In these different and challenging times we have been heartened by the new understanding of who ‘key workers’ are in the UK. I am sure many families now appreciate the work of teachers and schools. But changes have really been taking place. One is the move to online learning and the skills and shifts that brings about.
Our own Youth Listening project showed that students were already getting much information from the internet and social media as well as TV. They are very aware of the global issues but less aware of the systems and choices that create these issues. And are they able to think critically about the information they are getting online – the messaging, the purpose, the accuracy? That will be the real role of teachers, I think, in the future as much more easily accessible content is available to students.
But what is even more interesting are the discussions people are having about the purpose of education – the content and skills, the assessing students and the socialisation agendas. George Monbiot is just one example writing in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/12/coronavirus-education-pandemic-natural-world-ecology?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
It is what we in SEEd having been saying for years in our campaign to add a purpose to the Education Act (2002) i.e. ‘care for oneself, care for others (local and global), and care for the environment’.
And those of you working in outdoor education must be thrilled with the advice about being outdoors and the way most people have taken this seriously. How can we make sure it lasts?
Well Rachael and some of us have gathered together a list of climate change online and mostly free resources for parents and teachers as well as students. I especially like all the sites with great visual graphs! https://se-ed.org.uk/a-collated-list-of-online-climate-change-learning-resources/
If you have favourite or would like to write a review please send it to us. Any resources you would like to suggest as well? Send them to admin@se-ed.org.uk. We will do this each month on different sustainability themes so please send the links to us.
Ann Finlayson
