ESD: A privilege for Covid-19 Distance Learning
Covid19 distance learning is a term that refers to the context of the sudden shift from face to face learning to blended learning and online classes without previous situational planning. It is no doubt the only contingency action that could be done to support parents/guardians in keeping their kids into the process of learning. However, as mentioned before in my previous article, there are many challenges that limit the effectiveness of our contextual distance learning especially teachers’ and students’ readiness.
But, how would implementing education for sustainable development (ESD) be a privilege for effective distance learning or any other learning during any crisis?!!!
Education for sustainable development is the education that transforms the vision of sustainable development into learners’ knowledge, attitudes, skills and behavior. As known, the united nation’s agenda for sustainable development currently includes 17 goals. These goals tackle all global issues that any nation would encounter at different dimensions: environment, society. economy, and politics. While adopting ESD, we should ask ourselves three important questions: A) Why do we want to teach? B) What do we want to teach? and C) How do we want to teach?
WHY TEACH ESD!!
When thinking of our educational goals while implementing ESD, we should remember the profile of the good active citizen whom we want to build; the active citizen who is:
a) well knowledgeable with a deeper understanding of sustainable norms and values,
b) a critical thinker who can evaluate the context based on the SD norms,
c) a good researcher who is able to collect valid and reliable data,
d) an innovator, problem solver, and social entrepreneur who can create sustainable solutions, model them, and have project management skills to implement in real-world, and
e) a value-based leader who is in a regular self-reflection and evaluation and striving for greater self-awareness, can influence others, plan strategically, and do effective partnerships for implementing sustainable solutions and developing awareness campaigns.
WHAT CONTENT AND HOW!!
Curriculum content, although governed by national and international standards, should be shaped by the learning context while implementing ESD. Teachers should be well trained to design their unit plans based on the social, economic, environmental, and even political happenings to equip learners with all their needs to overcome the current context at different levels: personal level, community level, national level, and even global level. The unit plans should definitely involve:1) inquiry-based strategies with the most effective technologies, 2) problem-oriented performance tasks or projects including STEM, 3) learning activities that deepen students’ understandings, uncover perspectives, develop empathy and reinforce 21st-century skills, and 4) authentic, action-oriented assessments that don’t only measure students’ knowledge and skills, but as well their attitudes through their decision making processes and personal reactions towards the context. Consequently, a multidisciplinary approach will be induced where all subject teachers will be dealing with the same context but from their subject’s perspectives.
Then, the what and the how questions depend on the teachers who should be trained to be leaders. They should enjoy credibility, model values, and sustainable norms, and be aware of all student’s needs to maintain his/her well-being.
Now, how would this help us overcome most of the challenges of distance learning?!!
While implementing ESD, teachers are more prepared to actively engage their whole students through their leadership skills where they can influence their students even if they are at a distance, and through their effective use of technology.
As well, students are much more autonomous and well attracted and engaged with the learning process as it becomes a more important need for them than collecting grades and getting a certificate. Through their learning, students express ultimately their feelings, thoughts, perspectives, and even actions to deal with their context.
I totally recommend all school leaders to consider implementing ESD in a whole-school approach to be well prepared for any crisis that may occur and continue delivering their mission whatever the conditions are….
