Leadership for Sustainability

Teachers’ Day, 05 September 2012

General

I wish to reiterate the purpose of educationat Indus. We believe that the purpose

of education is to prepare a student for a life that is becoming increasingly un-sustainable,

and not merely to succeed in examination or prepare for a career. Although success in

examination is important, but by itself it does not ensure that a child is prepared to face

the challenges of life that lie ahead, or to be happy.

A student cannot be ready to face the challenges that lie ahead unless s/he is an

engaged citizen. So, the purpose of education is twofold: preparation for life and beingan

engaged citizen.

I take this opportunity on Teachers’ day to recommend a giant leap forward in our

leadership journey - leaders of tomorrow will have to be Green Leaders. Likewise,

schools of tomorrow will also have to be Green Schools.

Increasing Threats to a Sustainable

Society

Tomorrow is unknown; there is uncertainty, and there is chaos. There is also high-

speed rapid change most of us are unable to cope with. Uncertainty, chaos and change

are key features of tomorrow characterized by:

Social and economic inequalities arising from globalization and market economy

Complexity because of growing inter-dependence and multi-disciplinary nature of

life

Climate change

Poverty and malnutrition. Gender equality and womens’ empowerment is a

precondition for reducing poverty

Conflict: religion, migration, climate change, and rising intolerance

Sharing of scarce resources of the planet in a scenario wherein 6.2 billion people

are consuming five planets worth of resources already. North America alone, which

constitutes just 5 percent of the world’s population, consumes 40 percent of the planet’s

resources. It is, therefore, unthinkable what will happen by 2030 when the world’s

population will be above 8 billion?

Spiritual emptiness

Of all the threats I have described, there is one threat that has already arrived at

our doorstep and we are doing nothing, absolutely nothing about it. I will label it as the

gravest danger to humanity, the threat ofsustainability.

Challenges inEducation for Sustainable Development

We need Green Leadersand Green Schools.

The concept of sustainable development was popularized at the Earth Summit in

1992. One decade later, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a consensus

resolution on

20 December

2002, to establish a UN Decade of Education for

Sustainable Developmentor ESD. The primary objective of this resolution was to

promote education as the basis of sustainable development by

2014. Undeniably,

education will always remain the golden key for change and reform.

India’s educational leadership in schools, colleges and universities are not

sensitized or unduly concerned about the challenge the planet is facing. How many

of us are even remotely aware of the provisions and educational strategies for the

Decade of Education for Sustainable Development? I do not see any concrete

evidence in this regard. For the very few who do know, I would like to know what concrete

steps have they taken to ensure that the United Nations’ sustainability goals are being

achieved? How are the outcomes being measured?

The Indian system does not prepare students to cope with the challenges of

sustainability. Even most international schools do not do so. Our education system is

based on rote-memorization, and aims at preparing students for success in examinations

for specific careers. Whole-education and sustainability just do not feature in their scheme

of things even in most international schools. So, on what basis can we say we are

engaged citizens?

Themes like poverty, peace, democracy, human rights, human security, gender

equity, natural resource management, and consumption patterns, are taught skin-deep

only in specific subjects like social science and geography. For example, a student in the

science stream will not study any of these topics. Further, the method of teaching is very

theoretical and not experiential, and lacks relevance and sensitivity.

Having examined all the major school curriculums in India - the International,

Baccalaureate, CBSE, ICSE, IGCSE, it is regrettable that they have largely failed to

address the vital subject of sustainability. Until sustainability becomes a major curriculum

issue in schools, the objective of the UN General Assembly will never be achieved.

Even the International Baccalaureate, the world’s only true international

curriculum, is evasive and a clear defaulter. In the Diploma Programme, students are

expected to write a 4000 word extended essay and a 2500 words paper on the Theory of

Knowledge. Most of the topics I have seen are abstract with no relevance to either the

present or the future, and do not address topics connected with sustainability.

An Agenda for Sustainable Leadership

The Sustainable School Model

The foundation of a Sustainable School should be based on three strong pillars.

This is shown schematically.

Figure 1: The Sustainable School Model for an International School

The first pillar for sustainability is syllabus, and is best taught as under:

 As a stand-alone age-appropriate multidiscipline subjectfrom K to 12,

namely, sustainability should be a compulsory subject like English,

Mathematics, and Physics.

 Alternatively, sustainability topics can be taught in an integrated manner

within each subject. This is extremely difficult for an average teacher to

deliver in the classroom; and let us not forget that schools comprise of

average teachers.

 To ease out the problem of time, I suggest that the syllabus be more

experiential than theoretical with a weightage of

30 theory and

practical.

 The International Baccalaureate extended essays and Theory of

Knowledge should have a heavy component of topics related to

sustainability.

The second pillar for sustainability is to practise what we preach; only then will

children learn and take us seriously. We must transform the school into a Sustainable

School. Only then will sensitization take place, because for durability, sustainability must

be experiential. Or else, the student’s transformation will never happen. Students and

teachers should be involved in the following school-related projects and activities:

 Reduce the present carbon footprint because of greenhouse gas emissions

in school.

 Reduce use of electricity and water usage.

 Reduce waste food, paper, and packaging by re-using, re-cycling, and

reducing photocopying.

 Reduce purchasing of text books, worksheets, and paper by reading

documents digitally.

 Engage with bio-diversity. I would like to see the entire campus transformed

into a bio-diversity park.

 Community projects should preferably aim at those aspects that improve

sustainability.

The third pillar for sustainability is to create teachers and students as Sustainable

Leaders as part of our leadership syllabus.From a leadership perspective I would like all

Indus schools, including the Community School and IELCs, to become Sustainable

Schools by 15 August 2015. I request the Principal to work out a three-year plan

accordingly, and make recommendations on syllabus, on making the schools sustainable,

and leadership training for teachers and students.

Conclusion

There are many definitions of sustainable development, but the one that is simple

and expressive is how Brundtland described it as:

“

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the

ability of future generations.”

This will only be possible if leadership and school curriculum is based on the

following formula: 3 Rs + 5 Cs + S.