A Report About Sustainable Education And Perspectives In Australia Assignment Sample

1.0 Introduction: A Report About Sustainable Education And Perspectives In Australia

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The Kindergarten schools are an essential part of the schooling system in Australia. The “Aspire kindergarten” had been engaging in the sending of sustainable solutions for the children, and designed their curriculum according to that. Prior to the introduction of the “education for a sustainable future programme (EfS)” in the kindergarten school, a number of staff had shown their concerns about the heavy load of the curriculum and workload pressures in the classrooms. The teachers who worked in that kindergarten school had also provided a great example of sustainability and contribution to the education of children using the six stages of “waking up syndrome”. The teachers had suggested that someone should follow the curriculum suggested in the EfS programme, and not the individual curriculum of the particular kindergarten school. Their development had been accepted by most of the kindergarten schools. Also, for the sustainable education of the children, maintenance of ecological footprints were essential. This report ants to evaluate the curriculum in terms of sustainable education in Australia.

1.1 Purpose of the Report

The purpose of the report was to evaluate the education programmes and management of workloads among the children, as well as the teachers attached to the “Aspire kindergarten” school (Abbas, et al. 2019). Through this report, the researchers want to emphasize the factors such as literacy, the experience of numeracy curriculum, and school readiness programme in the school. As per the regulations suggested in the curriculum, the parents of the kids were suggested to submit their ecological footprint reports. The submission of the reports about ecological improvement also helps to improve the understanding of the importance of nature among the parents, as well as the child. The purpose of the report is the assessment of the parents and their children in relation to a sustainable and ecologically friendly education in Australia.

1.2 Research Rationale

The study is about the evaluation of sustainable education and ecologically important education to the children in Australia. The evaluation had been done in the level of the kindergarten schools, where most of the primary education had been completed. In Australia, there is a lot of emphasis on the importance of the development of sustainable education and lifestyle among the population. There had been a series of educational and policy-level changes suggested by the different education authorities in different states of Australia regarding sustainable development and ecological friendly education from the level of kindergarten (Ameen & Mourshed, 2019). But, there is a gap in education which is sustainable, as well as ecologically friendly. There are few education programmes like “education for a sustainable future programme (EfS)” had been introduced to improve the situation. But, there are various drawbacks which were been identified regarding the ecoliteracy among the population. This report evaluated the key perspectives and analyses the situation of ecoliteracy for a sustainable education in Australia (Ivanova and Rimanoozy, 2022). The report had been focused on the situation in a particular kindergarten school regarding the awareness among the children, their parents and the teachers of the school.

1.3 Aim of the research

The aim of the research was to evaluate sustainable and ecologically-friendly education in Australia. The primary focus of the research was among the kindergarten schools in the country (Chams & García-Blandón, 2019). As, the education of children at the primary level is one of the most crucial factors to develop a society who are aware of the negative consequences of climate change. Also, to improve the situation in terms of the implementation of a sustainable lifestyle. The following of these initiatives will also help the children to become good citizens regarding sustainability.

2.0 Discussion

2.1 Analyzation of ecological literacy

The concept of ecological literacy is crucial and complex, and this is interlinked with culture, politics, and science to comprehend how to make a sustainable future. Ecological literacy is more than simple knowledge about ecology. This is the capability to understand the complex relations of ecological problems and solutions (Cotton, et al. 2021). This requires a basic understanding of ecology. The interconnection of the life forms, their relationship, and their environment with humans. This also possesses a capability to create informed decisions and take action in the context of the environment both globally and locally also. Ecological literacy is understanding how human systems interact with the natural environment. Developing a green workforce requires people to understand how their ideas, decisions and activities affect the world around them. To that end, it is necessary to understand the relationship with global environmental issues such as the environment, human activities, climatic change, pollution, biodiversity, and resource sustainability. In order to acquire knowledge of ecology, it is necessary to undergo environmental education. The education system takes place in community organizations, schools and various socio-economic camps (Häggström and Schmidt, 2020). Exposure to relevant, current environmental information, and action-oriented is essential to creating an ecologically literate population. The caregivers and adults should also model environmentally responsible behavior, it includes decreasing the waste of water, recycling process, and conserving energy. Ecological literacy needs action. People require to be empowered to take informed action, a collective way to protect the environment and recognize the interconnectedness of the living species in the environment. This contains supporting and implementing policies that sustain and protect natural resources. Ecologically literate citizens can serve as advocates and ambassadors for the environment by getting involved in social movements and pushing for the changing environment.

Figure 1: Components of ecoliteracy

(Source: Self-created in MS Word)

Finally it has been summarized that this is essential for making a sustainable environment for the present and as well as the future also. By having an understanding of the connections between the environment and humans, the network of sustainable and responsible living can be established and managed also. Through environmental modeling, education and action an ecological literature population can help to protect the environment and confirm the long term sustainability also.

There are different studies which were carried out in the past which describe the situation of ecological literacy in Australia. From the study of the sustainable and ecologically-friendly lifestyle of the people in Western Australia in 2016, it had been found that only 10% of the people were extremely highly literate to the ecological education, almost 13.5% people were highly ecologically literate, 13.4% people were moderately ecologically literate. But, 50% of the people were extremely limited and knowledgeable regarding eco-literacy. Clearly, the situation needs improvement and the implementation of different educational programmes. The results were shown in the figure below.

Figure 2: The result of the level of eco-literacy in the population of Western Australia

(Source: journals.plos.org)

2.2 Benefits and limitations of eco-literacy

Benefits of Ecoliteracy

Ecoliteracy is a concept that basically used to describe individual people who have knowledge and understanding of the natural environment and as well as its sustainable use. This covers both environmental and ecological knowledge and its role in combating global warming. This promotes the conservation of biodiversity and promotes sustainable development. Investing in eco-literacy can lead to many benefits for individual people, the global population and governments also. This helps people to understand why and how their actions felt the impact on the environment and how individuals can adapt their behaviour to conserve the biodiversity and resources. To understand the scientific concept behind eco-literacy individuals can capable to protect their local environment and appreciate its diversity and beauty.

Ecoliteracy also helps individuals become more sustainable citizen and as well as it encourage the strong environmental value also (Hammarsten, et al. 2019). To understand the impact of human activities on the environment people can take better decisions about how to decrease their environmental footprint. The greater eco-literacy, corporations and communities can engage in more policy-making criteria, be more proactive, and give conservation effort and management the land. In the global level, eco-literacy is the crucial for the success in the sustainable;e environmental goal. Ecoliteracy provides all the people and with the knowledge and understanding required to recognise the problems and develop solutions that address the global environmental problem that include climate change, loss of biodiversity.

So that eco-literacy is an essential and very important component to protecting the planet and this helps to the well-being of life. To increase the eco-literacy in the population will have the knowledge and understanding needed to create informed decisions and put sustainable policies that help to protect the environment.

Figure 3: Importance of Ecological literacy

(Source: Self-created in MS Word)

Limitation of Ecoliteracy

The concept of eco-literacy is a concept that is emerging with great importance in the present times. It is one of the powerful concepts for the awareness of the people of the economic factors around the environment. The different insights of the place which is ieng resided by the people are being evaluated using eco-literature. There are a number of limitations of eco-literature that are to be kept in mind (Hasanah, et al. 2021). The concept of eco-literacy needs for the commitment to learn in an active manner, as the more the learning is aggravated the more and the better awareness is being provided for the advantage of the environment. The commitment to learning in a continuous manner is being generated with the help of a personal transformation where the person should be open to versatile information. This transformation is itself very tough to achieve and continue. The second limitation is that the concepts of eco-literacy are based heavily on global and regional factors and these factors are not easy to analyze and understand. The other limitations are that the concepts of eco literature are very time-consuming and difficult to learn and sometimes even misinterpreted which brings wrong and misleading insights.

2.3 Development of three key initiatives

For the development of knowledge and improvement of knowledge among the population, there is a need for the development of education policies and improvement of the situation among the Australian people. There should be a special emphasis on the policy-making and changes for the education of children. Since, the creation of self-awareness and the development of a sustainable lifestyle was important for the making of an improved situation about the eco-literacy. The initiatives should start at the level of kindergarten schools, so that the children could understand the importance of an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle, that will help them to mitigate the impact of climate change (Hysa, et al. 2020). These initiatives should be developed from the level of classrooms. Then, it could go to outside species available within a school, like playgrounds, parks among others. The policies should be designed in such a way that could impact the communities at large. The education programmes like “education for a sustainable future programme (EfS)” was one of the important policies that was focused on the development of a sustainable lifestyle, and education among the children in Australia. These initiatives would also help the teachers involved to improve their own literacy about the environment. The initiatives were discussed below.

2.3.1 Classrooms

A menu which is completely based on plants in rotation

This is one of the interesting way to teach the children about the development and importance of a sustainable lifestyle. The introduction of a food menu that is completely based on the plants was an important factor regarding sustainability. The menu was also designed as per the suggestions in terms of nutritional requirements by the dieticians. The menu was designed in such a way that would provide an estimated 50% of the required energy to the children. The menu was given to children for six weeks (Jeong, et al. 2021). The teacher of the kindergarten school was also encouraged by the results of the study and asked the school children to know about the source plant of the foods, and also to be kind to different plants and animals. The school also sent one copy of the menu to the parents and family members of the children. Along with, an appreciation letter and information about the serving routine of the menu. The teacher, as well as the school authority also took any potential suggestions from the family members as well.

Besides the introduction of a plant-based food menu, the kindergarten authority had also discussed in detail about the various policies that need to be adopted for a sustainable lifestyle. The food that were being prepared under the initiative were mostly made up of spinach, pumpkin, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, pasta, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, and mushrooms, among others. These contain a healthy amount of nutrients and were plant-based food (Dentith, Hash and Baines, 2022). The foods were also served in ecologically friendly materials, no use of plastic wrappers and other were allowed. In dessert, they were served with yoghurt, or custards that were made of healthy plant-based ingredients. The children were also participated in the food making. They were also taken for the collection of fruits, and vegetables to be used for the cooking of foods. This helps the children to acquire knowledge about different plant species. And also learn about the importance of a sustainable lifestyle.

2.3.2 Outdoor Spaces

Worm farm using a bathtub

This is a great way for the kindergarten children to become involved in ecological literacy. This is an interactive way of learning about the environment. To build a worm farm using a bathtub, kindergarten children can observe and experience how certain organisms interact with the environment.

At the beginning stage, all the children gather certain materials which are required for this experience that are soil, worms, newspaper, bits of food, water, bathtub etc.

The first stage would start to building the bedding for the worms. Initially, children shred newspaper into small pieces and keep these in the bottom of the bathtub. Then they should mix with the soil to give the worms a place to hide and make tunnels (Krizanova, et al. 2019). The worms should be added to the bottom of the bedding and begin digging the soil and eating their way up. Children can also make an environment for their worms to live in by adding food scraps like peeling of vegetables, used coffee grounds and tea bags. For maintaining the moisture of the environment children can add water to the soil.

Once the environment has been created, children can be observing their worms and get knowledge by learning about the worm’s role for keep the environment healthy. Worms help to break down and recycle food scraps which help to add minerals and nutrients into the soil, which helps to keep the soil healthy. For these kindergarten children to really get the most from this new worm farm, children should be encouraged to make a pallet garden (greatergood.berkeley.edu, 2019). This garden can be utilised to grow foods like herbs, vegetables, flowers and fruits. This helps the children to get the knowledge to observe how worms help to keep the soil healthy for growing plants.

By building a worm farm in a bathtub, children can get knowledge about the importance of the ecosystem, and how worms play an essential role to manage a healthy environment. This knowledge not only gains them a better understanding of the environment but will have the opportunity to discover the fun of keeping a sustainable and interactive project running. This helps to provide knowledge about the safety of the environment.

Figure 4: Worm farm using a bathtub

(Source: www.theempowerededucatoronline.org)

2.3.3 Wider community

Working bee at the local beach

An ecological literacy working bee at the local beach is an excellent way to teach the children about the importance of the natural environment and their responsibility to tend to it. At the beach kindergarten children can be immersed in the marine environment and this play is an active action to preserve it (Lim, 2022). For doing this teacher encouraged to clean up the beach by collecting the plastic bag, bottles, and pollutants and after collecting accumulating these ingredients on the shore so that all of these ingredients are properly disposed of. Children can be given trash bags and gloves, so all the children meet with an easy and pleasant task. Here children can learn about marine life and their importance and how to protect them for managing biodiversity.

Once the children have had a chance to clean up the beach they can then be encouraged to undertake other activities which help them to understand to preserve the biodiversity and ecological benefits. This can include various activities making educational posters for protecting marine life, and the importance of marine ecosystems (Olsen, et al. 2020). To see this poster the visitors to the beach get the knowledge about the importance of marine life and how to take care of the environment. This eco-literacy project helps the children to gain the knowledge about the importance of marine ecosystems and bio-diversity also.

Figure 5: local beach clearing by kindergarten children

(Source: media.istockphoto.org)

3.0 Conclusion

Although, the experiment is a highly successful one, but there are some recommendations by the observers. These are the development of more strategies that focuses on eco-literacy. In the classrooms, there should be the inclusion of more varieties of vegetables in the menu of the children. In the outdoor space, the teachers should establish different methods for the education of a sustainable lifestyle. For a wider perspective, there should be the inclusion of parents of other schools as well. There should also be an inclusion of the attractive pictures, videos, posters and others that educate the students about the importance of a sustainable lifestyle.

In conclusion, it can be said that the report was successful regarding the assessment of sustainable education in Australia. In the report, there were different strategies of sustainable education for kindergarten students were discussed. This would help in the development of an ecological literacy among the Australian population. The report also talked about the importance of teachers learning about the sustainable education. In this report, there different strategies for the development of eco-literacy were discussed. Thus, it can be said that study was successful in the development of ecological literacy in Australia.

Reference list

Book

• (Ivanova and Rimanoozy, 2022) Revolutionizing Sustainability Education: Stories and Tools of Mindset Transformation. Available at: https://books.Routledge.org/books?hl=en&lr=&id=qddSEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT18&dq=ecoliteracy+among+schoolchildren+in+australia+book&ots=Ws7jt9Q2Sz&sig=Kr-oMsZY0bEWDBfJRXHXraZcXY4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed on: 22.5.2023]

Journals

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• Jeong, S., Sherman, B. and Tippins, D.J., 2021. The Anthropocene as we know it: posthumanism, science education and scientific literacy as a path to sustainability. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 16, pp.805-820. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/1805/28238/Jeong%202021%20Postanthro%20review.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y [Retrieved on: 22.5.2023]
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• Wyckhuys, K.A.G., Heong, K.L., Sanchez-Bayo, F., Bianchi, F.J.J.A., Lundgren, J.G. and Bentley, J.W., 2019. Ecological illiteracy can deepen farmers’ pesticide dependency. Environmental Research Letters, 14(9), p.093004. Retrieved from https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab34c9/pdf [Retrieved on: 22.5.2023]
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Article

• (Dentith, Hash and Baines, 2022) The Ecological Curriculum: Ecoliteracy, Ecojustice, Ecopedagogy and Sustainability Education. Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/entries/10.4324/9781138609877-REE221-1/ecological-curriculum-ecoliteracy-ecojustice-ecopedagogy-sustainability-education-audrey-dentith-peaches-hash-courtney-baines?context=rroe [Accessed on: 22.5.2023]

Website

• (greatergood.berkeley.edu) Five Ways to Develop “Ecoliteracy”. Available at: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/five_ways_to_develop_ecoliteracy [Accessed on: 22.5.2023]