China's Strategies for ESD in Basic Education

8/10/2019 China's Strategies for ESD in Basic Education

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From environment to sustainable development: China's strategies for ESD in basic educationAuthor(s): Tiedao ZhangSource: International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift frErziehungswissenschaft / Revue Internationale de l'Education, Vol. 56, No. 2/3, The MidwayPoint of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: Where Do We Stand?(2010), pp. 329-341Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40928676.

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2/14

IntRev

Educ

2010)

56:329-341

DOI 10.1007/sl

159-010-9159-7

From environmento sustainable

development:

China's

strategies

or

ESD

in

basic

education

Tiedao

Zhang

Published nline:

June 010

Springer

cience+Business edia B.V. 2010

Abstract This

paper

intends o

provide

an overviewof

the

reorientationf

education

n

China

n

the

period

1998-2009 with

regard

o

development

ssues.

During

his

ime,

he

focushas shifted

radually

rom he

nvironmentnd

health o

education or ustainable

evelopment.

he article

entres n

highlighting

hemain

interventionsnd

strategiesdopted y

China's

schools o

makethis

reorientation

possible, ncluding:he ntroductionf newvisions fsustainableevelopmentnd

projectplanning;

he establishmentf

organisational

echanisms

nd

capacity-

building

measures or heir

mplementation

n

the

field;

he

ntegration

f ESD into

teaching

nd

earning rocesses;

he

maintenancef an

action-researchechanism

for

nnovations;

nd the

haring

f essonswith

oth he

national nd the

nterna-

tional

ommunity

n

order o makethe

mplementation

f ESD

more ffective.

Keywords

Education Sustainable

Development

ESD

Environment

China PRC

Basic

education

Rsum De l'environnementu dveloppementurable stratgies'ducation

de base en

Chine dans e contexte e

l'ducation

our

e

dveloppement

urable

(EDD)

-

Dans cet

article,

'auteur

rsente

ne vue

d'ensemble e la

rorientation

ducative n Chine ntre

998

et

2009

par

rapport

ux

questions

e

dveloppement.

Au cours e

cette

riode,

'accent st

pass

progressivement

e

l'environnement

t

de la

sant l'ducation

pour

le

dveloppement

urable.

L'auteur

claire les

principales

ctions t

stratgies

doptes ar

es

coles chinoises

our

aliser

ette

rforme,

savoir

l'introductione

nouvelles

isions u

dveloppement

urable t

la

conception

e

projets

ffrents;

'instauratione

mcanismes

rganisationnels

t

de mesures e

renforcementes

capacits

pour

eur

application

ur

le

terrain;

T.

Zhang

El)

Beijing

Academy

f

Educational

ciences,

Nanlishilu

outiao,

Beijing

100045,

China

e-mail:

[email protected]

Springer

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/14

330

T.

Zhang

l'intgration

e

l'EDD dans les

processus

'enseignement

t

d'apprentissage;

e

maintien

'un mcanisme e recherche-actionur es

innovations;

t e

partage

es

enseignements

irs vec a communautant ationale

u'internationale,

n vue de

rendre

lus

efficacea mise en oeuvrede l'EDD.

Zusammenfassung

Von Umweltthemenu

nachhaltiger ntwicklung:

hinas

Strategien

rdie

Grundbildung

m Kontext er ESD

(Nachhaltigkeitsbildung)

Dieser

Beitrag

soll einen berblick ber die

Neuorientierung

hinas

im Bil-

dungsbereich

wischen

1998

und

2009

unter

dem

Gesichtspunktntwicklung

geben.

n diesemZeitraum at sich der Fokus nach und nach von Umwelt- nd

Gesundheitsfragen

uf das

Thema

Nachhaltigkeitsbildung

erschoben.m Mit-

telpunkt

es

Artikels tehen ie

wichtigsten

anahmen nd

Strategien

hinesi-

scher chulen, m dieseNeuorientierungu bewerkstelligen,nter nderem: eue

Leitvorstellungen

r

achhaltigentwicklung

nd

Projektplanung,

erAufbau on

Organisationsmechanismen

nddie

Erweiterung

er

Kapazitten,

m diese vorOrt

umzusetzen;

inbeziehung

er ESD

in

schulisches nd auerschulisches

ernen;

ein dauerhafter

ktionsforschungs-Mechanismus

r

Innovationen

owie die

landesweiteund

internationale

uswertung

on Unterrichtseinheitenr eine

wirksamere

msetzung

erESD.

Resumen

Del medio ambiente l desarrollo

ostenible:

strategias

e la RP de

China

para

a educacin

sica en el contexto e la EDS

-

Con este

rabajo,

l

autor

se propone resentarna visingeneralde la reorientacinducacional ue ha

tenido

ugar

n a

RP

de China

durantel

perodo

e

1998

a

2009

en cuanto temas

de desarrollo.

urante sta

poca,

l nfasis

e ha do desviando el medio mbiente

y

la

educacin acia

el desarrolloostenible.

n

este

artculo,

l autor

e concentra

en realzar

as

principales

ntervenciones

estrategiasdoptadas

or

as escuelasde

la RP de China

que

han

posibilitado

sta

reorientacin,

ales como: introducir

nuevas miradas

obre el desarrollo

ostenible

y

la

planificacin

e

proyectos;

establecermecanismos

rganizativos

medidas readoras e

capacidadespara

su

implementacin

n esta

rea;

integrar

a EDS en

procesos

de enseanza

y ap-

rendizaje;

mantener

n mecanismo

nvestigacin-accinara promover

nnovaci-

ones;y compartiras lecciones prendidasanto on la comunidad acional omo

con la

comunidad

nternacional

ara que

la

implementacin

e

la

EDS sea

ms

efectiva.

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4/14

From nvironment

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evelopment

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Introduction

The notion f education or

sustainable

evelopment

ESD)

has resulted

rom

increasinglobal wareness fthedecisive otentialoles hat he ducationystem

could

play

in

preparing

itizens,

nd the

younger eneration

n

particular,

or

sustainable

uture.

ollowing

heofficial

equest

f

China's State

Council

n

1978,

environmental

rotection

as been a selective

ubject

n

secondary

ducation

ince

the

1990s,

and a

teachers'

guideline

n

teaching

nd

learning

or sustainable

development

as

published

1996

by

the

People's

Education

Press,

the most

authoritative

extbook

ublisher

n

China.

Promotion f

the

flagship

ducation

project

Environment,

opulation

nd

Development

EPD)

was initiatedn

1998

by

the

BeijingAcademy

f

Education

Sciences

BAES)

under he

eadership

f

the Chinese

NationalCommission

or

UNESCO. From1998 to 2002,tentativectionswereadvocated n suchcritical

issues as

environment,

opulation,

ealth nd

development

n

response

o the

Chinese national

genda

for sustainable

development.

nitial

areas of

action

included

ublicity

or new

concept

f

ESD,

and

nformationbout

good practice

in

environmentalducation o advocate for

school-based

edagogical

ction to

address uch issues across the

curriculum.

eijing Municipality

ook the

lead,

introducing

he

project

with 110 local

schools involved n

curriculum nd

pedagogical

nnovation. he

overall

EPD

mission was to

provide youth

nd

childrenwith

common

knowledge

and basic

skills about

the

environment,

population

nd

sustainable

development,

hus

promoting

heir

readiness to

participatensustainableevelopment.

The

major

EPD

thrusts ere o

integrate

SD elementsnto

ubjects

cross he

curriculum;

o

develop

local

textbook eries on

environmental

rotection

nd

sustainable

evelopment

o be taken s

a

separate

ourse;

to build

up

relevant

approaches

and

methodologies

or effective

SD;

and to

develop

relevant

methodologies

or

teacher

raining rogrammes

Shi

2003;

Qian

2003).

Another

nine

provinces

ncluding hanghai,

iangsu,

handong,

uangdong,

nner

Mongo-

lia, Hubei,

Hebei

and

Zhejiang,

oonbecame

project artners.

p

to

2003 more

han

1,000

primary

nd

secondary

choolsfrom 4

provinces,

utonomous

egions

nd

municipalities

n China

were nvolved. n

light

f

theUN

Decade of

Education

or

Sustainable

Development,

PD was renamedESD and became an innovative

project

f national

ignificance

Zhang

2003).

Over the

past

10

years,

China's

EPD/ESD endeavours

ave

undergone

wo

stages.

During

the

first

tage

(1998-2003),

the

initial

chool-level

ntervention

Springer



5/14

332

T.

Zhang

focused on

development

ssues such as environmental

rotection,

ealth and

population

rowth

s

well

as

issues of natural

esources,

ith enewed urriculum

content

r cross-curriculum

eaching

nd

learning

ctivities.

Along

with the

international

mplementation

f the United Nations Decade of Educationfor

Sustainable

evelopment

DESD),

since

2003

there as been a rather

ragmatic

educational eorientation

o react

onstructively

o a

series f fundamentalssues

n

search or

ustainableocial and economic

evelopment.

hese nclude

rotection

of the environment

nd natural

resources,

ransport,

ifestyle

nd consumer

behaviour.More

importantly

as been the

engagement

f

youths

nd childrenn

applying

SD valuesto their

aily

ives,

both n

campus

nd

n

the

ommunity.

In the

remaining years

of the

DESD,

the

following

ctions are seen

as

necessary

n

China,

nd serve

s

startingoints

or his

paper:

1. To conduct n overallevaluation f practice ver thepast 10yearsand to

document

seful essons nd

expertise

or ffective

mplementation

hroughout

the ducation

ystem;

2. To documentnddisseminate

uccess tories ndrelevant

trategies

s

part

f

a

training

urriculumor

apacity-building

urposes

or

rofessionalearning

nd

sharing mong

SD

actors;

3.

To

improvemplementation

erformance,

articularly

t school evelto

provide

leadership

or

more reative

pproaches;

4. To

expand

ESD to

higher

ducation,

ocational nd technical

ducation nd

adult earning,

s a critical

omponent

f

ifelongearning;5. To involve

governmentgencies,

NGOs and

communityrganisations

n a

consortium

or ustainable

mplementation

f

ESD; and,

6.

To maintainntensive

echnical

upport yprofessional

nstitutions

n

planning,

staff

raining,

onitoring

nd

dissemination.

The remainderf

this

paper

reviewsChina's

approach

o

EPD and then

ESD,

which

had the

following

trategies.

Operational

planning

nd facilitation

mechanism

Similar

to other

Member

States,

environmental

ssues were first ncluded

n

China's school

curriculum

n

1970s

due to

recognition

f the

factthatnational

development

nd

individual ivelihood

reatly ependupon

the environment

nd

natural esources.

owever,

he ntroduction

f EPD/ESD

in

China

was

strongly

influenced

y

increasing

nternational

ampaigns

n

environment

nd sustainable

development,

articularly

ith he

mpact

f theUN Conference

n

Environment

and

Development

n

1992.

The

Chinese

Government

lso

gave

official ommit-

ment o

adopt

a

long-term

ational

trategy

or ustainable

evelopment.

n this

context,

he Chinese

NationalCommission

or UNESCO entrusted

he

Beijing

Academyof EducationalSciences (BAES) to start new pilot projectfor

promoting

hildren's wareness

f environmental

nd

population roblems

nd

engaging

hem

n hands-on

earning rocesses

o

acquire

knowledge

nd skills

for

sustainable

evelopment.

Springer



6/14

From nvironment

o sustainable

evelopment

333

The

general

bjectives

f the

proposed ilotproject

wereto

develop

hildren's

knowledge

nd

encourage

aily

behaviour

n line with ustainable

evelopment;

o

develop

their

ense of

responsibility

nd

readiness

o act

positively

orthe best

interestsfsustainable

evelopment;

o reorienthe chool

ystem

o

prepare ouths

andchildren

o act

consciously

or ustainable

evelopment

oth s individualsnd

as members

f the

community.

long

with uch

guidelines, project

ramework

was drafted.

long

with he BAES

working

eam,

n

operational

etworkwas

formed ith ducational

eaders t different

evels nd school

lusters,

ith cross-

cuttingoordinating

echanismo maintain

mplementation.

An

efficient

rganisational

tructure

nd

operational

mechanismre

key

factors.

Atthe nitial

tage,

PD was

mplemented

s an

ndependent

ction esearch

roject

with

voluntary articipation

mong

ocal schools.

When

more schools became

involved rom ifferentarts fChina, national roject ommittee as setupto

plan

and co-ordinate

rogramme

ctivities.

rganisational

echanisms ere also

created

hrough

he

onsortium

Fig.

1).

For effective

peration

or

rogrammemplementation,

he

following rinciples

were dhered

o:

1. To make use

of currentdministrativenstitutionsnd

appropriateeople

to

assume

esponsibility

or

programme

xecution;

2. To

delegateresponsibilities

nd resources

mong

related

takeholders,

hus

ensuring

rogramme

mplementation

s a shared

enture;

nd

3.

To establish

mechanismhat s conducive o

oint

ffort

n

thebest nterestsf

schools.

For efficient

roject peration,

he

BAES

project

eamhas severalmethods o

facilitate

rogress,

ncluding

nnual

planningmeetings

nd

progress

review

meetings;

ntensive

ield

supervision

nd

monitoring;ompetitive

electionof

ESD resource

chools;

nnual wards nd incentives or

utstandingerformance

and

publicity;

nd

disseminationf

good

practice

ia

meetings,

SD

publications

and

the nternet.

Fig.

1

Organisational

tructuref ESD

in

China

Springer

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H__J

China

EPD

Steering

^

H Committee

n

^ ^

ChinaEPD

Working

ommittee

I

&

h V

ChinaEPD

Working

T1

ommittee

'

8.5

|s

^

China's Strategies for ESD in Basic Education

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