ETBI Journal of Education - Vol 2:1 - June 2020 (Sustainable Development Goals 2015 -2030)

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ETBI Journal of Education June 2020 TRANSITION YEAR In the Irish secondary school context, Transition Year is sometimes suggested as an appropriate curricular space for young people to learn about the SDGs. After all, “Curriculum content is a matter for selection and adaptation by the individual school having regard to these guidelines and requirements of pupils and the views of parents” (DE, 1993, p.5). Furthermore, the SDGs seem to resonate with the “broad educational experience with a view to the attainment of an increased maturity” and the development of “a range of transferable critical thinking and creative problem solving skills” to which TY aspires (ibid, p.3). Furthermore, the Guidelines suggest: “An aspect of the Transition Year programme which should not be ignored by schools is the possibility offered for interdisciplinary study. An interdisciplinary approach would help to create that unified perspective which is lacking in the traditional compartmentalised teaching of individual subjects. One might choose a social theme (such as school life, pop culture, unemployment, use of energy) which could provide a focus for studying during the Transition Year (DE, 1993, p.6). Looking at these guidelines more than a quarter of a century on, one might reasonably presume that the SDGs might figure in the updated examples. But it would be naïve to ignore what young people have learned previously about the SDGs. Indeed, this prior knowledge can be a great asset. TY is indeed an opportunity to crystallise and deepen what has been learned in primary school and in Junior Cycle. THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF RATIONAL ARGUMENTS BEING PUT FORWARD FOR THE INTEGRATED, INTER- DISCIPLINARY TEACHING OF THE SDGS AND RELATED TOPICS. LIMITED SUCCESS Persistent research findings related to development education in schools indicate that whatever successes there have been are frequently dependent on ‘champion’ teachers (Gleeson, King, O Donnobháin, and O’Driscoll, 2007; Bryan and Bracken, 2011). As noted elsewhere, these champions frequently also “express concern for the environment and invariably have a commitment to the ideals enshrined in the SDGs” (Jeffers and Quirke-Bolt, 2019, p.111). The evidence suggests that such ‘champions’ are in a minority in schools. There is no shortage of rational arguments being put forward for the integrated, inter-disciplinary teaching of the SDGs and related topics. For example, “… teaching for human solidarity, for global citizenship, sustainable development and social justice can offer an integrated response to emerging and urgent local and global ecological, technological, socio-cultural and political challenges” (Quirke-Bolt and Jeffers 2018, p.175); the Irish Aid Development Education Strategy 2017 – 2023 is driven by an overarching vision of “a sustainable and just world where people are empowered to overcome poverty and hunger and fully realise their rights and potential” (Irish PAGE 16
ETBI Journal of Education June 2020 Aid, 2016, p.2); the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Strategy is a further example of a cross-curricular invitation/challenge. The ESD approach suggests that inter-disciplinarity is not simply a transient educational fashion, but an emerging opportunity to address the knowledge explosion and the local and global challenges. Yet, despite such apparent imperatives, many teachers and schools remain uncertain, hesitating to grasp the opportunities. This reality deserves greater interrogation. As with the MDGs and development education, TY has also had its share of successes and failures. ‘Interdisciplinary work’ appears to be one of the more spectacular areas of failure. “There is minimal evidence in any of the research of such approaches” (Jeffers, 2011, p.66). Evidence from Transition Year evaluations indicates strong teacher resistance to inter-disciplinary work (ibid.). Such resistance is not that surprising if teachers’ initial teacher education experience restricts itself to traditional subject categories. Of course, teachers should be qualified subject specialists, but in the emerging and fast changing world they also need to be much more open and flexible to the possibilities offered by crosscurricular work. Bryan and Bracken in their survey of teachers’ views noted that: “...the vast majority of participants felt that development issues occupied a very marginal position within the formal curriculum, with many identifying mere superficial treatment of development issues within their own subject areas” (Bryan and Bracken,2011,p. 256). They add that: “... while theoretically there are indeed numerous ‘opportunities’ to incorporate development themes and issues across a wide range of subject areas, there are a host of constraining factors, which actively work against the likelihood of these opportunities being realised in practice” (ibid). Bourn (2012) describes how many studentteachers and teachers feel ill-equipped to incorporate a DE learning perspective into their subject teaching because of a lack of both confidence and skills to address the complexity of development and global themes. Teachers’ professional development in development education is perhaps more complex than other elements of professional capacity building. It requires both reflection and critical thinking about current development education issues, coupled with an engagement in a process of learning that recognises different approaches and different ways of understanding and looking at the world (Bourn, 2014). UBUNTU NETWORK One attempt to address the complexity of these issues in initial teacher education is the Ubuntu Network (www.ubuntu.ie). The network supports teacher-educators.. “...to embed into their work a living understanding and commitment to education for global citizenship, sustainable development and social justice. As a result, graduate postprimary teachers entering the workforce can integrate into their teaching, and into the schools where they work, perspectives that encourage active engagement to build a more just and sustainable world. (Ubuntu, 2016, p. 9) PAGE 17
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ETBI Journal of Education - Vol 2:1 - June 2020 (Sustainable Development Goals 2015 -2030)

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