Week 3 (Part I) "Educating for a Sustainable Future"

     I thought that Ch. 10 “Education for a Sustainable Future,” opened up my eyes to quite a bit that I was unaware of or hadn’t thought about.  Some of the lines mentioned in the chapter, such as, “Despite evidence that there is enough food grown on our planet to feed everyone 3,500 calories a day, more and more people are going hungry, particularly farmers,” prove that we need to change as a global society.  Quotes and statistics like this really make me stop and think about how lucky some of us are and how unfortunate other are.  The question that seemed to be brought up throughout the chapter was, “How can we live better?”  I think just as with anything, there is room for improvement.  One quote that was a little unsettling was, “Now, this is not news.  We have all been informed.  The date have been accumulating and publicized for decades.”  It seems that with all of the tools we have available at our fingertips in the 21^st century, we, as a global society, might be able to solve some of these issues.  The frustrating part is that we still haven’t. 

            I think that the whole idea and intention of educating for sustainability is completely necessary.  It is the truest form of getting students to realize what is going on in the world around them and furthermore, is getting them prepared to live in the world far beyond their educational experiences.  Clearly, there is a need for this type of education to take place.  If there were no problems, then there would be no solution to the problems.  As stated in the chapter, “There would be no need to educate for sustainability if there was no such thing as unsustainable.”  Although this type of education may not solve world hunger issues, it certainly will not hurt educating children about these issues and teaching them possible solutions to the problem.  The education of these issues will get students thinking; thinking about what they can do to help, or maybe how they can prevent future problems from happening.  To paraphrase a line from guiding questions for educating for sustainability, “Our education has everything to do with our thinking.”

            Some of the curriculum points mentioned from the Willow School in Gladstone, New Jersey, are key examples of how they are preparing their students for the future.  Even the idea of getting 1^st graders involved in the school garden is giving them exposure to agriculture and the benefits of maintaining a healthy environment.  The focus of sustainability is weaved throughout the curriculum and is present through all subjects, content areas, and grade levels.  It seems as though the curriculum has a central focus and is able to expand and elaborate from the focus point as students travel from grade to grade.  By weaving in sustainability throughout content has proven to me more engaging and interesting for students to learn about the content.  More importantly, educating for sustainability prepares students for the future.  As stated by one student in this school system, “I think about what I can do now that will make tings better 20 years from now.”  This is amazing because most adults, including myself, are not even thinking that far ahead.