Implementing Education for Sustainable Development in Physical Education in England
Saturday, 24 Apr 2021, 16:32
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Education for Sustainable Development (UNESCO, 2017) is an important framework and instrument in achieving goal four 'Quality Education' of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations (2015). Key to realizing this goal is the empowerment of young people to champion diversity and equality. Diversity within social-cultural groups is important for the success of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as an affinity towards diversity has been shown to promote empathy towards sustainability and pro-environmental issues (Corral-Verdugo et al, 2009). Initiatives using ESD principles such as, Engineers without Borders and Green Chemistry have been shown to increase opportunity and participation for underrepresented demographics in the fields of Science and Technology (Zimmerman et al, 2007).
Diversity in sports such as Cricket, Hockey and Rugby Union have been questioned recently in the English media with youth participation a particular area of focus (Turner, 2020; Grey, 2021; Rainford-Brent, 2021). A lack of diversity and inclusion has also been suggested in the English National Curriculum in Physical Education through the absence of diverse content and any real directive (Herold, 2020). This is supported by Dowling and Flintoff (2018) who suggest the Physical Education curriculum is ‘whitewashed’. In contrast, the Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum (Ontario, 2015) contains a diverse range of content and instruction on mental health, healthy eating and even environmental education. This approach to Physical Education relates strongly to a capabilities approach to education which Wamsler (2020) believes may be better for implementing the principles of ESD. So what can be done in increase the presence of ESD in Physical Education in England?
Firstly, promoting initiatives such as the African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) programme launched by Surrey County Cricket Club and former female England cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent are a good starting point as they are successful in creating opportunities for young African-Caribbean cricketers (Bull, 2020). This initiative has similar principles that champion diversity in the Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum (Petherick, 2018). Moreover, introducing inclusive language into curriculum policy could not only increase diversity but also spark ecological and ethical ESD approaches in teacher pedagogy as shown in Australia and their use of an ecofeminist language framework (Olive and Enright, 2021).
Australia, Canada and New Zealand lead the way for ESD in Physical Education. It is time England caught up in one race worth winning.
Grey, B. (2021) ‘ Ugo Monye hopes new RFU group can help everyone feel rugby is 'for them'’ BBC Sport, 19 April [Online]. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56709956 (Accessed: 24 April 2021)
Herold, F (2020) ‘‘There is new wording, but there is no real change in what we deliver’: Implementing the new National Curriculum for Physical Education in England’, European physical education review, 26(4), pp. 920–937[Online]. Available at: https://journals-sagepub-com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1177/1356336X19892649 (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Olive, R. and Enright, E., (2021) Sustainability in the Australian Health and Physical Education Curriculum: an ecofeminist analysis. Sport, Education and Society, 26(4), pp.389-402 [Online]. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13573322.2021.1888709 (Accessed: 24 April 2021)
Zimmerman, J et al (2007) ‘Using Sustainability Education to Enable the Increase of Diversity in Science, Engineering and Technology-Related Disciplines’, The International journal of engineering education, 23(2), pp. 242–253[Online]. Available at: https://www-ijee-ie.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/latestissues/Vol23-2/05_ijee1921.pdf (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Implementing Education for Sustainable Development in Physical Education in England
Education for Sustainable Development (UNESCO, 2017) is an important framework and instrument in achieving goal four 'Quality Education' of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations (2015). Key to realizing this goal is the empowerment of young people to champion diversity and equality. Diversity within social-cultural groups is important for the success of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as an affinity towards diversity has been shown to promote empathy towards sustainability and pro-environmental issues (Corral-Verdugo et al, 2009). Initiatives using ESD principles such as, Engineers without Borders and Green Chemistry have been shown to increase opportunity and participation for underrepresented demographics in the fields of Science and Technology (Zimmerman et al, 2007).
Diversity in sports such as Cricket, Hockey and Rugby Union have been questioned recently in the English media with youth participation a particular area of focus (Turner, 2020; Grey, 2021; Rainford-Brent, 2021). A lack of diversity and inclusion has also been suggested in the English National Curriculum in Physical Education through the absence of diverse content and any real directive (Herold, 2020). This is supported by Dowling and Flintoff (2018) who suggest the Physical Education curriculum is ‘whitewashed’. In contrast, the Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum (Ontario, 2015) contains a diverse range of content and instruction on mental health, healthy eating and even environmental education. This approach to Physical Education relates strongly to a capabilities approach to education which Wamsler (2020) believes may be better for implementing the principles of ESD. So what can be done in increase the presence of ESD in Physical Education in England?
Firstly, promoting initiatives such as the African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) programme launched by Surrey County Cricket Club and former female England cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent are a good starting point as they are successful in creating opportunities for young African-Caribbean cricketers (Bull, 2020). This initiative has similar principles that champion diversity in the Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum (Petherick, 2018). Moreover, introducing inclusive language into curriculum policy could not only increase diversity but also spark ecological and ethical ESD approaches in teacher pedagogy as shown in Australia and their use of an ecofeminist language framework (Olive and Enright, 2021).
Australia, Canada and New Zealand lead the way for ESD in Physical Education. It is time England caught up in one race worth winning.
References
Corral-Verdugo et al. (2009) ‘Correlates of pro-sustainability orientation: The affinity towards diversity’, Journal of environmental psychology, 29(1), pp. 34–43[Online]. Available at: https://www-sciencedirect-com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S027249440800073X (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Dowling, F., and Flintoff, A (2018) ‘A whitewashed curriculum? The construction of race in contemporary PE curriculum policy’, Sport, education and society, 23(1), pp. 1–13[Online]. Available at: https://www-tandfonline-com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1080/13573322.2015.1122584 (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Grey, B. (2021) ‘ Ugo Monye hopes new RFU group can help everyone feel rugby is 'for them'’ BBC Sport, 19 April [Online]. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56709956 (Accessed: 24 April 2021)
Herold, F (2020) ‘‘There is new wording, but there is no real change in what we deliver’: Implementing the new National Curriculum for Physical Education in England’, European physical education review, 26(4), pp. 920–937[Online]. Available at: https://journals-sagepub-com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1177/1356336X19892649 (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Olive, R. and Enright, E., (2021) Sustainability in the Australian Health and Physical Education Curriculum: an ecofeminist analysis. Sport, Education and Society, 26(4), pp.389-402 [Online]. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13573322.2021.1888709 (Accessed: 24 April 2021)
Ontario Ministry of Education (2015) The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 to 12 Health and Physical Education [Online]. Available at: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/health9to12.pdf (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Petherick, L (2018) ‘Race and culture in the secondary school health and physical education curriculum in Ontario, Canada’, Health education (Bradford, West Yorkshire, England), 118(2), pp. 144–158 [Online]. Available at: https://www-emerald-com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/insight/content/doi/10.1108/HE-11-2016-0059/full/html ( Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Rainford-Brent, E. (2021) ‘ 'I know black people care about cricket. But cricket hasn't cared about them' Daily Mail, 20 April [Online]. Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-9467441/Ebony-Rainford-Brent-games-diversity-problem-desire-faster-change.html (Accessed 24 April 2021)
Turner, A. (2020) ‘Why I want to stop hockey being just a ‘white, private school sport’, says GB’s Emily Defroand on her mission for diversity’ NewsChain, 21 July [Online]. Available at: https://www.newschainonline.com/news/why-i-want-stop-hockey-being-white-private-school-sport-says-gbs-emily-defroand-her-mission-diversity-18211 (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
United Nations (2015) Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, [Online]. Available at:https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
UNESCO (2017) Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning Objectives, [Online]. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247444 (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Wamsler, C. (2020) ‘Education for sustainability’, International journal of sustainability in higher education, 21(1), pp. 112–130[Online]. Available at: https://www-emerald-com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJSHE-04-2019-0152/full/html (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Zimmerman, J et al (2007) ‘Using Sustainability Education to Enable the Increase of Diversity in Science, Engineering and Technology-Related Disciplines’, The International journal of engineering education, 23(2), pp. 242–253[Online]. Available at: https://www-ijee-ie.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/latestissues/Vol23-2/05_ijee1921.pdf (Accessed: 6 April 2021)