Teaching sustainable development in primary schools: theory into practice

ABSTRACT The work described here is set in a context of considerable national and international debate about the nature of sustainable development and education for sustainable development (ESD). It describes how nine primary school teachers translated a particular conceptualization of ESD into classroom teaching. The conceptualization which informed the work was that set out in a report produced by the Panel for Education for Sustainable Development, a working group which advised on the introduction of ESD in the revised National Curriculum for the year 2000. The findings are based principally on interviews with teachers and pupils, both before and after teaching. Examples of pupil learning are given to illustrate what might count as ESD in these young children. A concluding section examines the teaching and learning in light of current literature on the nature of ESD.