RCE Oldenburger Munsterland[type]

MetESD – Methods and curriculum development in TVET towards ESD
CSV
Basic Information
Title of project : 
MetESD – Methods and curriculum development in TVET towards ESD
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Oldenburger Münsterland
Contributing organization(s) : 
University of Vechta; Vocational school Friesoythe, Germany; Center of teacher further education Vechta
Format of project: 
Slides and ten minute presentation
Language of project: 
English
Date of submission:
Friday, July 13, 2018
Web link: 
https://www.uni-vechta.de/einrichtungen-von-a-z/zentrum-fuer-lehrerbildung/forschung/metesd/
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Europe
Country: 
Austria
Germany
Latvia
United Kingdom
Address of focal point institution for project: 
Vocational schools
Ecosystem(s):

Target Audience:
TVET
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is thematically interdisciplinary and not formally integrated within the school subject curricula of (secondary) vocational schools.


Curricular challenge
ESD is not only environmental education, the areas of economics (as defined by equitable distribution of resources) and social/cultural challenges/topics (social justice, lifelong learning, civic engagement) need to be emphasized. Therefore curricula and school development concerning ESD need to be tackled and an integration of ESD on curricula and school programme level need to take place. 


Educational challenge

- Issues/topics of sustainable development should be prepared and organized in such a methodical way , that students can make a connection between their (daily life) habits, their professional training and global challenges.
- Many topics are presented solely cognitive, so that it is difficult for students to develop their own mindset/attitude towards a certain subject/topic and to verify/reassessing their values and knowledge.


The main aims and objectives of the projects:
As part of the project, teachers shall be trained to facilitate key competences to students (systems-thinking skills, entrepreneurship skills, values and needs biography (see attachment).
The key competences can be implemented within all teaching subjects and also interdisciplinary. 
A dualistic approach:

a) training of teachers for the methodical implementation of already developed modules of/for ESD;
b) teacher test the modules in the school and reassess on students learning achievements;

- The schools integrate the modules into the school's curriculum.


The modules, that will be transfered, meet the requirements of a Europe-wide vocational training. They are designed for a competence focus, with appropriate specifications and compatible with ECTS.

Tasks
- Training of teachers on the methodology that overlaps the qualification of vocational fields;
- Transferring, evaluation, adaptation and development of competence-oriented methods (tool-set) for the promotion of ESD.
- School and curriculum development
- Networking within the participating regions
Contents
Rationale: 
1. Curriculum development has to be student-oriented
ESD in TVET is characterized as a continuous, guided process which enable students and future employees to deal with the requirements of creating a sustainable and resource-efficient economy and workplace founded on a fair and just society, which respects the ecological limits, the traditional knowledge, and carrying capacity of the natural environment on one hand and empower the students finding out their own sustainable life- and working-style, looking for innovative solutions and developing an attitude for sustainable development on the other hand.
2. Empowering teachers and educators must be central to any curriculum development initiative.
The successful implementation of topics and issues concerning sustainable development into the curricula of TVET is dependent upon teachers being motivated and skilled to deal with ESD.
3. Curriculum development must focus on competencies for sustainable development as a good educational background and general knowledge.
The first and most important step is a review of curriculum documents how far the teaching and learning of skills for sustainable work-life are already mentioned and seen as important for the vocational training. While Textbooks and other educational materials should be reviewed to determine whether they reflect on ESD topics and helpful for implementing ESD. Materials may need to be developed to implement ESD topics into the curriculum and further into the all-day-teaching.
4. Governing and managing vocational schools towards ESD
A whole-institution approach should be adopted for the curriculum development development.
- It needs the involvement of the whole school staff. If not from the beginning on, but step by step
- It needs the involvement of the school management.
- It needs a participating culture and structure of decision-making.
- It needs guiding principles for ESD. This set of guidelines could focus on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG´s).
- School management should ensure transparency and accountability. This will ensure legitimacy of changes in the curriculum.
- School mamagement should use evaluation as an important learning tool that ensures that ESD topics are compatible to the issues of vocational training
- Schools need to build partnerships and mobilize stakeholders.
Objectives: 
Participating students are
a) motivated to learn again (among others aimed at students with learning difficulties), and
b) they are supported in their self-efficacy and their skills of civil engagement, employability and (sustainability) entrepreneurship are enhanced
c) they have an idea of a sustainable lifestyle and how to bring it in their future working place
d) they are better qualified for the labour market in general (sustainability skills are more and more required)

Involved teaching staff (whole school)
a) will change and improve teaching through peer reviews and the other interested colleagues are informed of the school's development and curriculum development process
b) will be motivated to join the teachers involved in this project
c) are encouraged to implement different and innovative forms of teaching and learning
d) shape their teaching attitude towards life long learning and sustainable lifestyles

The participating schools
a) itself own a well-developed curriculum which focuses on ESD across all subjects.
b) widen their network to more or new regional companies. This cooperation is very strong because of the practical projects which are the core of the 4th module.
c) improve the quality of their vocational training without the necessity of creating new structures within the curriculum (interdisciplinary approach across all subjects)
d) raise and strengthen their educational standards via their school development processes

The regional companies
a) will have a better insight in and an influence on vocational training practices
b) will have an impact on youth unemployment rates by cooperating closely with schools and by getting a better picture of their trainees needs
c) will be more attractive for young trainees
d) will contribute to the regions labour market attractiveness

In the long run we envision the establishment of a teacher-training course, made available throughout all participating partner countries.
This teacher-training course will be designed for other teachers, not only for vocational schools, but also primary and secondary, and will put an emphasis of the material tested within this project.
Activities and/or practices employed: 
The process of curriculum and school development takes place primarily in the school and is the responsibility of the participating teachers and principals. Therefore a steering group will be founded in each school. The integration of the ESD modules takes place in everyday teaching and not as a special form outside the classroom and is understood by us as curriculum development. The steering group will ensure that the whole staff team will be informed on the integration of the modules in the subject curricula and will be involved through in-house training for the purpose of the school development plan. This school development process is accompanied by the counselors from the University of Vechta, RCE OM and the University of Daugavpils. All projectphases will be documented.

Teachers received training that provides two priorities. First, the understanding of the skills and basic competences that are taught in the four modules is expanded, so that the performance evaluation, which is associated with the mediation, is understandable and valid. The content validity is established by the presentation of the results of research by Lukas Scherak and agreed performance criteria with all participating teachers. The construct validity is established through the discussion of the assessment of student performance in the steering group.
The performance of pupils in the future integrated modules will be graded. Here especially motivation, competence growth and entrepreneurship are in the foreground.

The evaluation of the project is done by an independent external evaluation, conducted by Glenn Strachan, an internal evaluation, the responsibility of the University of Vechta and RCE OM, as well as the dissemination, which is managed by the University of Daugavpils. The fields of the evaluation will be determined by the participating schools.

The dissemination is measured primarily by the number of publications and the target-group orientation. So manuals for teachers will be created that show the feasibility of teaching, reports for the principals that set the school development process in the foreground or the project report and the developed curricula, that can provide the impetus for policy decisions.
Results: 
Manual for Curriculum development ESD for TVET
Evaluation report
Lessons learned: 
No school starts from point zero. Each vocational school has to identify and to develop connections and synergies among their projects, sustainability initiatives in order to focus on resources and good practice which is already there.
This means existing projects in the frame of such Global learning, Education for All outdoor learning, action-oriented teaching and Life-long Learning, among others.
Funding: 
ERASMUS+ - European Union

Pictures:

File Name Caption for picture Photo Credit
Image icon OM MetESD logo.jpg (3.59 KB) Logo RCE OM
Image icon OM ProjectTeam MetESD.jpg (1.07 MB) Project Team MetESD RCE OM
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere 
Indirect
SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages 
Indirect
SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 
Direct
SDG 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 
Indirect
SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all 
Direct
SDG 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation 
Direct
SDG 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries 
Indirect
SDG 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 
Direct
SDG 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 
Indirect
SDG 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development 
Direct
Theme
Curriculum Development 
Direct
Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development – Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 1 - Advancing policy 
Direct
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
Direct
Priority Action Area 3 - Building capacities of educators and trainers 
Direct
Priority Action Area 4 - Empowering and mobilizing youth 
Direct
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
Direct
Update: 
No