Education for Sustainability in the Primary Curriculum: A Guide For Teachers

Abstract

Education for Sustainability is a top priority in the present international climate, where the media is dominated by environmental, social, political and economic concerns about current problems that will affect our future. As young children will become the next generation of adults, it is vital that they are educated about sustainability issues, so they can be critically aware of the problems our society faces and take positive action to help preserve their future in a rapidly changing world. While teachers are generally concerned about sustainability issues, perceived constraints of current curriculum priorities commonly inhibit Education for Sustainability from being developed in many classrooms. Education for Sustainability in the Primary Curriculum addresses this dilemma by showing how Education for Sustainability can be developed within and across all areas of the primary curriculum in Australian and New Zealand contexts. The book provides suitable approaches and examples of activities to support teachers so that they can address the State and National requirements for teaching all the primary curriculum learning areas, while also addressing Education for Sustainability to promote knowledge of, positive attitudes towards and suitable action for, sustainability in relevant, meaningful, enjoyable and creative ways. The approaches to education for sustainability in this book also support relevant state and national policies, such as the recently introduced Living Sustainably: the Australian Government's National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability, which provides national direction for achieving a sustainable society, and the New Zealand Government's Education for Sustainability, which advises schools directly. This book directly supports sustainability, and is a valuable resource for all primary teachers who wish to make a real difference to educating children for the future.