By Laurence Myers
Sustainability & Service Learning Coordinator International School of Kuala Lumpur Earlier this month the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change announced its recommendation that humanity had 86 years to rid itself of fossil fuels altogether. I couldn't help but think about the enormity of that statement. Could an international organization of scientists really be asking the world to change everything it has done over the past 150 years so drastically? When I saw the news on BBC I was sitting in a hotel room in Borneo. I had taken two taxis and a plane to get there. I would do the same to return home. If the statement was correct than these two modes of transport, for one, would need to be redesigned in order for someone in my shoes to be able to have a similar experience and result in zero carbon emissions. Is that even possible? The stress that could cause is already palpable to many - particularly in our global community - but humanity is already in a position to deliver. Humanity's ability to create, to think divergently, to problem solve, and to deal with crisis is singular. It is the reason at ISKL we focus so heavily on our School wide Learning Results: Think Creatively; Learn Enthusiastically; Communicate Effectively; Reason Critically: Collaborate Effectively: Live Ethically. The days in Borneo were crystal clear and brilliantly beautiful, a far cry from the haze we sometimes experience in Kuala Lumpur. It was looking up to that that I realised just how wonderful the vision of a carbon emission free world could be. How fantastic for all of us to think of new ways of being, living, doing. How wonderful to take the great minds that already collaborate but do so with a higher cause in mind: Humanity. Optimism replace the initial dread. My concern about how I might address it in this very post was replaced with a sense of faith and purpose for all of us, whether we work in schools or businesses or embassies or energy. Faith that, though there is much to be done, and our existence is bound to be shaped in ways that we cannot yet fathom, we have the tools to build a pretty awesome future. And therein, I found a strange sense of calm and urgency both in one. Calm in that it can be done. Urgency in that, if we have 86 years to change the world we have to get started today. Education, though powerful, takes time to take shape, meaning that now is an apropos time to start. They say hope springs eternal. There is work to be done by us all. The future awaits. Our students have the power and skills to invent it. I find that - our students - the best reason for hope of all.
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By Laurence Myers
Sustainability & Service Learning Coordinator International School of Kuala Lumpur As time passes it becomes more and more obvious that schools in the region need connection. All too often those responsible for sustainability and/or service learning are individuals tasked in making important changes to their school community. There is power in being "the one" to make positive change in one's school, but there could also be dearth of support, largely due to the complexity of the situation and well the pioneering element of this direction. Enter those in other schools sharing the same journey. The benefit of a relatively new concept is that "the sky is the limit". The draw back is that often one doesn't quite know toward where, exactly, in that big broad sky one has to move. It is natural, then, for many in the region to want to collaborate, to share best practices to bounce ideas off of each other in an arena that is pioneering and open to divergent and emergent thinking. This support took some shape at the EARCOS Teachers Conference. But recently Teresa Tung, MYP Community and Service Coordinator at NIST, announced the formal launch of the Global Citizenship Summit II to take place in Bangkok from September 19 to 21, 2014. The summit is a collaborative effort of NIST and JUMP Foundation's Global Leadership Center with support from all those in the region interested in sharing ideas. So, where this website serves as a bit of a "one stop shop" for things, the Summit is, quite literally, a unique opportunity to engage with the professional sustainability, service learning and global citizenship crowd at Asian international schools. So, if you're a seasoned veteran or just got your assignment for next year it's time to pack the bags, to head to Bangkok's Pines Resort for a few undoubtedly positively exhilarating days! More info? Wanna attend? Go to http://goo.gl/JiwNha and sign up! by Laurence Myers
Sustainability & Service Learning Coordinator International School of Kuala Lumpur The 2014 EARCOS Teachers Conference took place this past weekend and was a resounding success for sustainability and service learning advocates everywhere! One would be hard pressed to not be inspired by the sheer plethora of workshops dealing with issues of service and sustainable education and, looking back, the conference may have been the evidence one needs to recognise just how powerful the movement can become. There were several take aways form the conference:
There is a general feeling that sustainability and service learning is "coming of age" and yet there is so much to do still. As the thought leaders move forward there are so many that are keen but with little time to move forward the same way. It is imperative, then, that we ensure that the structures are in place to share best practices and ensure success at all levels, regardless of the funding provided or the intent of the school's philosophy. We move on! By Laurence Myers,
Sustainability & Service Learning Coordinator International School of Kuala Lumpur Since my position was created at the International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) – first as “Environmental Coordinator” and now as “Sustainability & Service Learning Coordinator” – the number of similar positions around the region – Asia – and across the world seems to be increasing by leaps and bounds. This is presumably a sign of the times, so to speak. I have always been fond of the environment and all things that call it home (including humanity, despite our knack of being somewhat destructive) but the real “wow” moment came with the viewing of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth. I still remember him getting on that contraption to get up to where he needed to be to point out the rising temperatures. Certainly that was a gimmick, but it worked on me. I remember more recently John Hardy, the founder of the Green School in Bali, playfully blaming Al Gore for “ruining my life” on TED.com for making the movie and for pushing him to do just that: Creating a school were the environment stands at the forefront of what we teach and learn. How cool! Then came a host of other similar information. I remember also trying to find more information and now it seems its left, right and center. No problem finding information to study these days. Prior to Mr. Gore’s movie the UN had declared 2005-2014 the “Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” and at ISKL we used this as the starting point of our newly developed Standards & Benchmarks. My predecessor, Angus Carmichael, who now works at the International of Aberdeen, is a very intelligent chap. He took the UN Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) concepts and created a new set of standards which now, nearly four years later, we are reviewing and refining. I suspect that process will never end. It’s this review and refinement that has brought me to the crossroads of “best practices” when it comes to sustainability education. What is the “best method”? What are the “best set of standards”? How can we be sure that we are doing it in an exceptional way as our school’s mission claims? The answer, of course, is complex and has no completely right or wrong solutions. But there are starting points. We reviewed a number of options, most notably the resources of The Cloud Institute, the Australian Association of Environmental Education, The North American Association of Environmental Education, the Compass School model, Oxfam and, of course, UNESCO. We are still working on what direction we want to go, but leaning toward continuing our journey with the UNESCO ESD format (though admittedly our own self-directed version of it). I’m pretty sure, though, that when all is said and done, we will have shown a substantial growth largely due to our expose to these models , to the thinking of others and to the recognition that we’re all in this together, no matter what we call it and no matter what the final version of our own ESD model looks like. After all, that is how the world becomes a better place. No one is an island, they say. I have an itching suspicion that with sustainability that we would truer than with most topics. The whole purpose of this website is to assist in the organizaton of Asia-Pacific (and beyond?) international schools' attempts to orgaize themselves. As we independently try to identify best practices, get reviews on engaging and appropriate service trip operators, who we would need to ask questions to, we are also recognizing that there is power in working collaboratively to this end. Why not pool our thoughts, resources, contacts and ideas together? Here we go.
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October 2020
AuthorThis blog is currently being updated by Laurence Myers, K-12 Service Learning Coordinator at the American School of Dubai. We are hoping the blog becomes a compilation of posts from a variety of people in the region and around the world. Want to add something? Send it along! Categories |