Sustainability Starts with Teachers

Change Project Orientation
5 Sessions
Developing an ESD Change Project
Some ESD Change Project Examples
Change Project Pathway to Bring About ESD Innovation
Completing the Parts of the ESD Change Project
Change Project Guidelines and Review
Learning Action 1: ESD Policy, Context and Competences Review
5 Sessions
Learning Action 1: A Case Story to Introduce ESD
Develop a common understanding of ‘Sustainable Development’ and ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ (ESD).
Review of the Vision and Mission statement of your institution and Sustainable Development Goal Number 4
Review of other relevant documents guiding the work of educators in your TE/TVET Institution
Assignment: Change Project Part 1 – Review of context, policy and institutional vision and mission
Learning Action 2: Sustainable Development Goals and Critical Issues
5 Sessions
Learning Action 2: A Case Story
Environment and Sustainability Knowledge: integrating society-economy-environment
The Sustainable Development Goals and sustainability challenges in Africa
Responses to Sustainability Issues and Concerns
Assignment: Change Project Part 2 – Exploring site “matters of concern”
Learning Action 3: Transformative Learning and Learning Environments
5 Sessions
Learning Action 3: A Case Story
Aspects to consider in ESD teaching and learning processes
Transformative pedagogies for ESD teaching
Transformative social learning and transforming learning environments
Assignment: Change Project Part 3 – Transformative learning and transforming learning environments
Learning Action 4: Design and Try out Assessment of Significant Learning in ESD
5 Sessions
Learning Action 4: A Case Story
Exploring your experience of assessment in the context of ESD assessment innovations
Additional guidance for designing assessments in ESD
Examples of alternative assessments
Assignment: Change Project Part 4 – Assessment of significant learning
Learning Action 5: Monitoring, Evaluation and Scaling for Impact
5 Sessions
Learning Action 5: A Case Story
Monitoring your change project in a community of practice
Evaluating the Change Project for value creation
Scaling the Change Project for Impact
Assignment: Change Project Part 5 – Monitoring and evaluating the ESD Change Project, and scaling for impact
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Developing an ESD Change Project

Sustainability Starts with Teachers Change Project Orientation Developing an ESD Change Project

The Sustainability Starts with Teachers is an action learning progamme centred around a contextually defined Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Change Project. During this course, you will be developing an ESD Change Project within your institution that is relevant to your context.

The change project is an institutional change initiative, and therefore needs to be collectively developed with others in the institution. We use the term ‘community of practice’ to indicate the need to work with others on the practice of developing an institutional ESD Change Project. The purpose is to develop innovative, exemplary ESD practices that can be more widely shared in the SADC Region, and internationally within Africa, and the UNESCO and SARUA networks and structures.

Search for some YouTube videos on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)  and share with your group.

The Change Project will provide answers to the following questions:

  • How can early childhood, primary and secondary school teacher education and learning and TVET instruction be transformed in order to respond to African sustainable development concerns, and to 21st century challenges?

  • How should teacher education and TVET instruction be structured to enable this?

It is important to always keep the qualities of a good change project in mind when working on your Change Project!

The following qualities of a good ESD Change Project can serve as guidance for conceptualising and planning your ESD Change Project. They can also be used for reviewing and evaluating ESD Change Projects. The Change Project should:

  • Respond to and potentially contribute towards relevant national and institutional policies and strategies,

  • be aligned to national and institutional curricula frameworks and potentially contribute to curriculum transformation,

  • have a clear learning transformative learning (ESD) thrust,

  • enhance inter-departmental engagement and communication,

  • have a whole institution approach,

  • focus on a variety of learning domains, and

  • foster life-long learning?

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