Managing education for sustainable development

Abstract

UNESCO being the lead agency for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development has continually reiterated that education remains the vehicle to achieving sustainable development. This paper puts forth a proposition for the use of a conceptual approach of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) for the planning and design of curricula to ensure that educational opportunities in sustainable development are holistically and effectively provided to secondary school students. It addresses how the internal and external environments could influence the prospects of a school to address curriculum development and an implementation process in ESD. In addition, due to concerns of many researchers that any strategies pertaining to sustainable development should consider the surrounding environment and geographical location, this study addresses what such a ‘localization’ process would mean in practice through a case study of selected secondary schools in Kenya. Working from stated definitions of ‘Sustainable Development’ and ‘Education for Sustainable Development,’ the author developed a theoretical process for achieving curricular reform in secondary education. This paper explores current awareness and attitudes towards sustainable development; explores the inclusion of sustainable development in the secondary school curriculum and investigates possible barriers to incorporating sustainable development in secondary school curriculum. In-depth interviews and questionnaire tools are key in data collection for this study. Findings are presented descriptively in form of cumulative frequency counts and percentages. The study establishes that awareness levels of sustianble development among secondary school students are low and their attitudes negative. There are opportunities for inclusion of sustainable development in the secondary school curriculum albeit notable barriers; an already flooded secondary school curriculum as well as inadequate teachers required for implementing the curriculum. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education needs to undertake a ‘Phased Strategy’ in order to systematically and holistically develop a curriculum in ESD in secondary schools. Universities need to start training teachers of Environmental Studies and that there is a critical need for a ‘localization’ strategy for a ESD curriculum development process in Kenyan secondary schools. Besides, UNESCO should focus more on ESD sensitization, public awareness and education through establishing a portal and creating caucuses which would map ESD implementation in universities.