As parents, we invest tremendous hope and trust in our children’s teachers — hope that they will prepare our children well for their adult lives, and trust that they know what that preparation should look like.
Schooling for sustainability honors our hope and trust.
It prepares children for a world that includes climate change and a new eco-consciousness....the end of cheap energy and the development of new energy sources....water shortages and a growing commitment to healthy food.
That is one reason why schooling for sustainability is one of the most exciting and important new movements in education today.
It also helps our kids become better students.
Place-based learning, which engages students in nature and provides the experience of doing something for their community, is a core part of schooling for sustainability. It has been shown to lead to higher test scores in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and critical thinking (Chawla).
Schooling for sustainability also leads to increased self-esteem. improved problem-solving, and better behavior in class.
"In our first year, 40 percent of the kids were identified as at-risk," says Victoria Rydberg, a teacher at River Crossing Environmental Charter School in Portage, Wisconsin. "And all of a sudden, I watched these kids who were getting Ds and Fs gain two to three reading levels because they liked what they were reading. Seeing their success made me realize how amazing using the environment for learning can be."
Green buildings, with more daylighting, better indoor environmental quality, and less exposure to toxic substances, are also healthier for young people, result in fewer absences, and promote better performance (Kats).
Schooling for sustainability also promotes healthy eating — through the most foolproof means available: experience.
“You can teach nutrition all you want, but [students] really need to be directly involved with the food before they’ll make it part of their lives,” says Steve Tanguay, a teacher who oversees the garden project at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, Maine.
The result, says Tanguay: “One hundred percent of the kids [here] eat vegetables without prompting.”
And research shows that when we learn good nutrition habits young, those habits are more likely to last a lifetime.
Those are a few of the reasons why parents today are becoming involved in the growing schooling for sustainability movement— and making things happen.
For example:
- In Santa Monica/Malibu, parents inspired and contributed the volunteer time to create an award-winning salad bar program in school lunchrooms.
- In Princeton, New Jersey, parents organized a "garden raising" that attracted hundreds of volunteers.
- Across the country, parents have been instrumental in launching groundbreaking programs, including Lopez Island Farm Education (Lopez Island, Washington), the Davis Farm to School Connection and Recycling Is Simply Elementary (Davis, California), and the Marin Academy Eco-Council (San Rafael, California).
References:
Chawla, Louise and Myriam Escalante. Student Gains from Place-based Education. 2007, Children, Youth, and Environments Center for Research and Design, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center.
Kats, Gregory. "Green School Design: Cost-Effective, Healthy, and Better for Education." Center for Ecoliteracy Schooling for Sustainability essay series.
