The Center for Ecoliteracy has identified a five-step process for schools becoming Smart by Nature, based on how living systems change. Change is most likely to last if it involves whole schools. Children learn from everything the school does: school food, gardens, building design and maintenance, as well as curriculum in the classroom. We discuss several of the most important areas of school practice, and strategies for making changes in them.
You are here
Five Steps to Becoming Smart by Nature
There is no one-size-fits-all plan for schooling for sustainability. The Center for Ecoliteracy has identified a five-step process from its work with hundreds of educators. Schools can adapt the process to fit their own circumstances. The steps mirror the Center's principles of Smart by Nature education: learning from nature, community collaboration, immersion in the real world, and deep knowledge of particular places.
School Food
The Center for Ecoliteracy has developed a planning framework, "Rethinking School Lunch," for improving school food, teaching nutrition, and using food as a focus for furthering ecological understanding. This framework, explored in an online guide, is the foundation for several Center publications and for the Center’s ongoing work around school food with educators, parents, and citizens.
Whole School Change
Children's ability to learn is greatly affected by the culture of the school. Student achievement depends as much on the vitality and health of the whole school environment as on the textbooks, curricula, or teachers. When sustainability efforts involve the whole community and are supported by changes in structures and relationships, they are more likely to last.
School Gardens
For educators interested in schooling for sustainability, a garden is often a great starting place. Even a small plot or container garden can help children learn basic ecological principles first-hand. Especially in cities, a garden may be a young person's best connection to the natural world.
Greening the Campus
"High-performance" design, construction, and maintenance demonstrate respect for the environment and the stewardship of resources. Eliminating or reducing toxins on campus, adopting environmentally preferable purchasing, and reducing consumption and waste are good for the environment and the health of students and staff. Decision-makers can be influenced by demonstrations of the long-term cost savings, the public and private funding available for campus greening, and evidence that students learn better and staff members are more productive.
Changing the Curriculum
Large-scale curricular change is an evolving process. It usually requires the engagement of a significant portion of the faculty, administrative support, professional development, and planning time. Schools that have successfully effected change have developed strategies for initiating the process, setting goals, keeping faculty members motivated, and making use of outside resources.
Leadership and Systems Change
Understanding change in living systems suggests ways for leaders to become more effective. Large-scale changes often begin as small, local actions or information that disturbs the system. If the system cannot integrate the new information, the organization will either collapse or change its structure, practices, or beliefs. The resulting "emergent change" comes not from one person, but from the organization's collective creativity. Facilitating emergence requires leaders who build and nurture networks of connection and communication.
© 2004-2013
Center for Ecoliteracy. All rights reserved.
Center for Ecoliteracy. All rights reserved.