initiatives to encourage children to explore this subject further.
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Instructions
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Involve your school in interschool initiatives such as the Canon Envirothon, North America's largest high school environmental education project. Help the students to investigate local community green initiatives, making links with some of these, and if possible, contributing to the outcomes. Arrange field trips to recycling centers and to sustainable energy projects.
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Teach the children about food production as part of geography and environmental science. if possible, take them on field trips to different types of farms. Get them involved in tree-planting projects, and explain the importance of wildlife corridors on farms. Look at agriculture in global terms, setting the students the task of tracing a cup of coffee from the local coffee shop back to the original growers. This can relate to both RE and history, as the children look at colonialism and development.
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Liaise with other departments in the school to develop a policy of waste reduction and recycling. Aim to minimize the use of disposable items and to reuse and improvise. Arts and crafts projects can encourage students to create their own customized "bag for life," rather than using plastic bags. Make links between the personal and the political as it can sometimes seem difficult for individual students to feel that they are making a difference.
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References
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