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

Education for Sustainability in the Primary Curriculum: A Guide for Teachers. Education for Sustainability in the Primary Curriculum: A Guide forTeachers. Edited by Michael Littledyke, Neil Taylor & Chris Eames.South Yarra: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, 224 pp. ISBN: 9781420256277 Despite the increasing attention paid to Education forSustainability (EfS), not least because of the UNESCO Decade ofEducation for Sustainable Development and the increasing popularity ofthe Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative, there are actually veryfew books for teachers that attempt to draw the threads of EfS togetherin a practical and holistic manner, especially from an Australian and NZperspective (two exceptions are Josephine Lang's (2007) How toSucceed with Education for Sustainability and the CurriculumCorporation's (Rushton, 2008) Activate Your Students: Aninquiry-based learning approach to sustainability). In Education forSustainability in the Primary Curriculum: A guide for teachers, theeditors Michael Littledyke, Neil Taylor and Chris Eames draw upon theexperience of 15 other academics and practitioners from across Australiaand New Zealand. The book aims to support teachers in addressing EfS to"promote knowledge of, positive attitudes towards and suitableaction for sustainability in relevant, meaningful, enjoyable andcreative ways" (Littledyke, Taylor & Eames, 2009; xi) whilstalso demonstrating how to meet State and Commonwealth curriculumrequirements. In this collection, the editors and authors aim to overcome many ofthe issues conspiring against the widespread inclusion of EfS in thecurriculum that they list as: * a poorly understood concept of EfS and inability to see therelevance of EfS content and processes to a wide range of curriculumofferings within the primary teaching profession (Bonnet describes thisability to see the connections of sustainability to all things as"sustainability as a frame of mind" (Bonnet, 2002); * a lack of awareness and understanding of national and State EfSpolicies; * poor conceptual development of environmental and sustainabilityissues and their associated social, cultural, economic and politicaldimensions; * a lack of skill in integrating these issues into a perceivedalready overcrowded curriculum; and * an under-appreciation of the importance of action-taking inovercoming feelings of disempowerment and paralysis. The book achieves its aims by providing a clearly arguedjustification and theoretical framework for the inclusion of EfS withinthe primary school curriculum, an argument illustrated with a liberalsprinkling of real life examples and practical activities that shouldinspire innovation and creativity. The book has 3 sections. The first section (Chapters 1-3) providesa rationale for why and how EfS should be included in primary schoolsincluding an obligatory, but brief, overview of some of the majorenvironmental and sustainability challenges facing us and the prominentrole accorded to education both nationally and internationally inresolving the sustainability crisis. As this book is suited perfectly tothe sustainability novice, there is an interesting chapter (Chapter 2:Main Issues and Themes in EfS), which focuses on building teachers'conceptual knowledge and understandings of EfS (or sustainabilityliteracy) through a range of topical sustainability issues such asclimate change and material resource extraction. These chapters unpackthe science behind the issue, examine the global social, economic andcultural implications of these issues, and discuss a range of actions(personal, social and political) that may be undertaken to address theseissues. For novices this is an interesting device as it explores theinherent complexity of sustainability issues and highlights theinterdependence of ecological, social, cultural, economic and politicalsystems although one wonders why some issues were included fordissection whilst others, such as food security, were omitted. Chapter 3links theory with practice and provides an easy-to-understandpedagogical framework for the teaching of EfS. Contemporary pedagogiessuch as constructivism and action-competence (Jensen, 2002) areemphasised as is the importance of integration--across disciplines--ofmeaningful, authentic real-life issues that actively engage and motivatestudents. The second section (Chapters 6-12), written by a range ofcurriculum specialists, explores how EfS can be integrated into the KeyLearning Areas (KLAs) of Science, Social Studies, English, Technology,Creative Arts, Health and Maths. Each of these chapters sets a clearfoundation for the integration of EfS into that discipline throughexploring major state and national curriculum development policies andrevealing specific linkages to the sustainability theme. All authorsargue throughout the book that effective EfS practice is underpinned by: * strong theoretical frameworks characterised by the promotion ofthe development of action-taking skills; * meaningful, relevant and co-constructed curriculum experiences; * a focus on holistic understandings of complex real-life issues; * the building of appropriate values frameworks consistent withsustainable living; and * hands-on inquiry learning processes. Each chapter in this section provides practical activitysuggestions and real life examples of innovative EfS practices that arenot only useful for a classroom context but inspire teachers to be thebest they can. It is this aspect of the book that makes the greatestcontribution and will ensure that the book will remain a favourite andwellused resource for all teachers and teacher educators for years tocome. The book's last section is the final piece of the puzzleoutlining some important educational processes including an example ofbest practice in EfS from the Early Childhood education field (Chapter4), how to address the diverse learning needs of learners across avariety of educational settings (Chapter 5) and putting it all togetherby adopting an integrated (which the authors term "thematic")approach. Although for me the term "thematic" has negativeconnotations--conjuring up the meaningless inclusion of mindlessactivities just because they "fit" the theme, and I wouldeschew this term for the more appropriate "integratedapproach"--it is obvious that nothing could be further from theminds of the authors (Bruce McMullen and Peter Fletcher) who provideframeworks and assistance for teachers to manage this. Although a single book cannot hope to provide a completeone-stop-shop-guide for EfS for primary school educators, this bookcomes close. It is well-written, with easily accessible ideas that areperfectly suitable for the EfS novice as they provide a broad contextualbackground to the issues as well as clearly explained pedagogies thatare grounded in theory and balanced by practical examples and inspiringreal-life examples. The book will serve as a valuable resource for bothpre- and in-service teachers but also for teacher educators seekingembed sustainability examples and perspectives in their own teachingpractice. I have no doubt that this book will make a fine contributionto meeting the authors' aims of "helping teachers provideexperiences across the curriculum that encourage children to behave moresustainably and to become advocates for more sustainable living". Lisa Ryan University of the Sunshine Coast References Bonnet, M. (2002). Education for sustainability as a frame of mind.Environmental Education research, 8(1), 9-20. Lang, J. (2007). How to succeed with education for sustainability.Carlton South, Vic.: Curriculum Corporation. Rushton, S. (2008). Activate your students: An inquiry-basedlearning approach to sustainability (upper primary). Carlton South,Vic.: Curriculum Corporation. Jensen, B. (2002). Knowledge, action and pro-environmentalbehaviour. Environmental Education Research, 8(3), 325-334.