School Principals: Key Performance Indicators for ESD Whole School Approach
What is Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Whole School Approach?!
ESD whole-school approach involves the integration of sustainable development throughout school practices. This approach means that a school incorporates teaching and learning for sustainable development not only through aspects of the whole curriculum, but also through sustainable school operations such as integrated governance, stakeholder and community involvement, long-term planning, and sustainability monitoring and evaluation (Hagreeves,2008). ESD whole-school approach advocates for active and participatory learning, where the entire school, including students, educators, administrators, and parents to be actively engaged in working towards a sustainable school and community.
What are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?!
In business, organizational performance is measured by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). KPIs are the critical (key) indicators of progress toward an intended result as they provide a focus for strategic and operational improvement, create an analytical basis for decision making and help focus attention on what matters most. KPIs focus on the aspects of the organizational performance that are the most critical for the current and future success of the organization (Paramenter, 2020)
As school principals who are adopting ESD whole school approach, it is very significant to pinpoint the key performance indicators of ESD implementation. This would create a clear insight for decision-making and action processes for more effective ESD implementation.
Earlier research on ESD implementation has mainly focused on the educational outcomes of students or teacher practices ( Mogren, Gericke, and Sherp, 2019). Some UNESCO resources and guides about adopting Climate Change Whole School approach provided roles for all school stakeholders where the school principal was expected to 1) champion the school’s vision and values for climate action, 2)support teachers and other staff by giving them the resources, professional development, and release time they need to lead effective climate action projects, and 3)consider knowledge, experience, and values related to climate action when making decisions about hiring new teachers and staff (UNESCO 2015).
However, there were no clear indicators to monitor and evaluate the school’s performance concerning ESD whole-school implementation.
So, what are the KPIs of the Whole ESD approach schools ?!
1) An ESD vision that highlights the profile of the active citizen the school is preaching.
2) A clear mission that spotlights the ESD educational theories and approaches that should be used concerning curriculum content, teaching strategies, assessment, extracurricular activities, parents’ involvement, and partnership with the community.
3) A clear policy where structures, practices, and even consequences are explicit and well-articulated with ESD values and norms.
4) A positive and constructive school environment where all school stakeholders are engaged in advocacy. Every single expertise that promotes the school’s vision should be invested in and considered.
5) A culture of mindfulness, nonviolence, and Value-based leadership.
6) An organized multidisciplinary approach where all school curriculum integrates ESD.
7) Community service -transdisciplinary problem-oriented projects done by students as products of their learning to practice their role in sustainably developing their community.
8) A social counseling department that should work on reinforcing values and value-based leadership within students.
9) A learning difficulties department that ensures that all students have the right to learn no matter how different they are and to coach students in developing their executive function skills for better performance and to become more independent learners.
10) A professional development department that tackles the contextual variations and needs of all school stakeholders and develops programs to reinforce better ESD implementation
11) A student council that is an effective platform for students to practice democracy, leadership, and good governance.
12) An Alumni Club that is a platform for all schools’ graduates to maintain the sustainability of their effective contribution to their school and community
13) An effective platform for more effective involvement of parents in implementing the ESD vision.
14) Comprehensive agreements and partnerships with local authorities like municipalities, public and private organizations and national and international NGOs, and united nation affiliated organizations for more effective implementation of ESD vision.
15) A green building school with green and healthy-based operations like saving energy, reusing and reducing the use of resources, and recycling wastes. A school garden would be a great laboratory for students to practice plantation and even using the harvest for a school restaurant that would provide healthy food.
School principals should consider these KPIs , they should collect data from all these indicators, analyze, evaluate, and then take action steps for improvement.
References
Anna Mogren, Niklas Gericke & Hans-Åke Scherp (2019) Whole school approaches to education for sustainable development: a model that links to school improvement, Environmental Education Research, 25:4, 508–531, DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2018.1455074
UNESCO. (2015). A TEACHER S GUIDE TO TAKING ACTION — UNESCO. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/ED/images/ASPnet_new/PDF/Draft-guidelines-on-Climate-change.pdf
