The Efficacy of School-focused Approaches in Mainstreaming Education for Sustainable Development

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Monday I)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Approaches for implementing environmental sustainability education

Proposal

AIMS OF THE STUDY
As one mode of continuing professional development, school-focused approaches are adopted widely in schools actively involved in education for sustainable development (ESD). Continuing professional development refers to the potential of ESD to profoundly change education over time, and the associate need for corresponding training. These qualities are important parts of education in general, but are specifically highlighted as requirements for implementing ESD (Gough, 2005; Hargreaves, 2008; Henderson and Tilbury, 2004). While rich evidence of literature substantiates the relative advantage of having this approach over other professional development models such as centralized or school-based CPD, there is still controversy over the gaps and challenges present in ESD active schools. As part of school effectiveness research, this study aims to evaluate the efficacy of school-focused continuing PD model in mainstreaming ESD practices in schools.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In order to validate accurate assessment, the study poses the following questions:
1) What are the comparative advantages for schools to utilize school-focused approaches specifically in promoting ESD?
2) What are the key challenges behind adopting this approach both in the short and long run?
3) What are the action plans necessary to fill the gaps in the present and future practices using this approach?

METHOD

The study employs a comparative approach in evaluating the efficacy of school-focused models, mainly in juxtaposition with other different quality approaches such as centralized or school-based CPD models. Furthermore, there will be a case study analysis on the ongoing project called “Sustainability in European Primary Schools (SEEPS).” SEEPS is a continuing professional development (CPD) project designed to help teachers promote whole school approaches to ESD in their schools. Whole school approaches are a major platform of the project, which is aligned with the school-focused model in a number of ways. Through comparisons with other models, the study will be seeking the junction of best practices in mainstreaming ESD within school contexts.

IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION AND FUTURE
Transformation, when misguided, tends to become a rhetoric accommodated within the status quo. The proposed study hopes to contribute to the ongoing ESD implementation research where a profound lack of conceptual and theoretical bases is preventing a stable and integrated change within schools to benefit from ESD. Through accurate diagnosis and recognition of the school-focused approach, the study would potentially fill the present gaps both in theory and in practice and further advance the sound ESD practices globally.

Author

• HAE LIN KIM, Harvard Graduate School of Education