<P><FONT color=#33711E><STRONG>Day 2 – Session 3C: <br>Innovative Initiatives at Educational Institutions: Leadership and Teacher Training for ESD</STRONG></FONT></P>

Queen’s Park 5, 2nd Floor

8.30 – 8.50

3.C.1 Sustainable Development in the Context of Globalization: Challenges and Prospects for Education and Training
Elwyn Thomas, Institute of Education, University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom
In the face of globalization, and recognizing the need for countries to develop sustainably, major shifts are required in education. The thesis of this paper is that learning and the nature of knowledge need to be brought into line with sustainable development, so that education and training is made more creative, relevant and, above all, adaptive. The paper will also argue that existing ways of educating students will have to change in terms of the curriculum, instruction, assessment and time spent in full-time study. Education and training should no longer be seen as a strictly institutional concern, but one in which the wider community, including the world of work, is closely involved. This is likely to prompt measures for lifelong education, emphasizing the ongoing nature of career development. This paper will also discuss new ways of conceiving and operationalizing learning and teaching in the context of curriculum change, pedagogy and training. The main focus will be on teacher education as part of higher education, and will discuss developments taking place in the Asia-Pacific region and in the United Kingdom. The paper will also put forward a model, based on research in the field of knowledge cultures. It is hoped that the model could be integral to any future plans for education and training for teacher educators, as part of an effective strategy for achieving sustainable development.

Download the paper (zip, 50kb) and presentation (pdf, 900kb)

8.50 – 9.10
3.C.2 Curriculum Greening Initiatives: Faculty Perspectives in the Teacher Education Programme at Universiti Sains Malaysia
Sharifah Norhaidah Syed Idros, School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia
We are now in the second year of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and Universiti Sains Malaysia has been appointed as a Regional Centre of Expertise for Sustainable Development (SD). By realigning to the SD vision, the School of Educational Studies will play an integral role in furthering the sustainability agenda. In order to assess the School of Educational Studies’ progress in achieving SD goals, a baseline survey was conducted to elicit viewpoints from faculty members regarding factors that might facilitate or inhibit moves to incorporate sustainability issues at both the personal and institutional levels. This paper argues that in order to institutionalize education for sustainable development in the Teacher Education programme,  these  drivers  and  inhibitors  need  to  be  acknowledged  and  addressed  before  an  effective curriculum can be charted out.

Download the paper (word, 900kb) and presentation (pdf, 1.7mb)

9.10 – 9.30
3.C.3 Achieving the Goals of the UN Decade for Sustainable Development: Educational Leadership for Sustainable Futures
G.J. Cairnduff and W. Chaiyabang
Educators face major challenges in trying to sustain educational improvement over time, and in spreading improvements beyond individual  schools,  throughout  whole  systems  and  communities. To succeed in a changing and complex world, school communities need to grow, develop, deal with and take charge of change so they can create a future of their own choosing and prepare students to play their own roles as effective agents of change. Leadership of schools cannot just be left to individuals. Research has shown that in order to ensure deep, broad, and long lasting reforms of the type required to achieve the vision expressed by the UN Decade for Sustainable Development, sustainable leadership of schools must be a priority. This paper will argue that there is an inextricable link between the sustainability of leadership in educational institutions and the success of sustainable development in the communities served by those institutions. The concept of leadership sustainability and its importance in the educational setting, particularly in relation to sustainable development, will be discussed and illustrated with a case of study of a small school in eastern Thailand.

Download the paper (word, 150kb) and presentation (pdf, 1mb)

9.30 – 9.50
3.C.4. Culturally Competent Leadership for Diversity: Case Study of a Malaysian “Vision School”
Suseela Malakolunthu, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Malaysia is a nation diverse in its ethnicity, culture, language, and religion. In such a multicultural setting, education is seen as a viable avenue for promoting racial coexistence and cultural pluralism. The Malaysian Government, realizing the importance of schools as a neutral ground for bringing together the children of different ethnicities and languages, established “Vision Schools” that would house all of the three major medium-elementary schools (Malay, Chinese, and Tamil) in the same compound, sharing facilities and events. But this over simplistic notion of the concept of multiculturalism and the ways to go about in achieving the goals of racial integration and unity seems to be problematic. This paper, based on a case study of a particular “Vision School”, emphasizes that the goal of racial integration cannot be attained merely by following a standardized curriculum or by sharing common facilities. It takes strong school leadership, anchored on the ideals and processes of multiculturalism. In other words, it needs culturally responsive leadership that is competent and proficient in creating, managing and sustaining  a culturally responsive teaching-learning community and environment. The paper also provides a model that identifies the leadership prerequisites to act as “culturally competent and proficient leaders” to lead “Vision Schools” towards the successful practice of multicultural education, celebrating cultural diversity and equal opportunity for all.

Download the paper (word, 100kb) and presentation (pdf, 100kb)

9.50 – 10.10
3.C.5. Education for Sustainable Development: The South Australian Initiative
Sue Coad and Owen Secombe, APNIEVE, Australia
According to the United Nations International Implementation Scheme prepared in January 2005, “the basic vision of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) is a world where everyone has the opportunity to benefit from education and learn the values, behaviour and lifestyles required for a sustainable future and for positive societal transformation”. ESD is most effectively achieved through a whole-school approach that is learner and community centred, integrates all levels and areas of curriculum and school management, and is committed to developing and embedding a values-driven sustainability culture and ethos. The South Australian Sustainable School Initiative (a partnership between the Education Department and the Department for Environment and Heritage) has developed a model which demonstrates this approach and relates to all five objectives of the DESD. This paper describes the SA model and explains its background, development and implementation and evaluation strategies. An example of the way one school has moved from a strong environmental education focus into sustainable schooling will also be presented.

Download the paper (word, 340kb) and presentation (pdf, 460kb)