ESD
EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
WISDOM BOX Booklet 3
(FY 2012) Official Development Assistance Grants for UNESCO Activities. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC), Vientiane, and the Graduate School, the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo. Copyright Š Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC) and the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, 2013 Published in February 2013 Edited by The ESD Team of PADETC, the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, and the Research Institute for Educational Sciences (RIES), Laos. Printed in Lao P.D.R.
WISDOM BOX Booklet 3
Pre fa c e In order to promote ESD in the Lao PDR, the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo has been conducting an ESD project under the title of ‘Creating “ESD Communities” in Rural and Urban Areas’. The project has been implemented in Laos with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Sports, Research Institute for Educational Sciences (RIES) and the Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC). The outcome of this project is a package consisting of a DVD, poster and booklet series which were made to improve the quality of education in Laos targeting teachers, principals and provincial educational office authorities in order to help all partners create an Education for Sustainable 4
Development (ESD) community and promote ESD values in Laos, towards the ultimate goal of sustainable development. However, all the partners of this ESD project are concerned not only with educational problems but also with the general development situation and trends in Laos. We strongly believe that education is a highly significant factor influencing development. Education and development are closely linked with each other and should reflect each other. Therefore all the people who are involved in education must capture and understand societal development and how Laos is changing. In addition, the authors considered the importance of localizing education and linking it
BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
to the roots of Lao culture, values and identity in order to successfully promote an ESD model in Laos. In booklet one, the story starts from development issues generally and then moves to education, questioning the current development and education models, and suggesting an alternative model for education – Education for Sustainable Development. In booklet two, you will find more information about how to build an ESD community and weave ESD values and practice into daily teaching and life skills inside and outside the classroom.
two ESD tools – Wisdom Box and Design for Change. We would like to thank all the people involved in all aspects of the producing, shooting, editing, writing, designing and illustrating this package. A special thanks must go to all the teachers, students and community members featured in the booklets and DVD series. Regards, The ESD Team of PADETC, the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, and the Research Institute for Educational Sciences (RIES), Laos.
In booklets three and four, you will find tips for implementing 5
Introduction of Symbols We use these symbols in the following booklets:
[Check]: How teachers can observe and evaluate students
[Stop and think]: Think and reflect by yourself
[Write]: Write your ideas
?
[Handout]: Give out the handout. (If you don’t have a copier, write the instructions on the board or read them out)
[Share]: Share ideas with another person, whole class or presentation
......
[Instructions]: From teachers to students
[Tips]: Ideas to help teachers
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[Question]: Teachers ask a question to students
DVD
[DVD]: Watch the DVD at this time to support your understanding
[Whole person]: Development of holistic children from the inside out
BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
[Head]: Nurturing the students’ Head
[Culture]: Knowledge and connection to culture
[Heart]: Nurturing the students’ Heart
[Environment]: Knowledge and connection to the environment
[Hand]: Nurturing Active Youth
[Economy]: Knowledge and connection to the economy
[Home, community and school]: Engaging home, school and community
[Balanced development]: A balance of cultural, environmental and economic content
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BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
Table of Contents 10
Introduction: What is the Wisdom Box?
11
Wisdom Box and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
14
Wisdom Box Implementation
15
Day 1: Preparing learners and coordinating communities
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Handout1: How to make questions?
22
Tip Column: What is a Good Interview?
24
Day 2: Community study and compiling information on the condition of communities
29
Handout 2: How to analyze collected data?
30
Day 3: Present and analyze conditions and problems together / Prepare information materials
33
Conclusion and Summary
34
References and further reading
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Introduction: What is the Wisdom Box?
ECONOMY
WELLBEING ENVIRONMENT
CULTURE
The wisdom box is a communitybased tool. It can be used to help examine problems and involve all people in the community in a process that examines the realities and interconnectedness of community development issues. 10
The Wisdom Box focuses on four areas - economy, culture, wellbeing and the environment to teach students, teachers and citizens how to think about issues in their communities from different perspectives.
BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
Wisdom Box and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
The Wisdom Box is a holistic learning tool because we are targeting students’ head, heart and hands, and the learning environment is the place students are living. Students can apply the skills they learn in their daily lives which contributes to the development of the whole person.
students who can solve problems and think for themselves. Youths who develop holistically can play a crucial role in society. They are the ones who connect everything and everyone in the community to sustainable development ideals. They are the future leaders and can be models of behavior for young and old people alike.
This tool is also aims to develop
By participating in the Wisdom Box, students gain analyzing, critical thinking, reflecting and creative thinking skills. The ability to think both short-term and longterm will also nurtured. Also this tool enables learners to know about the real situation of communities and problems where they live.
In every step, the participants need to be prepared and trained in various skills before doing practical work. Otherwise, the operation of each step will not succeed according to its objective.
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Through learning about the community, we nurture students’ sense of caring and compassion for others and community
development and a sense of responsibility for building an ‘ESD Community’.
By participating in the Wisdom Box, students gain interviewing and presentation skills, and the knowledge of how to live sustainably in a practical way. They will have a chance to put these
skills into practice when they interact with the community in the surveys. After being introduced to community problem students may have a chance to return and engage in community solutions.
The survey uses four different dimensions of developmentEnvironment, Economy, Culture and Wellbeing, and defines the situation of the community in a
more balanced way. Students learn how to analyze and prioritize problems as well as how to solve problems in connection to the four dimensions.
To achieve sustainable development we need a good understanding of the people who are involved in the educational field as well as people in the community. A unique point of this activity is that all the people – women, men, elderly, and youth – who are involved, will be able to
stop and reflect about their life style in a critical way. In daily life we don’t have many chances to stop and reflect on our lives. Home, community and school will be able to work closely under this tool. Moreover, they can think about development carefully while discussing issues with others.
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BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
Inform local community
Dream community
Present and analyze using strings. Discuss Core Concept groups E
S C O U C L I &T E U T R Y E
E C O N O M Y
Wisdom Box Diagram
Baseline survey
1
W E L L B E I N G
N V I R O N M E N T
Prepare learners and co-ordinate communities Community Teacher
Mapping
Make questions
Students
Regroup into teams for survey
2
Data collection survey and mapping
Analyze collected data
What? Why? How?
Identify top 3 problems in each core area
SC
E
W
M
Present and analyze using strings Discuss Identify top 2 problems
Draw cartoons or books to show process
3
Compile information on the conditions of communities
Prepare and practice presentations
E
Study communities
Assist with problem solving plans
4
Present and analyze the conditions together with community members
5
Keep all records of collected information
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Wisdom Box Implementation
Required time 3 days Preparation ◊ Discuss the activities with your school ◊ Visit the village headman and ask permission to conduct a community survey and prepare for a baseline survey. Also ask the chief to inform villagers and build an awareness and understanding of the upcoming activity. ◊ Select students (approximately 30 students): use Dek Asa or homeroom students Materials ◊ A0 white paper (30 pieces) ◊ Crayons ◊ Knitting yam, wool or bands ◊ Notebook and pencils (students’ responsibility)
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BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
Day 1: Preparing learners and coordinating communities [ 2:34- 3:33 ]
DVD
Role and responsibilities of the teacher: ◊ Lead students to collect basic data of the targeted community and capture the reality of the situation ◊ Encourage students’ to use their new skills (Head and Hand) during the process ◊ Give students space to learn but provide suggestions to keep things on track and motivation high
[Actions]
1
Introduction (10 minutes)
1.1
Teacher shares overview of the project and today’s activity with students Teacher divides students into several groups
1.2
[For the teachers]
1.2
5-6 people in each group
[Actions]
2
Drawing dream communities (15 minutes)
2.1 Teacher introduces about community study and students think about the given question 2.2 + Teacher gives out A0 paper and students start drawing a dream community
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[For the teachers] ?
2.1 + Here are example questions that the teacher can ask students: “Why do we need to do a community study?”
“What is a community made up of?” “What is your ideal community? (This can be an entry point for implementation 2.2)” Let them discuss (Think, Pair, Share in Booklet 2) ......
Here are the ideas you want to get back from students. If they are not sure, you can help feed these in:
“To get to know real situation of the community you live in.”
“Connecting your lives and community development. How are your life and community development connected with each other? You will be able to know how to live more happily and in harmony through this study.”
“Connect school and community. We try to build good cooperation for attaining sustainable community development. Schools need to be involved in the process. Schools also can contribute to development. You will be the one who will create future community and you are the center of this activity.”
[Actions]
3
Presentation on dream community (30 minutes)
3.1 3.2
Each group does the presentation
Question and answer after each presentation from students
3.3 Teacher summarizes the main ideas which came up from students’ presentation and explains the idea of sustainable community development
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BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
[For the teachers]
3.1 Try to capture the main ideas of ideal community from students’ presentation. Try to define what kind of development students put value on.
For example (ask yourself these questions): “Is that balanced development or is it focused only on one or more of these areas?” “Do students value economic development the most?” “How are students thinking about preserving culture/ economy/ environment/ wellbeing?”
“What are some definitions of wellbeing?”
“What kinds of things do students value (this can be the definitions)?” ?
3.2 If you cannot capture ideal community development from their presentation, ask specific questions to students such as:
“What are the values of your ideal community? Why? Give a reason.”
“What is the most important thing in your ideal community? Why? Give a reason.”
3.3 Check presentations and make notes of key ideas. Stress the importance of balanced development and ask students to keep this in mind in the following activity. For example:
“Can we live happily by chasing economic development while damaging the environment? What do you think? Why do you say that?” “To have a sustainable development, we need to think how can we live environmentally, economically, culturally and happily balanced way. What do you think?” “You will be able to find answers by interviewing the villagers”
Teacher will also be able to use some ideas from Booklet 1 page 7 to 15 to help explain sustainable community development (No need to explain everything but you can share ideas and help your own understanding).
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[Actions]
4
Preparation for baseline survey (20 minutes)
4.1
Teacher explains the purpose of the baseline survey to students
4.2 Teacher leads students to think of questions they want to ask [For the teachers] ......
4.1 The purpose of the baseline survey is to get to know about the general situation of the targeted community. For example:
-Population details -Number of ethnic groups -Economic situation -Types of industries -Natural resources -Problems of the community -Cultural traditions -Unique features -Tourism etc ?
4.2
Here are some questions teacher can ask students:
“What kind of general information do you want to get?” “What question can you ask to get that information?”
[Actions]
5
Go for baseline survey (2 hours)
5.1 5.2
Visit the house of head of the village Teacher asks head of the village to share the basic data of the village first Teacher gives opportunities to students to ask some questions they made in 4.2
5.3
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BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
[For the teachers] ......
5.1 Before going to see head of the village, teacher gives suggestion to students:
“Make notes on all the information you get from the chief in your notebooks. All the information will be helpful when you do the analysis.�
[Actions]
6
Analyze collected data and make questions for community survey (1.5 hours)
6.1
Teacher makes 5 new groups. Each group has a group name of Environment, Economy, Wellbeing, Culture and Mapping
6.2 Teacher leads students to make questions according to their group name 6.3 Teacher asks students to give a presentation on what questions they made 6.4 Teacher asks students to revise the questions according to the feedback
[For the teachers] ......
6.1 Each group is responsible for asking questions according to their group name. The responsibility of the mapping group is to make a map of the target community by using Google maps and the interviews of villagers.
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......
6.2
Teacher can suggest to students:
“Analyze the collected data from the perspective of your group – culture, economy, environment or wellbeing. One of responsibilities of the mapping group is to give basic information to the community when you have a presentation, so compile the basic data for presentation and write in A0 paper.” ......
6.3 + Teacher explains to students how to make interview questions. Use handout 1 and Tips: What is a Good Interview? from page 21-23. Make sure students are on the right track (according to their selected areas). ......
6.4 Write questions on the A0 paper and give a presentation. Teacher tells other students:
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“The responsibility of listeners is to think if the questions are clear enough and easy to understand for villagers and give feedback.”
BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
Handout 1 : How to make questions? 1) Write down in the box: Information you got from the basic survey.
2) Write down in the box: Things you are interested in, things you want to know more about, and ideas you couldn’t understand.
3) Think about how you can ask questions to get information according to the things you wrote in 2)?
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Tip Column: What is a Good Interview? Purpose The purpose of interviewing is to get ‘real voices’ or actual data from informants. By interviewing we will get information we cannot see from statistics or numbers, like economic development growth rate or agricultural development rate. This is the value of interviewing.
Interview techniques Can we ask informants very specific question from the beginning of the interview? No. We need to build up the interview. We need to follow some steps. ◊ When we do the interview, start with general topics and go deeper. ◊ Make sure we can ask one thing in one question. ◊ It is not a good idea to ask why and how or how and when etc. at the same time, because informants get confused easily and they sometimes forget the question and answer different things.
For example in the economy group: - How do you get income per month? - Have you noticed a change in the cost of living? - What do you use your income for?
In the environment group: - What kinds of natural resources does this village have? - Can villagers use the resources? - How do you use the resources?
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BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
In the society / culture group: - - - -
Are there any famous cultural things in this village? What kinds of cultural traditions does this village have? Do you have any skills related to culture? Do kids in this community know about the culture?
In the wellbeing group: - What makes you happy? / What is happiness for you? - Is there anything blocking happiness in your life? - How do you want to be happier?
Specific Questioning: Once you get general information, you can choose several topics to ask more specific questions to define the topic. Use What / Why / Where / Who / When questions.
What Why Where
One Topic
Who
How
Poor interviewing: Keep asking general question and never go deeper. You won’t be able to do the analysis and you can’t capture the real situation of the community. 23
Day 2: Community study and compiling information on the condition of communities
[ 3:33-5:50 ]
DVD
Role and responsibilities of teacher: ◊ The purpose of this step is to gauge the reality of issues in the community and involve all students and community members in the process. It also makes them aware that the school is undertaking this activity. ◊ Encourage students to think critically and deeply analyze why/how problems occur. ◊ Give students space to learn but provide suggestions to keep things on track and motivation high.
[Actions]
1
Introduction (10 minutes)
1.1 1.2
Teacher shares overview of today’s activities with students. Make new groups (except mapping group).
[For the teachers]
1.2 Each new group has a representative of the Economy, Environment, Society / Culture, and Wellbeing groups. (Mapping stay in their original group). 24
BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
[Actions]
2
Interviewing (3-4 hours)
2.1
Each group visits the community.
[For the teachers]
Before the interview 2.1 Before going to interview, the teacher shares hints for interviewing with students:
“Try to listen carefully when other members of your group ask questions, because these questions might help your interview too.”
“You don’t always have to follow the questions you made. If the interview goes in a different way, but you find value in it, you can go that way.”
“Keep in your mind which group (Environment, Economy, Society and Culture) you belong to and don’t go too much off topic.”
Teacher can also use “Tips Column: What is a Good Interview? on page 22” ......
“Each group except mapping needs to visit at least 5 families for interviewing. For the mapping group, your responsibilities are to get information from the head of village and visit some families and ask questions related to mapping. You should spend around 30 minutes per family.” During the interview “Teacher should follow student’s interviews and give feedback after they finish interviewing to make the survey more worthwhile and ask them to improve things in their next interview.” Here are some things you can check:
“Do students ask questions effectively? If not what needs to be improved? (this is going to be your feedback to students)”
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“You will find this situation by hearing villager’s responses. If they answer unclear or not specific, that probably means that the student wasn’t clear enough when asking questions.” ......
+ Encourage students to be flexible. Here are some suggestions:
“The questions don’t always apply to the interview and it might change according to the informant.”
“Try to think Why during the interview. Why does it happen? Why do they feel difficulties? Why they are happy with their present life? And if you are unclear, that will be your next question.”
[Actions]
3
Compiling collected data (2 hours)
3.1 Get back into the groups from day 1. 3.2 Teacher leads students to analyze collected data and define positive points and problems of the community by using What / How / Why.
[For the teachers]
3.2 This step is a valuable lesson in thinking critically. By using the framework of what, why and how, participants have an opportunity to practice thinking more deeply and analyzing why and how problems occur.
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BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
......
+ Teacher gives explanation of each topic using handout 2 page 29.
“In the What column, put the topic (problem / benefit)”
“In the How column, write an explanation of the topic” “In the Why column, write reasons why the topic is happening”
The mapping group will put information of the background of village together and draw a map based on data provided by village headmen. ?
+ Teacher encourages students to see the data from different perspectives. While walking around and looking at each group, the teacher can suggest:
“Are things happening in the village that are making the villagers happy?” “What are the values of the community?”
“What are things that prevent people’s “good life” and how can we change the situation?”
“Why the issues are happening now?” “How they want to make their life better? Do they have ideas? Do you think they have good ideas?”
“Do you see any connections between / among other dimensions?”
“How did the issue look 10 years ago?”
“How does it look 10 years later?”
“How is the present situation compared with the past?”
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[Actions]
4
Preparation for presentation to villagers (1.5 hours)
4.1 Teacher gives A0 paper and students fill information they got from interviews and analysis on the paper. 4.2 Students share collected data with other groups and get feedback from other students and teacher 4.3 Teacher facilitates students to identify the top three problems in each area [For the teachers] ......
4.1 “Try not to put too many words but summarize the topic with less words and explain more when you give a presentation (Use bullet points).” ......
4.2
“You have 10 minutes for the presentation”
The purpose of this activity is to give a chance to students to practice the presentation before they do it for the villagers ......
Before starting the presentation, teacher gives some advice on how to listen to the presentation:
“How were their presenting skills (Think about voice, audibility, body language, speed)? ” “Is the presentation easy to understand? Is it logical?” “Are presenters pointing out benefits and problems of the community development (are they on track)?” ......
4.3 After listening to all the 5 presentations, teacher facilitates students to identify the 3 major problems in each group.
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?
Here are the guidances the teacher can give to students:
“Did you see some commonalities among 5 presentations?”
“What are the values of the community?”
“Are there any problems which bring bad influences to the community?”
“Choose three problems you think can also connect to other problems from other groups.”
BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
Handout 2: How to analyze collected data?
What
What is the issue/ problem?
How
How did the issue occur? What does it look like?
Why
Why did it happen? What were the causes?
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Day 3: Present and analyze conditions and problems together / Prepare information materials [ 5:50 - 9:14 ]
DVD
Role and responsibilities of teacher: Help students and community members to: ◊ Have a common understanding of the community. ◊ See that problems in the community are interlinked with each other. ◊ Understand importance of the balanced development. ◊ Give students space to learn but provide suggestions to keep things on track and motivation high.
[Actions]
1
Introduction (10 minutes)
1.1
Teacher shares overview of today’s activities with students
[Actions]
30
2
Presentation to community members (2 hours)
2.1
Give 5 presentations to the community (economy, environment, wellbeing, culture and mapping)
BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
2.2
Students make a square representing the four areas. Economy, environment, wellbeing and culture. Each side includes the 3 main problems from Day 2, Activity 4.3 and adults and students see linkage between two issues by using strings.
2.3 Teacher counts strings and prioritize problems with the most strings. These will be considered as the most urgent problems to be solved. [For the teachers] ......
2.1 2.2
“Each group has 10 minutes for the presentation”. ?
Teacher asks the students and community:
“(Pointing to one topic) Is this problem linked to other problems? If yes, give a reason.”
“Do they impact each other? If yes, give a reason.”
When one problem is selected, the teacher will ask if the problem is addressed, what will be its affect on other issues, and why?
“Each pair of problems will be linked with string.”
“Participants must explain the reasons why they chose to link certain problems together, building critical justification and thinking skills.”
2.3 Teacher records the completion of strings for future reference.
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[Actions]
3
Collect all the materials students made
3.1 Produce a product that showcase the learning process and content [For the teachers]
3.1 Teacher suggests students to make a small cartoon or booklet or report on this community study. This will help them to record their learnings and act as a reflection process and help to document the information more formally for the community
-Booklet and cartoon: A5 size -Newspaper: A4 1 page -Report: A4 1-2 papers -Reflections: A4 1-2 papers
It may not happen on the same day – you can do it when you have time either immediately or as an ongoing project.
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BOOKLET 3: Wisdom Box
Conclusion and summary
The Wisdom Box is a community base d ESD impl eme ntat ion tool . The tool enab les to deve lop students’ potential to be leaders and problem solvers in the future. Mor eove r this acti vity brin gs Hom e, Com mun ity and Scho ol toge ther for atta inin g an ‘ESD Community’. In every step, the students need to be prepared and trained in various skills before doing practical work otherwise the operation of each step will not succeed according to its objective. The challenges of Wisdom box are that it might take time for students to get used to the new methodology because the tool requires students to use a lot of thinking skills that they not often used in the school lear ning and at thei r hom es. Ther efor e, we ask teac hers to impl eme nt Wisd om Box seve ral time s. Afte r imp leme ntin g the community development project for a cert ain time , cond uct the Wisd om Box agai n and see the changes and things that still need some attention in the community.
The key for success in Wisdom Box is that teachers can support and guid e stud ents to pull out their potential and connect to sustainable community development. To do this, teachers are required to be facilitators and men tors and also need to have crea tive, criti cal and syst emic thin king and beli eve in the pote ntia l and poss ibili ties of stud ents . To atta in this goal , teachers can fully use the resources of communities (people, knowledge and materials) and this is also one of core values of this activity.
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References and further reading
Nagata, Y (Ed.) 2001, Basic Study for Building a “Broader ESD Model� for Developing Countries with Creation and Dissemination of Related Multimedia Materials, Project Report, University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo.
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