What is LfS?
What is LfS?
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Learning for Sustainability is an approach to learning, life and work, enabling learners to build a socially-just, sustainable and equitable society
Learning for sustainability (LfS) is concerned with knowing and understanding our world and about equipping children and young people with values, knowledge, attitudes, capabilities and skills to enable them to contribute effectively to the common good.
Global Citizenship, Sustainable Development Education and Outdoor Learning are interconnected and should not be viewed in isolation from each other. Learning for Sustainability as a term, weaves together the three areas into a coherent whole.
Learning for Sustainability is not just a planetary concept of environmental and green issues, it is a social concept with our world and it's people at the centre.
It is about social justice, tackling inequality and promoting participation, therefore rights are an underpinning theme. LfS is both a theme across learning and an approach to learning within the curriculum.
Education Scotland's word cloud (below) attempts to provide a greater understanding of the breadth and richness of Learning for Sustainability as a concept.
The One Planet Report Working Group defines LfS as: ‘A whole school approach that enables the school and its wider community to build the values, attitudes, knowledge, skills and confidence needed to develop practices and take decisions which are compatible with a sustainable and equitable society.’
Why should we use LfS as a context for learning?
Why should we use LfS as a context for learning?
LfS is a key context for learning and is fully embedded across the experiences and outcomes. LfS is highlighted within the How Good is Our School 4 document that schools self-evaluate against, and is part of the General Teaching for Scotland Professional Standards for teachers.
The One Planet Schools Working Group gave the following recommendations, recognising that LfS is core to the learning experience. Their high level recommendations, ratified by the Scottish Government, are:
1. All learners should have an entitlement to Learning for Sustainability in their curriculum.
2. In line with the new GTCS Professional Standards, every practitioner, school and education leader should demonstrate Learning for Sustainability in their practice.
3. Every school should have a whole school approach to Learning for Sustainability that is robust, demonstrable, evaluated and supported by leadership at all levels.
4. School buildings, grounds and policies should support Learning for Sustainability.
5. Strategic national approach to supporting LfS should be established.
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