Sustainability in schools

Whole-school approach to sustainability

According to the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES), “In the last ten years, a whole-of-school approach to sustainability, which targets all aspects of the school, not just the curriculum, has been advocated as the most effective approach to Learning for Sustainability.”

A whole-school approach to sustainability addresses the concern that the day-to-day practices of the school, evident in the non-formal or hidden curricula, ought to be consistent with the teaching espoused within the classroom. Schools that employ whole-school approaches practice what they preach and also reinforce their espoused sustainability values with action.

In other words, schools that practice what they teach lead to values being reinforced by action, and in this way, values are caught as well as being taught.

Buildings have a significant environmental impact including: greenhouse emissions due to energy use; water and natural resource consumption; and generation of waste. The design, construction and operation of school buildings therefore provide a number of opportunities to become part of the school’s teaching and learning program for sustainability:

• Design & Construction – students can be involved from the start of the project. Their ideas as to the importance of sustainability can be given voice by inviting them to contribute ideas, ask questions of the architects and engineers and define what outcomes they would like to see.
• Operation – is the building automated or is it manually controlled by the staff and students? Make the building a place to experiment. If the windows are left open at night is the building cooler the next day? Are there lessons to learn which can be taken home?
• Metering & Monitoring – provide temperature sensors, weather stations, energy meters and so on and incorporate these into live experiments or assignments. Link the systems to an on-line resource for other schools to share?

An example of a building which involves students in the operation and monitoring of the facility is the St Leonards College Sustainable Living Centre. Click here to download a copy of the user guide to the building.

Refer also to Learning for Sustainability for links to programs and advice on integrating sustainability into school curriculum.