WESSA Schools Programme Annual Report 2019/2020

such as water, biodiversity, energy, waste, climate change, etc. and develop an education programme to highlight the interconnections between the different dimensions as mentioned above. This annual review will hopefully showcase the amazing work that has been achieved by a selection of schools that speaks to the realisation of the above framework, i.e. schools understanding and responding to all the dimensions through the action projects in their local communities towards a sustainable future.

Not only do we use this framework in our projects through teaching and active learning processes in schools, but also with stakeholders and funders as a marketing, evaluation and information tool to explain the fundamental underpinning and rationale for our work. This contextual framework also reflects our understanding of working with people in schools and communities from diverse perspectives across South Africa. Through our various programmes we highlight or focus on an environmental issue in a particular context and theme related to the natural environment

approach in addition to the above philosophy, is based on an array of five well known and overarching practices namely the constructivist, enquiry-based, collaborative, integrative and reflective approaches , as shown in the diagram below. These are skills-based approaches we employ through our many school and outdoor activities, through workshops, interactions and engagements with teachers and learners participating in our projects and programmes. These contribute to the development of the 21st century skills which is critical for us to achieve through our programmes.

Our educational or pedagogical

The 5 key overarching Pedagogical Approaches as a practice within our Schools Programme

The reason why it is wise to use a range of methods and processes as is the case with our programmes, is that:

Firstly , learners have different learning styles. In any group of school children, there will be a diversity of learners. Some of them will learn better from some processes (such as reading case studies) and others will respond better to other methods (such as hands-on exploration). Using a variety of methods increases the chances of everyone learning.

Secondly , a variety of methods allows us to address a variety of educational purposes and outcomes.

Coming to understand one’s world better Gaining the skills and values to live well within it Awareness or sensitisation to issues and possibilities Gaining information and new insights Un-learning certain perspectives Recognising and reconstructing the frames through which we look at the world Seeing a growing array of possibilities to act Shaping better sustainability practices Action competence, agency and commitment to care. Environmental learning is, among other possible learning outcomes, about:

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