Week 5 - Blog Post Three

Education for Sustainability and HASS Education – Grade 5

Over the last week the students watched the ABC documentary ‘War on Waste.’ The students were shocked by the amount of waste that Australia is producing and I posed a question to them. “How can we decrease our waste at home, at school and within the community?” This set the stage for an inquiry-based project for students. The students were motivated to be active citizens and make a difference. Using inquiry-based learning, students are active participants and are learning skills which are transferable throughout life and centres their learning in an authentic context (Murdoch, 2015).

Cool Australia (n.d.) has a fact sheet about waste which many students have been using as a guide to begin their project. It comprises suggestions for producing less waste and what is the right thing to do with your waste.

(Cool Australia, n.d.)

The challenge for the students, is to use their critical and creative thinking skills to work out how to get their message across the school to the different grades and within the community. The students researched communication methods, devised plans and redrafted and adapted ideas. For students, having the ability to be critical and creative thinkers is a 21^st century skill that will help them succeed beyond their schooling (Marin, & Halpern, 2011). It develops the skills in students “to be creative, innovative, enterprising and adaptable, with the motivation, confidence and skills to use critical and creative thinking purposefully” (ACARA, n.d. para 3). Such strategies are teaching students ‘how to think’ and not ‘what to think’ (Thomas, 2009; Leicester, 2009).

These are some example of the projects the students are doing:

(Maple Shade Schools go green with new food composting program, 2015)

·      Working with the groundskeeper to put up compost and recycling bins around the school.

(Just say no to plastic bags, n.d.)

·      Creating information posters and setting up collection points for old plastic bags. 

(Northern Illawarra schools win grant for sustainability projects, 2016)

·      Bringing the old vegetable garden site back to life and growing healthy food.

It is important that the students are engaged and participating in sustainable living because they are the next generation who are growing up within the world and it will be their responsibility to think about solutions to current environmental problems. By educating students on sustainability, the goal is to promote knowledge, positive attitudes and guide students in knowing that they do have the power and ability to make a positive difference in the world (Littedyke, Taylor, & Eames, 2009).

There are many opportunities for parents to get involved with students’ learning. Some students are working on creating a post for our school’s social media site about ways of living sustainably at home. Embrace some of the suggestions made by students and encourage environmentally friendly living. Another group of students is planning a buy and sell clothes night where you can donate and buy second-hand clothing. 

This week’s learning has links to ACARA’s content descriptors about: 

(ACARA, 2016)

References

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2016, December 16). The Australian Curriculum: F-6/7 HASS (Version 8.3), F-6/7, all curriculum elements, all curriculum dimensions. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/download/f10

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.). Critical and creative thinking. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10curriculum/general-capabilities/critical-and-creative-thinking/

Cool Australia. (n.d.). Waste fact sheet. Retrieved from https://coolaustralia.org/wp content/uploads/2013/10/Wastefactsheet1.pdf

Just say no to plastic bags [online image]. Retrieved from http://www.greenribbonschools.org/activity-detail.php?id=2879&resId=4387

Leicester, M. (2009). Teaching critical thinking skills. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Littledyke, M., Taylor, N., & Eames, C. (2009). Education for sustainability in the primary curriculum: A guide for teachers. South Yarra, VIC: Palgrave Macmillan.

Maple Shade Schools go green with new food composting program [online image]. (2015). Retrieved from http://sustainablemapleshade.com/maple-shade-schools-go-green-with-new-food-composting-program/

Marin, L., & Halpern, D. (2011). Pedagogy for developing critical thinking in adolescents: Explicit instruction produces greatest gains. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 6(1), 1-13.

Murdoch, K. (2015). The Power of Inquiry. Northcote, VIC: Seastar Education.

Northern Illawarra schools win grants for sustainability projects [online image]. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/4164436/sustainability-grants-for-northern-schools/

Thomas, I. (2009). Critical thinking, transformative learning, sustainable education and problem-based learning in universities. Journal of Transformative Education, 7(3), 245-264.