ESD in brief Sustainable development

ESD in brief Sustainable development

Sustainable development is recognized as an issue of global concern. Ban

Kimoon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, sees it as “the imperative of the

twentyfirst century, one that encompasses: the saving of the planet, the lifting of people

out of poverty, and the advancing of economic growth” (Firth & Smith, 2013, p. 169).

This study focuses on education as a chief instrument for sustainable development. Thus,

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is an evolving field in education that

requires a lot of attention from both educators as well as policymakers.

addition to the socio-political issues of equity, poverty, democracy and quality of life”

(Venkataraman, 2009, p.8). This means that ESD more profoundly examines different

societal complexities and different educational settings before the implementation of any

initiatives.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

According to UNDP Human Development Report 2014, Central Agency for

Public Mobilization and Statistics – CAPMAS, Egypt is confronted with many challenges

There are 26.3% of Egyptians who live below the poverty line. This number is not

consistent with the country’s economic growth (UNDP, 2014). This reflects that there are

large disparities and inequalities in the population, especially between rural and urban

areas (UNDP, 2014). The quality of public services, including public education, is of very

poor quality (UNDP, 2014). In a competitive job market, youth unemployment rates

reached 90% of the total unemployment rate.

Regarding the governance challenges facing Egypt, UNDP (2014) factored in the

major political instability after the January 25th revolution. The UNDP (2014) highlighted

the marginal role of civil society and its low participation in development. Given the

weak political parties and low citizen participation, the citizens’ voice is weak. It is not

Egypt serve only 70% of the urban population, and only 4% in rural Egypt (UNDP,

gas resources. Plus, the country has continuous smog episodes as a result of air pollution.

Finally, climate change related issues that indicate loss of biodiversity (UNDP, 2014).

1.3 Purpose of the Study

This research study focuses on education as a major influential tool that can

promote sustainable developments in Egypt. ESD ought to be addressed as an essential

discipline in the Egyptian education system, in order to enlighten students on how the

three segments of sustainable development are interdependent on each other. Hence,

students as active members of the community would realize their social responsibility

towards sustainability. Consequently, generating younger citizens who are in continuous

The main objective of this research is to examine current initiatives for

implementing ESD in Egyptian schools and accordingly offers recommendations. The

implementations.

There are few sustainable communities in Egypt, like Sekem (one of the major

stakeholders involved in this research) and Basaisa village, which are self-sustained

communities. These communities started with the local inhabitants as the transformers of

their own communities. They created their own model to recycle and use all available

communities. Arafa (2002) further explained how Basaisa practices have been successful

and have led to an exceptional increase in literacy and in the living conditions of the

inhabitants of the village. On a larger scale, Sekem development (Sekem, 2015) started in

1977 and their community expanded to include: organic agriculture, community school,

medical care, and Sekem business companies (pharmaceuticals, food products, organic

cotton clothing). The main reason behind their success is the engaging of the surrounding

community and considering them as their top priority. So a continuous dialogue was

formed that offered equal opportunity for all participants to be actively engaged in their

consists of six smaller areas; namely Warraq El-Arab, Warraq El-Hadar, Warraq Island,

Mohamed Island, Tanash and Ezbet Al-Mofty. PDP’s target area is a part of Warraq El-

Hadar (Environics, 2014).

El-Warraq has a total population of approximately one million inhabitants. The

population is remarkably increasing due to the high illiteracy among the population as

well as religious misconceptions on birth control (Environics, 2014). In addition, there

are high dropout rates among school children for various reasons. Yet Environics (2014)

Overall, there is a high unemployment rate in the area and poor quality of

education. In studying education in El-Warraq area, Environics (2014) pointed out the

high density of students in classes (approximately 75 students/class), which is caused by

the high population. In addition, the number of classes at schools is insufficient.

Interestingly, Environics (2014) stated that the Education Department, that does not have

licensed by the Ministry of Social Affairs to act as charities. The NGOs depend on

financial aid and donations, to provide medical services (using old equipment), or give

private tutoring lessons at low cost to the surrounding community. In addition, most of

the mosques and churches in the area are parts of the civil society, they play a social role

Identifying active stakeholders is a crucial factor to be considered for the success

of the implementation of any project. As Environics (2014) pointed out, the main

stakeholders in any area are the Local Authorities (LA), the civil society, and the

community itself. Due to the power of authority, as they have in-depth knowledge of the

community’s priorities and needs, human resources, some facilities, and departments that

ElWarraq, LAs had weaknesses such as the centralized decision-making, bureaucracy,

and the financial constraints, and most importantly their human resources lack

community trust, and need capacity building. So, LAs have problems writing grant

proposals professionally, also due to poor English skills (Environics, 2014). Thus, the

LAs asked PDP for support.

El-Warraq community was then a participant in the Participatory Needs

Assessment, and as described by Environics (2014), the most important stakeholder is the

community that is undertaking the change. The poor quality of education was ranked as

short history of ESD was revised, as a synopsis of how the field of ESD began and its

development since 1972. Later, civil society was previewed, as the role of civil society

was perceived as fundamental for sustainable community interventions. Then examples of

ESD interventions in UK and Brazil were examined. UK portrayed a top-bottom reform

to incorporate ESD into its formal education. While Brazil adopted a bottom-top reform

that involved partnerships and formed active social groups within the community.

Moreover, an outline of the origins of ESD in Egypt was addressed in order to understand

2. Literature Review

This study is based on one of the very influential pedagogues in education, Paulo

major instruments used by oppressive regimes to reproduce this culture. He stressed that

this type of culture mandated certain communities to adapt to oppression rather than

change. Torres & Noguera (2008) amplified the implications of Freire’s work in

highlighting the role of education as a democratic instrument not an oppressive one.

Freire (1970) discussed that through education people need to ignite a dialogue to

realize that they are “creators of their culture”. In this way citizens are given a sense of

ownership of their surroundings, which they have the ability to transform. Freire (1970)

further emphasized the importance of the power that comes from within the weakness of

the oppressed. He suggests that change is a mutual process shared between the strong

elite and the weak poor. He highlighted that education facilitates deep reflection that he

oppression, comes the importance of informal educational projects that can be carried out

with the oppressed to promote change (bottom-top approach). Nevertheless, the mass

these people are the ones who need to be enlightened, through education, to start the

thread for real change (Freire, 1970).

narrate information to students and expect them to store it for later. This is the “banking”

notion of education, which is typically teacher-centered. While, in an interactive

education system, where both teachers and students are co-learners, students create their

own world instead of adapting to their existing reality (Freire, 1970). This was also

portrayed in Torres & Noguera (2008) where the significance of language and developing

narratives of one’s own reality is crucial for education to happen.

of this learning method is a critical analysis for the students’ realities so they feel

connected to their contexts and have the authority to change them. In this way, Torres &

Noguera (2008) inferred that individuals become committed to acts of positive social

transformations.

wider political discourse, where education can make a contribution to equip

Moreover, Calley (2010) confirmed the complexity of preparing intervention

programs to develop communities. Intervention programs that aim for development occur

on three steps: program design, program implementation and program evaluation (Calley,

2010). Most development programs are not sustainable because they were based on fixed

allows continuous improvement during the program implementation. The implementation

plan is not fixed; it can be readjusted according to the community’s evolving

requirements. This describes a large segment of the role of civil society, who should be

working hand in hand with the people, not the government, to develop their community.

The role of civil society became nonnegotiable for sustainable community developments

as discussed in the next section.

“Today there is almost no field devoted to the study of social or political change,

be it sociology, political science, history or even economics, which omits mention of the

importance of civil society” (Dalton, 2014, p. 41). Later this study touches upon the

Brazilian experience, which was very inspiring in how they formed community

Dalton (2014) described the work of the German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel (1770

(Dalton, 2014, p. 45). In addition, Dalton (2014) explained the Lockean view of civil

society that emphasized its role as a counterbalance to authoritarian states and thus a

However, there are difficulties associated with transmitting western civil society

organizations to non-western countries, like Egypt. Dalton (2014) highlighted the fact that

civil society is confined to western societies, which makes it very limited in describing

non-western societies. Chatterjee (2006) claimed that, in most of the world, “Civil society

as an ideal continues to energize an interventionist political project, but as an actually

existing form it is demographically limited” (Chatterjee 2006, p. 39). For Sen (2010),

corruption.

Another major difficulty regarding civil society is how autonomous such

organizations need to be, as they should be separate entities from the state (Dalton, 2014).

However, in practice, separation between the state and civil society, in practice, hardly

exists. Especially in the developing world, the state has governed civil society in and it

has not been as much separated from the state as in the West (Cotton, 1992). For example

in the case of Japan, Schwartz (2003) argues that “the Japanese state plays an active role

in targeting and monitoring welfare corporations that could well operate as part of civil

society in the developing countries, which created a ‘fake’ civil society sponsored by the

government. In that way such organizations have a way to gain access to development aid

and serve different agendas (Dalton, 2014). In chapter 4, the role of the studied local

NGO was identified from the data collected.

contemplating its strategies for the implementation of its initiatives; to learn from their

journey in the field of ESD. Current research studies testing the level of sustainability

literacy in the UK suggested that students already have a high level of awareness of

sustainable development issues, as stated in the guidance published by the HEA & QAA

lower socioeconomic status, which is similar to the current situation in Egypt. Egypt is

new in the field of ESD, as discussed later in section 2.5.

2.4 Comparative Dimension

resources, and practice efficient ways of living that do not negatively influence future

Sustainable Development in 1992; and the same year the UK implemented strict

measures of integrating ESD in their national curriculum (Bourn, 2008). In the UK

Association (DEA). CEE and DEA agreed on a Forum on Education for Sustainability

from 1993 until 1997 and continued until 2005, which were responsible to promote ESD

initiatives in the UK (Bourn, 2008).

learning and skills councils and colleges, plus universities and trade unions work together

towards ESD. The HEA & QAA (2014) described NSDS as a comprehensive, adaptable,

continuous and long-term strategy that helps achieve economic prosperity and social

welfare, while at the same time preserving the environment.

Also the HEA & QAA (2014), highlighted that the UK Sustainable Development

Strategy aims to secure a sustainable, innovative and productive economy, and social

justice through social inclusion, where personal well being and sustainable communities

are priorities. The UK strategy envisions ESD as a core element for all professional

graduates; the guidance described it as ‘sustainability literacy’. Where graduates share

responsibility as stewards, of the environment but also of social justice; as employees,

development issues. As stated in the guidance published by the HEA & QAA (2014) that

a three-year longitudinal study over 2010, 2011 and 2012, carried out by the National

should be covered in their degree courses. In addition, the study reported that 80 per cent

of third year students see universities as key actors in the delivery of skills for sustainable

development.

an advisory body to the government (Bourn, 2008).

looked at diverse issues like food, drink, energy, water, travel, traffic, purchasing, waste,

schools’ staff (project beneficiaries); to control and audit their own impact.

Moreover, another initiative in the UK, on a school level, was called the Growing

Schools initiative, which was more focused on students in the countryside. The activities

included in this initiative encouraged schools to use outdoor environments, playground

areas for farming and planting (Bourn, 2008). So the Growing Schools initiative was

appropriate to the context of its implementation location in the countryside.

On the level of higher education, the Green Academy program was launched in

2011 by the Higher Education Academy to assist universities in embedding education for

sustainable development (ESD) into the overall student experience (Martin & Mccoshan,

2014). The Green Academy approach is based on bringing together small teams of staff,

students and academics to meet with ESD team leaders and initiate activities to tackle the

that ESD become part of global citizenship education. This led to the creation of support

strategies for schools and the production of guidance publications such as Developing a

Global Dimension in the School Curriculum in England. Such publications initiated a

strong network of NGOs that supported ESD as part of global citizenship education.

Another popular publication in the field is the Oxfam’s Framework for Global

Citizenship, which promotes ESD with a key feature of social justice and a global

concern for the environment (Bourn, 2008). According to Bourn (2008) after the UN

decade for ESD that started in 2005, the UK continued its strategies on ESD initiatives by

facilitating networks, communicating with expertise knowledge, and promoting

sustainable development to civil society with funding organizations. The East Midlands

initiative, for example, is one of 35 Regional Centers for Excellence (RCE) on ESD

To summarize, the UK exhibits good practice in ESD at all levels and in most

the difference between Environmental education and ESD. Environmental education is

defined as “a well-established discipline, which focuses on humankind’s relationship with

the natural environment and on ways to conserve and preserve it and properly steward its

resources” (Venkataraman, 2009). So the main emphasis of Environmental Education is

only the interaction between human beings and the environment. But continuous

improvements and adjustments are still made within the UK to clarify and unify the

definition of ESD (Bourn, 2008).

Hence the main challenges remain in the terminology of describing ESD, as

Bourn (2008) argued that policymakers are still inclined to deal with ESD only in its

environmental segment, with less stress on its economic and social segments. Therefore,

still more emphasis is needed to work with ESD in terms of social inclusion and social

justice.

Overall, UK incorporated ESD in a top-bottom reform that involved policies and

ministerial decisions to infuse ESD into the formal education system. In the next section,

Since the UK demographics are quite different to those of Egypt, it was important

to research ESD in a country more comparable to Egypt. Brazil is the largest country in

South America in population and geographic size; it is also the world’s fifth largest

country and has the world’s sixth largest population. Brazil is divided into 26 states and

The government of Brazil obligates education for all children ages 7 to 14 years

(first to eighth grade). Brazil’s education system is centralized under the umbrella of a

national department of education; educational programs are divided into fundamental,

intermediate, and higher education levels (Watson, 2013). There are two school networks

in Brazil: (a) government schools; and (b) private schools that can be operating under

and inequalities for years. As Junior & Sampaio (2010) highlighted that quality education

in Brazil is only offered to students from privileged backgrounds, and education is not

education that is given to disadvantaged students, with low socioeconomic status.

tremendously (Kruljac, 2012). As a result, Curitiba was internationally recognized for its

sustainability efforts (Globe Award, 2010; World Habitat Awards).

Iraza’bal (2005) pointed out that there are three major players that contributed to

the media efforts in promoting sustainability programs, and finally, the low-income

populations who actually experienced the worthy outcomes of recycling. Iraza’bal (2005)

also emphasized that economic strength, active governing institutions, and citizens

welfare are directly associated with the power of social groups engaged in the

3.2 Study Participants

facilitate the data collection at this phase, volunteers from the local NGO were trained

and appointed to conduct the open-ended questionnaires from the surrounding community

new ESD kit, in two public schools in El-Warraq.

The researcher was present at all three phases as an observer to outline the

data analysis. Moreover, the researcher obtained a copy of the teachers’ training program

and the EduCamp II toolkit for data analysis.

These tables summarize the codification of the study participants, as they will be

referred to in the next section.

SD 1

4. Data Collection and Analysis

The researcher attended the three phases of EduCamp II; Needs Assessment at

NGO, TOT and Summer Implementation. El-Saddat School is a relatively new school,

established two years ago in 2013 (picture 1). The school was located on an agricultural

for the whole class, while the rest of the teachers worked in groups with students (picture

4).

The implementation was designed to use simple materials to run in-class activities

such as cards/papers/colors, for brainstorming, storytelling, drawing and coloring.

Furthermore students performed simple plays (prepared by teachers) using costumes and

projector with a laptop in class. Outdoor activities were carried out in the school’s garden,

which was adequately spacious (picture 6). The materials used to run the outdoor

(like apple, wheat)/balls/cones.

The second phase SK1 and SK2 extracted relevant ESD activities from EduCamp

I, and adapted them to El-Warraq priorities (EduCamp II). In addition, SK1 and SK2

Critical Thinking, Communication).

There were two toolkits in EduCamp II, one for primary stage (level 1) and

another one for preparatory stage (level 2), a total of forty-five activities. Each booklet

was divided into four sections as follows:

Table 5: Kit Content

Activities in

Level 1

Figure 1: Distribution of Kit Activities

by stimulating discussions (communication), group activities (collaboration), intriguing

questions for critical thinking and creativity through art and acting activities. Most of the

issues discoursed in the activities are Societal and Environmental issues, with less

emphasis on Economic issues. As for STEAM disciplines, Science and Art were more

incorporated in the program compared to the other disciplines.

ESD concepts to the teachers. The TOT was a simulation for the teachers to understand

reluctant to interact with the trainers. As SK1 (2015) explained how they always faced

this problem in the beginning of their trainings. As teachers presumed that the training

was similar to the government trainings that were not attractive to many.

However, as the ESD concepts were revealed to the teachers, they were able to

Due to the several-month time gap between the TOT and the summer

implementation, the researcher designed and administered pre and post questionnaires for

the teachers (Appendix B). The teacher’s questionnaire mainly covered parts on the

quality of the training (teacher preparation), ease of implementation (number of students,

student engagement, available resources, school administration support, community

support). The researcher collected seventeen pre-implementation questionnaires on the

first day of the implementation and sixteen post-implementation questionnaires on the

last day. The logic behind the pre-implementation questionnaire was to trace the teachers’

Moreover, teachers’ perceptions regarding the implementation varied slightly as shown in

Figure 2 and Figure 3.

Figure 2: Teachers’ perceptions before the implementation

Figure 3: Teachers’ perceptions after the implementation

The main variations between the two graphs showed that,

and engaged increased by 6% after the implementation. This was a positive

indicator that teachers’ expectations for the students to be interactive went up after

GIZ

(G1, 2015)

Housing). These continuous political changes were a huge obstacle, as they start from

scratch to communicate the PDP plans to every new ministry.

development. As C2 (2015) also confirmed that Sekem development have the technical

knowledge of ESD.

In addition, the concepts students learned in EduCamp II were not easy.

Nonetheless it was designed in a simple mode to deliver the message to primary and

agriculture land is, and they would never contribute in such act (C1, 2015).

oneyear project, with a small budget, like EduCamp II. Plus, the project cost was more

4.3.2 Thematic Analysis

In addition, M2 (2015) further verified that this enthusiasm was not observed in

previous programs as she said, “both teachers and students were excited to attend. In

professional development programs attempted by the MoE, “This program was more

appealing to teachers and students and they all looked happy”.

through games and activities. Teachers would always complain about the large number of

students, however, after the successful implementation in EL-Sadat school, SK1 (2015)

foresees a high potential for ESD.

that

The program was enlightening for many teachers, in terms of their attitudes with their

how the compass works, “students knew about the compass, but knew nothing about how

it works. In the activity, we used pictures and small cubes to make a compass, and then I

2015). Furthermore, another student described how different teachers interact with them

W activity was done in the outdoor garden of the school with a simple wooden board that

Moreover, P7 (2015) reported that her son was obsessed with online games, but

during the program he used the Internet to research facts about energy (as he heard about

as if he never heard about it before. Though, he learned about those exact facts in former

school years. This clears the transformation from teacher-centered learning environment

to student-centered learning environment. Where students truly comprehend the

information and own it.

During the program, students had an opportunity to unlock their hidden talents. As

many S5, S7, S8 and S16 (2015) stated that during school days there were not even

physical education classes. Conversely, in this program, students appreciate how they can

practice many of their hobbies like drawing and coloring. S3 and S12 (2015) expressed

how they look differently at waste at their homes and how they think of using them to

make useful things.

artistic models that expressed how they understood ESD. S15 made a vase out of an old

she made a plant (that her father didn't want at home), and she brought a bottle, cut it

and filled it with soil and water, and placed the plant in the bottle

(picture 13). S1 also made a model for a windmill using cardboard and cartoon box

reported they were very willing to change and develop into more advanced ways of

teaching. T4, T5, T7 (2015) also declared that the educational management expects them

periodically. The educational management were never concerned with the style of

teaching. He further explained that there is no practical application of the curriculum; it’s

all about passing the exams.

“During the program, the school principal asked me to attend a meeting outside school,

Furthermore, teachers were concerned about the ease of doing these activities

with students during the normal school year. As T6 (2015) explained

“After the program is over, I can not repeat these activities. For example, if I

All teachers complained about how they are not appreciated or motivated by the

celebrate and distribute certificates to acknowledge teachers’ efforts after the program,

(and it happened). But she considered a financial reward is nevertheless imperative.

was accomplished, by ESD experts (Sekem) and organized TOTs. There was also a

pragmatic perspective to the EduCamp II, as it was initiated by partnerships. Yet, such

no policies or actions from the ministry level to embrace the EduCamp kits. Although it

was mentioned in the interviews that EduCamp II kit would be disseminated in UNESCO

schools in Egypt. It was still under the umbrella of international efforts and not national

efforts to promote ESD.

That is unlike the UK approach, discussed in section 2.4.1, which adopted the

globalized perspective; and a lot of the pragmatic perspective; but strong policies were

reinforced by political powers in a top-down manner to integrate ESD in the UK

curriculum. Besides, the UK strategy were concerned with incorporating ESD as part of

their global citizenship agenda. Moreover, the UK initiatives put emphasis on continuous

assessment and evaluation, for future developments in the field of ESD; to ensure

successful progression and to stay in line with the world wide best practices. Brazil, on

the other hand, was a bottom-top approach to incorporating ESD. Communities formed

their own partnerships to manage their solid waste. Such communities were given the

ownership of the programs’ implemented.

A major difficulty with the ESD implementation in El-Warraq was the poor role

government ministries. Not actively engage in developing communities through

education.

management of El-Warraq did not take any further actions to activate and expand

EduCamp II in other schools in the district.

strong sense of ownership of what is being implemented in their society. In addition, a

push from government officials is indispensable because routine and protocols between

entities remain a major obstacle.

Egypt, the following viewpoints were concluded as a way to move forward.

the program design to adapt it to the context of the implementation. For example,

in El-Saddat School, instead of having seventeen teachers working in the same

school for three weeks (two active teachers and the rest are helping students). The

seventeen teachers could have been divided on more schools for further expansion

crucial to facilitate community work.

promote ESD activities in schools.

Following up on students’ activities could be easily done through social media,

with few visits to the location.

as awareness campaigns, for the communities to understand the purpose and

benefits of such initiatives.