BLOG # 6 Eco-Ed: What Austrailia Has That We Want

Education for Sustainability

What do we want, that Australia has? Is it great snorkeling, a cool opera house on the water, wild cockatoos? Australia has something we not only want, but need, and that is, a publicly recognized and widely implemented EfS.  EfS stands for Education for Sustainability.  Australia's EfS plan was created as part of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, otherwise known as UNDESD....and they take it seriously.

On January 1,  2005 the UN instated UNDESD,  defined as a complex, far reaching, enormous undertaking with environmental, societal and economic implications, that touch multiple aspects of life of the world's population.

Launched in April 2009, the second draft of the Australian government's EfS states that it's purpose is,  " To equip all Australians with the knowledge and skills required to live sustainably."

What a concise way of stating the importance of environmental education.

I was amazed to read such a bold proclamation. Does this mean no more plastic eating utensils? Are people still running their engines in the Walmart parking lot while Auntie does the shopping? Did Jamba Juice switch to recycled paper cups with no straws? It staggers the imagination.

Here is a brief outline of the framework the Aussies have adopted.

• The government takes a leadership role (enforces and supports) the Education for Sustainability plan, enacting change in policy, programs and operations at state, territory and local levels.
• Education systems are reoriented to sustainability and focus on achieving a culture of sustainability. WOW!
• On-going improvement and greening in campus management is reinforced.
• Sustainability in business and industry is fostered.
• The community is provided with tools and knowledge in sustainable education and living.

  Thanks to this government supported framework, the school children of Australia are connecting to place and becoming eco-literate.

As stated by our own former Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, "Historically the US Department of Education hasn't been doing enough in the sustainability movement. . . and need to commit to building a more environmentally literate and responsible society."

...and yet, here in the US, we are heading into 2016 with little to show that we got the memo.

What I am most impressed with is the fact that "sustainability" is treated as a core subject in Australian public schools and out-door, experiential learning are the order of the day. The government helps, Australian schools are supported to employ a wide range of curricula in order to reach EfS goals.  In the United States, environmental education may be connected through science and STEM, as an individual educator's decision, but EfS still remains largely absent from national level curriculum.

 Australia is an island nation, remote and dry. Perhaps that is why the necessity for sustainability is not lost on their people. If only we could all perceive our planet for what it is, Island Earth, a unique oasis of life in an ocean of space. Seeing through this lens may help  improve our approach to education for a sustainable future.

References

National-Action-Plan-Educating-Sustainability http://www.centerforgreenschools.org/sites/default/files/resource-files/National-Action-Plan-Educating-Sustainability.pdf.

Rafferty, J Laird, S. “Children’s Observations of Place-Based Environmental Education: Projects Worlds Apart Highlight Education for Sustainability Inherent in Many Programs « Journal of Sustainability Education,” Spring 2013.

Reading Response # 4: STEMS in the Anthropocene Epoch

"Right now in the amazing moment that to us counts as the present, we are deciding, without quite meaning to, which evolutionary pathways will remain open and which will forever be closed."
                                                                                                                        (Kolbert, E. 2014)

It's a Man's World

(but it wouldn't be nothing without plankton, pollinators and frogs)

The Sixth Extinction,  Pulitzer Prize winning book by Elizabeth Kolbert is a fascinating, account of how humans have affected the fate of virtually every other living species on earth... and that of the
planet as we know it.


This is a story of cause and effect, of evolution and discovery, and the rise of the human species above and at the expense of, all others, spanning eons.  This account opens our eyes to a larger reality, invisible to most, not just of our current situation but how our actions and the reactions within ecosystems, the biosphere, have put us on a precarious path to the future.

Like the documentary film,  Eleventh Hour,  co-produced and directed by sisters, Leila Conners Peterson and Nadia Connors, The Sixth Extinction is a wake-up call. Well researched and meticulously written, the importance of this book is one of scientific and scholarly revelation and a summons for environmental concern and social action.  When given this information we are forced to ask important questions about our own "species-centric" way of life and how it is altering the planet's environment.



Because for many middle and high school students, reality is no larger than their i phone screens, films and books like these are vital as educational resources.





These types of media can provide a "sense of place" that is wider than students are exposed to on a daily basis - wider indeed than most of our imaginations.  Educators and students alike can  recognize the importance of STEMS education, within the pages of The Sixth Extinction, because it is science, technology and engineering that have allowed us to come this far in "dominating" our environment and it is these three combined with social sciences and a strong sense of place, that will bring us back, to sensible and sustainable living.  The study, the research, the assessment and dispersement of information used in these media are all based in STEMS.

In a way, The Sixth Extinction, epitomizes the saying "Hindsight is 20/20" by tracing a path back through the ages, to discover an, often, minute incident, that has set off a chain reaction of environmental and/or evolutionary events, leading directly to present day dilemmas. It hints at ways we should be changing our thinking, our habits and our way of life, to address the colossal problems of, loss of biodiversity and "evil twins" ocean acidification and climate change. Part of the problem is that people don't know, or are unwilling to admit,  there is a problem -The Sixth Extinction doesn't allow for us, or our students, to stay in the dark.


This is a call for radical change in education.   STEMS and community-based learning is part of that change.  A high priority and interest in STEMS in classrooms, can be a starting point. If we are to help our students become "self directed, confident, participating citizens and environmental stewards" STEMS combined with community based project learning and a strong sense of place and belonging, is needed. (Smith, G. & Sobel, D. 2010)
People who possess STEMS skills, who are concerned with their "place" and about the living systems of that place, are the ones who will make a difference, for the future. It is these sorts of educators who will ready our children for issues they will be tasked to grapple with.  Our classroom STEMS should be steeped in what we know about the world around us and in our knowledge of the problems that need solving if we are to go on as a species, sharing a clean, beautiful, life supporting planet with other species.



Other Educational Media for STEMS Curriculum:

• An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore
• Queen of the Sun,  Taggart Segal
• Food Inc,  Robert Kenner
• Who Killed the Electric Car, Chris Paine
• Island Earth (film trailer)  Cyrus Sutton
• Videos on Vimeo by Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economics

References

Kolbert, E. (2014). The sixth extinction. New York, NY: Picador.

Smith, G. & Sobel, D. (2010) Place and community-based education in schools. New York, 

             NY:  Routledge.

Building A Strong STEMS^2 Unit

Asking Questions

Creating a STEMS^2 unit is not for the faint of heart. Because STEMS is all encompassing and can go in many directions, I see it as a gigantic brainstorm web... perhaps written across the sky like a star map.  Because of this, a strong focal point, an overarching question and clear objectives are essential, to begin.  One of the first questions I would ask myself is, "Where are we ( my students and I) going with this and what do we hope to achieve?"  Some elements to consider before embarking on this journey would be; who your students are, where you are, what your school profile is, what resources (school, community and environmental) are available to you and how you will use them. Sound familiar? All of these will have bearing on how the unit is formed. Other factors shaping the unit will be, grade level, alignment with CCSS and the type of schedule followed by a school.

Where Are You?

Activities and lessons are more relevant for students when you:  a) start local and b) make it useful.

Students like to know that what they do is meaningful. Exploring the environment and communities in which their real lives take place, helps students connect and engage.  To illustrate,  I have a wonderful unit on the Great Redwoods, but,  I live in Hawaii.  Here in Hawaii, we have a world class classroom in the ocean that surrounds us, where we can do real world marine science. Being out "in the field", water testing or specimen counting or even tracking how much debris comes to our shores, presents an opportunity for students to establish and strengthen their sense of place, which is important for high student engagement. This is not to say, we would never get to that lesson on the Great Redwoods, we may, because we could make comparisons and connections among the earth's eco-systems as we, over time, expand our learning, from local to global.

Who Are You?

The curricular content of a strong STEMS^2 unit is culturally diverse and appropriate.  Students bring their "funds of knowledge" where it can be recognized as social capital, in the classroom. Being able to employ these funds of knowledge as a pedagogical resource from family and community is empowering for the student and adds richness and authenticity to the class' experience.

( Rios-Aguiler, C. Kyama, J. Gravitt, M. & Moll,                                             L. 2011).

Curriculum should articulate a variety of cultural elements, especially those of underrepresented students, rather than referencing strictly from a Eurocentric point of view. Putting together a school profile, as a way of getting to know a school and students, is a way to begin.

                                                     What Do You Have?

First and foremost, "Place is pedagogical" (Gruenewald, 2003). Our biggest resource for learning is the environment in which we live.  Taking stock of what your bioregion has to teach, is going to address every letter in the STEMS^2 acronym a thousand times over.  From oceans and forests, to flora and fauna, to cultural and historical sites, to the technology used to keep our cities running, our surroundings offer opportunities for students to learn.  The dynamics within our communities, how we work and live together, the collective agreements we make, are fertile grounds for learning and for social action. A strong STEMS^2 unit engages students and teachers in hands-on activities, within and outside of the classroom, where learning is a process of inquiry and discovery, not always a path to an already known answer.  Community connections and  environmental learning journeys, are important resources in experiential education. 

Where am I Going with This and What Do I Hope to Achieve?

When I first started teaching, 15 years ago, I was not handed a catalogue of standards. The principal told me one thing, "As long as they turn out to be good people".  Hmmm,  I thought that was a little bare bones, but I went with it - and I can't help but think now, that it is a piece of the ultimate objective.  What Ms. Lee said, all those years ago, is the kernel within the philosophy of critical pedagogy. To clarify, "Critical pedagogy considers how education can provide individuals with the tools to better themselves and strengthen democracy, to create a more egalitarian and just society and thus deploy education as a process of progressive social change" (Kellnor, D. 2000).  I believe that a strong STEMS^2 unit is steeped in critical pedagogy,  indicating the focal point, steering lessons and influencing the  classroom dynamic. In summary, a strong STEMS unit is place and community based, hands-on, and experiential.  It employs a variety of assessment components appropriate for different types of learners. It adheres to standards, is organized, has a focal point and sequenced lessons drawing on skills and knowledge from all core and non-core subjects, as are appropriate for the objective. It is culturally equitable, and steeped in critical pedagogy and ultimately makes the world a better place :)

References

Gruenewald, D. (2003) Foundations of place: A multidisciplinary framework for place-conscious             education. American Education Research Journal, Vol. 40. 3

Kellner, D. (2000) "Multiple Literacies and Critical Pedagogies" in Revolutionary Pedagogies -                 Cultural Politics, Instituting Education, and the Discourse of Theory. Routledge

Rios-Aguiler, C.,  Kiyama, J.,  Gravitt, M. & Moll, L. (2011) Funds of knowledge for the poor and             forms of capital for the rich? A capital approach to examining funds of knowledge. Theory of             Research in Education. p. 164

Free BLOG #4: Permaculture in the STEMS Classroom

Permaculture Defined
What is Permaculture and why should you care? Permaculture is a design system for living, which takes into consideration the unique bioregion and culture it is set in. It strives also to be ecologically sound in that it is a closed loop system - one which creates no waste. Permaculture employs observation, biomimicry, and working with and within ecosystems, rather than against them.

As defined by permaculture activist, Guy Baldwin of Cortez Island, British Columbia, "Permaculture is a holistic approach to landscape design and human culture. It is an attempt to integrate several disciplines, including biology, ecology, geography, agriculture, technology, gardening and community building".

Permaculture is Place
Permaculture involves having not only a strong sense of place, but a working knowledge of what is happening in that place. What sorts of trees, plants, animals and people live there? What natural ecosystems are in and around the region? What is the temperate zone and how much rainfall does the area get? Is it an urban, suburban or a natural environment? How are energy, food and shelter needs met for the people who live there? Where does human generated waste go? How can the system be maintained to benefit the environment and all who live there?
Elements employed in permaculture design serve more than one purpose. It is efficient because, as in nature, each element employed performs many functions. For example, if chickens are part of our design system, they provide not only meat and eggs, but also fertilization for soil regeneration and pest control, by eating slugs and other harmful insects.

 Interacting Systems for Living

Many people think that permaculture has only to do with growing food - but that is only one aspect of it. As stated above, permaculture is a design system, that strives to create environmentally responsible plans for living. It manifests in innovative building design, wherein  passive and alternative sources of energy without residual waste products, are used. Permaculture also solves problems of drought, with rain catchment systems, grey water systems, the use of swales and gravity to capitalize on the natural flow of water, leading it to a destination where is can be put to use.

Doing as Nature Does
Permaculure concerns itself with biodiversity in agriculture. Following natures example, a permaculture farm is not monocropping, it does not employ harmful pesticides rather looking to nature for solutions.   Building healthy soil, growing clean food and food sustainability are some of the goals of permaculture as well as urban greening and better city planning, for community enhancement and community building.

Ethics
Permaculture is based on ethics: earth care, people care, fair share. Application of permaculture design is meant to benefit all. It is happening worldwide and has empowered people to have a say in where food and energy come from and to make educated decisions on what is good for the planet, for the community and for themselves.

Some of the Permie-STEMS projects I envision for students are engineering rain harvesting systems that rely on calculating the amount to be caught from their home or school rooftops. I see kids interested in plant and soil science as they design gardens, watered by their rain catchment systems, which produce goods that can be taken home, sold at farmers markets or delivered to elders, homeless people or families in need. I see kids thinking about green architecture, how the placement and design of an energy efficient building relies on the aspect of the sun and the climate of the area. I imagine neglected city parks and abandoned spaces being turned into community gathering spaces with edible landscapes by students who employ their knowledge of indigenous plants, ahupua'a systems, soil science, and natural pest control. The possibilities are endless. My goal is to create a coherent STEMS curriculum based in permaculture design.

STEMS + Permaculture = <3

S:Testing and regenerating soils, water sampling/testing, observing weather patterns, observing ecosystems / bioregion, data collection, plant /animal science, botany, ethnobotany.
T:Research, Collect Data, Create Presentations: movies, power points, slide shows. Use tools.
E:Design: green building, rain harvesters, passive solar structures, community spaces, gardens, shelter, tools
M:Quantify: carbon footprints, rain catch, food yield, energy needed,harvested, cycled.  Construction math.
S:Cultural connections to sustainable practices, effects on community, engagement of (high risk) youth,  elder care, community spaces, markets, gardens. Civic involvement.
S:Educating about and nurturing connection to place: self, others, community, bioregion, nature, earth = stewardship.

If this sounds interesting, the following are just a few good introductory talks on permaculture:
I'm also including, reposted on You Tube, the link for my STEMS/ELL video, from a couple years back to illustrate how ELL, ELA, STEMS and Permaculture can be connected!  https://youtu.be/sboEWkUWIDI

•  TEDx Honolulu -Mathew Lynch-Beyond Sustainability: The Story of a Reformed Capitalist
•   Geoff Lawton @ TEDx Ajman
• A Subversive Plot: How to Grow a Revolution in Your Own Back Yard TEDx Dirigo.

Blog 3: Why Sense of Place Matters

 

       
 Sense of place matters because we each have our own distinct connection to place. Our most personal  and probably diverse, sense of place is in the perceptual dimension. The lens through which each of us perceives is crafted from every experience we have ever had, things our parents said or didn't say, the environments we grew up in, social and economic status - everything that has touched our lives, influences how we view any given situation or place.

         
  As educators, we need to take this into consideration, as we start off the year with our plans to implement the amazing units we have crafted for our students. Why? Because we are operating from our own, perceptional sense of place with our own very strong convictions of what is most important for our students to learn. Because I come from a free range, outdoorsy, left leaning, environmentally conscious kind of childhood - I find that most of my units want to address environmental issues in some way. I'm distressed by the lack of eco-consciousness that I see around me, particularly in the middle school students I have worked with here on Oahu. I want these kids, who stay inside all day on their devices, to go out and play. I want them to appreciate nature, while all they want to do is hang out in cyber space. I also recognize how this view may be perceived as elitist. 

   

  I know that I grew up privileged, in a place devoid of freeways, chainlink fences, gunshots and gangs. It was safe to go outside any time of day or night, to camp or hike or bike and we could walk everywhere we wanted to go. Parents didn't have to worry much about us. I had two working parents, my dad was a professor and mom a nurse. There were books all over our house. My mom had a garden. There was a piano and art. Our family talked about what went on in the world. Conversely,  I have had students who were not allowed to leave the house at all because their parents were fearful of what was outside. They didn't go to the beach or visit the aquarium or the nature center or the museums. Often they had to take care of siblings, cook dinner and clean house, in addition to keeping up with their school work, because both of their working parents came home late   Here we see a potential rift in sense of place, between student and teacher.

  My dad once told me that first and foremost is self preservation, survival. Once that has been established there is room for art, ideas, and caring for more than just ourselves.  When people are in survival mode, they can't care about where their food is coming from and whether or not their fruit has been sprayed, they're just lucky to have it. 

      On the other side of the spectrum are the kids who have been given everything, who have all of the advantages of wealth and social status. They may feel they don't have to work for anything or care about issues that do not affect their own social and financial well being. Being disconnected from how the majority of people live, may hinder their sense of social responsibility.

       Having said that, I am by no means devaluing the life experiences my students have had in relation to my own. Their perceptions have value and as Tara pointed out in her power point, regardless of where people are from, they are connected with and have pride in their place. I may be horrified to hear about kids joining in gang fights or having to avoid parts of their neighborhoods to reduce the possibility of being shot, whereas they would think growing up in a bucolic setting was a colossal bore. 

     Before introducing our well meaning and important units, we need to bring our class to a collective understanding of what we are doing and why.  We can begin to establish this collective understanding by exploring the sense of place and personal and cultural ideologies, that each of our students bring with them. How do these relate to our curriculum as we begin to widen their scope of place? What may be their role in this wider, real world place? How do we empower them to care and to act? If we are bringing in concepts of social and /or environmental justice (the environment should have rights too) with the intention  of having our students take action, they need to know why they should care, how they and their families and their places are being affected and how they can participate in making change. This is all part of establishing a working sense of place in our classrooms.

Profile of a School

Prince David Kawananakoa Middle School

I worked at Kawananakoa School for three years. In researching the surrounding area, I discovered it to be rich in culture, history and environmental significance that could lend itself well to place based curriculum.  Because I'm on sabbatical, and  I'm not in a classroom, until January, I chose to profile Kawananakoa Middle.

Born in 1868, in Honolulu, Prince David La'amea Kahalepouli Kinoiki Kawananakoa was in line of succession to the throne when the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown. It is for him that Kawananakoa Middle School is named.

Prince David Kawananakoa

Kawananakoa School was built in 1927, in the principle ahpua'a of Honolulu, Nuuanu. The ahupua'a runs from the Nuuanu Pali to Honolulu Harbor and is flanked on the west by Alewa Heights with Pauoa to the east. KMS sits at the foot of the Pali Highway, just mauka of downtown Honolulu. 

Most school children have seen pictures of Hawaiian warriors leaping to their deaths from the Nuuanu Pali (cliffs). The legendary battle of 1795, where the warriors of King Kamehameha defeated the forces of Oahu's King Kalanikupule, is what Nuuanu is most known for. However, there is also a wealth of molelo surrounding the area; stories of night marchers, guardian dogs, and menehune who once lived there.  Nuuanu is also home of many  heiau,  hidden in the lush tropical undergrowth along with guardian stones that once accepted the piko (belly button) of newborns and whose job it was to protect travelers crossing the mountains. Queen Emma's Summer Palace is there. It is an environment of great historical, cultural and ecological value, that could be a strong asset to Kawananakoa School.

Menehune Heiau

The campus of KMS is adjacent to a grassy public park on one side, in contrast to the busy freeway that fronts the complex. Students who attend Kawananakoa primarily come from working class neighborhoods, Pauoa, Kalihi and the downtown/Chinatown area. 57% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. According to website school digger.com, of the 850 students who attended KMS last year, 508 where of Asian ethnicity, 204, Pacific Islanders, 67 mixed race, 38 Hispanic, 23 white, 5 Black and 5 Native American. Around 150 of those students would be considered ELL (English Language Learners).

ELL Students 

While the student body seem to get along, as a whole,
there is a marked social divide between local Asian kids, Asian immigrant

 students and Pacific Islanders. In the classroom the cultural and language differences appear in behaviors, work habits, types of prior knowledge and test scores. Many teachers still adhere solely to "direct instruction" and have not yet embraced differentiated instruction nor have they had the opportunity to explore place/community based education practices, both of which could help to level the playing field, for this diverse population of students by providing genuine experiential learning.

Kawananakoa School has been rated 17th among 79 Hawaiian middle schools according to statewide HSA assessments (2013). KMS is also known to have an excellent music and drama program. Currently a new state of the art auditorium is being built with 1.76 million in funds set aside by legislature. The auditorium will be, not only for school, but also community use.

Of note, is a 2013 grant awarded KMS to develop a native Hawaiian Arboretum on campus. Planting trees with the students and constructing a garden funded by the Kokua Foundation were some of the year's highlights. Given Kawananakoa's geographical location, its community and legislative support, it seems an ideal place to implement place and community based learning practices.

The specific teaching and learning space of my classroom, at the time, was somewhat unaffected by the rest of the school culture, because for the first two years I had primarily ELL students. They came to my room on break and at recess and dropped by after school. It was rewarding in a sense to know they felt at home there, but also indicative of how out of place they felt in most of their other classes where busy teachers were too overwhelmed to accommodate them. At the time, I got to create a curriculum of language acquisition drawing on my GLAD experience and using science, math and social studies content as a platform for teaching ELL and ELA. It was a really fun and productive time for my students and me. Please find a little movie, I have reposted on You Tube, of some of the things we did, at this youtube address:  https://youtu.be/sboEWkUWIDI

Food Sustainability Unit or How to Lessen Our Carbon Foot Print and Live in Partnership with the Aina

I have never blogged, except for in my head...and this is why I'm glad we have been assigned to do it. What a handy way to keep track of all the brilliant, if fleeting, ideas that breeze through.
I intend to use the blogging as an opportunity to organize thoughts and serve as building blocks for my STEMS 2 "Plan B" project, so if you see an outline or lists of questions, don't feel you have to read every bit, as they might be just, "notes to self".

All summer long and presently, I've been thinking about how to begin. In the swirl of life and knowledge and gathered information and in the face of serious environmental, societal and educational issues, on which pinpoint do we open our instruction?
If you don't have a place to start, you can start anywhere - but you first have to draw open the curtains, and let in some light, so people can see what's coming. I think maybe this is why, in Hawaiian culture, there is protocol before any endeavor. So to begin, I will use protocol, like E  Ho Mai, to call in "the wisdom" and help my students cross over into learning mode.

The pinpoint I chose is this; What types of questions might be important to ask in a longitudinal study of food sustainability in the Hawaiian islands and where does that lead us? It deals with the notion that we should be responsible for knowing where our food comes from, how it gets here and the environmental cost of importing the bulk of it.
Students will research and report on (orally presenting and/or creating power points or some sort of visual representation) what and how much, food is imported to Hawaii and how that has changed and continues to change, over time.  What used to grow on the islands and why don't we grow it now? How can we lessen the carbon footprint of importing what me need, by adding to what we grow and produce here?

Students can research and tally data on things like, what is currently produced here, how many farms are operating in Hawaii and whether or not they use pesticides.  How many of these farms are organic?  This type of inquiry would be not only eye-opening, for students to see the true (environmental) costs of imported food, but may inspire them to become involved in the sustainability movement picking up momentum here. It would also serve to track trends in coming years, the hope being, that we become more mindful of what we eat, use, need and how we take steps (brainstorm solutions) to create balance in our natural environment and become true stewards of Honua.

A book I'd like to use with the students is, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, who REALLY did her homework in finding out and exposing the true cost of our food. I would love to hear from anyone who has reading suggestions that have to do with Hawaii's own story of food too.This activity naturally lends itself to other learning journeys; history (canoe plants), ancient agriculture (ahupua'a, loi), how culture is shaped by the environment, how we are shaped by culture, persuasive writing(why care?),  gardening, exploring the structure and life processes of plants (photosynthesis, nitrogen cycle, respiration), exploring geography in relation to tracing plant origins, understanding 0 waste systems, which plants are...to name a few.

It doesn't end there because, as we know, in STEMS, one thing leads to another.