EDUCATION FOR THE GOOD SOCIETY - Support

well as cognitively. Real understanding is mostlikely to be absorbed from active involvement,from doing, questioning or reflecting and thusdiscovering, rather than from acquiescing aspassive recipient in an intended process ofinformation transfer. Playing on a swing in thepark will convey far more effectively than beinginstructed in the classroom, if less consciously,the fact that a body needs the input of energy toremain in motion. Attempting to grow a planton the windowsill or in the school garden will begreatly more productive in nurturing a sense ofexactly how much water and shelter are neededfor successful cultivation than any textbook orteacher. Experiential learning trumps abstractlearning in most contexts. It creates the fertile soilin which intellectual concepts can grow.Given the crucial and urgent importance ofdeveloping sustainable ways of living, every effortshould be made to find practical means of bringinghome the relevant issues at different stages ofeducation. Hands-off learning, de-contextualisedparcels of information taken on trust from ascreen, book or teacher, which do not exist inreal time or space can, of course, be usefullyemployed to support practical exercises that haverelevance to issues pertaining to sustainability,but are not sufficient in themselves to build aproper understanding.New ways of living and localenvironmentOne way in which to increase awareness of theconditions obtaining in the natural and builtenvironment of a particular area and of howthese change over time would be to incorporatelocal studies into the curriculum so that allpupils learn about the history of their own areaand effectively conduct longitudinal researchinto it throughout the course of their schooling,considering different aspects of the localityduring their school career. Not only would thisdevelop in them a sense of identity and place, butit would also sensitise them to the significance ofchanges to other environments.Beyond the classroom and the lecturetheatre, part of the educative role of educationalinstitutions can be exercised through leadingby practical, explicitly explained example.Schools, colleges and universities should embodysustainability as a priority in their material policiesand practices, and create high expectations oflearners’ compliance with certain principlesof sustainability. Measures could include, forexample, the maximum use of local, minimallypackaged and fairly traded food, the provisionof drinking water fountains and the banning ofbottled water, strict rules for procurement andwaste disposal that fully incorporate the precept of‘reduce, re-use, recycle’, and active minimisationof the use of car journeys and air travel bystudents and staff. The growing of food on siteand the involvement of students and the localcommunity in this fundamental survival activitywould be of great benefit wherever feasible. Theaim should be social cohesion through maximumcommunal self-sufficiency.Building a relationship with thenatural worldIf children are to grow up with a desire to protectthe natural world, as well as an understandingof the importance of doing so, they must, at thevery least, have some familiarity with that world.But to develop the motivation to live in such away as not to damage it they need more thanacquaintance: they need to love it, and to respectits power, both as a provider and as a potentialdestroyer.There is only one way an affection for and trueknowledge of places, plants and creatures canbe engendered, and that is being among them,being part of the natural environment; it cannotbe inculcated by books, teachers in classroomsor anything a screen can provide. Abundantresearch evidence demonstrates this. Earlychildhood contact with nature really matters;it leaves a lasting mark. There is simply nosubstitute for going out into the woods, onto thebeach, into the fields and hills, feeling the wind,the rain and the sun, seeing the sights, smellingthe smells, hearing the sounds of birds, animals,insects, trees and plants. Not only does interactionwith nature foster a personal relationship withthe natural environment, but it benefits wellbeingand cognitive functioning too. Lack of suchexperience constitutes real deprivation, far greaterthan the lack of money to buy the latest fashion32 | www.compassonline.org.uk