Learning for sustainability (LfS) is an approach to life and learning that aims to support all children and young people in Scotland to build the values, skills, knowledge and attributes they need to thrive in a socially, economically and ecologically uncertain world.
LfS has been developed in Scotland since the early 2010s and, today, teachers have a commitment to realising LfS as part of their professional standards, as set out by the General Teaching Council for Scotland. This means that schools have a responsibility to integrate LfS across learning experiences for all children and young people.
The need for LfS in our schools is underlined as we see the impacts of environmental and sustainability crises across our communities at local, national and global levels. Challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and poverty are issues of intergenerational justice, as children and young people will inherit the consequences of decisions made by adults.
‘Key area’ of initial teacher education
The Scottish government’s Learning for Sustainability Action Plan 2023-2030 highlighted initial teacher education (ITE) as a key area for development. But there has not been a single national approach to embedding LfS in ITE, until now.
Driven by the Scottish Council of Deans of Education, working with the ITE community across Scotland, the University of Stirling has led on a new national framework that provides vital guidance to support teachers and teacher educators, so that LfS can be embedded from the beginning of teachers’ careers.
The framework is structured around “the four Cs”: curriculum, campus, communities and cultures. In each section there is a summary of key concepts and some touchstone questions to help reflect and identify change. The questions consider how national approaches to LfS are responsive and sustainable, the role in which beginning teachers can play in this, and how best to nurture and support the ITE community in progressing important work in this area.
Teachers can use the questions to reflect on their LfS practice and to identify areas of action as part of their ongoing professional learning. For example, we envisage these questions being part of conversations that student teachers and early-career teachers have with their mentors during school placements.
Impact on practice in schools
In developing the framework, teachers at the beginning of their career have found ways to connect ideas in academic literature with their school-based practice.
It can feel overwhelming, as a new teacher, to understand your role in realising the LfS vision to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure peace and prosperity worldwide. By using questions that focus on specific areas of education, teachers can work together to consider what action to take to enhance LfS and respond to the needs and opportunities of their communities.
Our work has the support of Education Scotland, the General Teaching Council for Scotland, LfS Scotland and all 11 Scottish universities that provide ITE. We all agree that the framework isn’t a tick-box list but a national approach to support conversations, reflection and action.
In turn, it should enable teachers to improve their LfS practice - and, as a result, give children and young people throughout Scotland the learning experiences they are entitled to.
Professor Lizzie Rushton is head of the education division at the University of Stirling and lead of learning for sustainability for the Scottish Council of Deans of Education
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