Page 172

Proceedings of International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals : Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016 at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand

that  it  is  possible  to  integrate  Biodiversity  concepts  in  the  subjects  taught  in  secondary  schools  as  well  as  across  the  five  years  of  secondary  schools.  Teachers’  Professional  Program  to  Develop  Awareness  and  Knowledge  on  Biodiversity The  quality  of  teachers  in  teaching  biodiversity  in  long  run  will  contribute  to  produce  students  with  skills  in  dealing  with  issues  related  to  biodiversity  in  particular  as  well  as  sustainable  development  in  general.  To  improve  the  quality  of  teachers,  especially  those  related  to  biodiversity,  teacher  professional development  program  in  the  form  of  training  should  be  held.The  training  of  teachers  is  one  of  the  important  strategies  of  education  for  sustainable  development.  Teachers’  professional  program  that  was  carried  out  aim  to  clarify  concepts,  themes and  principles  associated  with  biodiversity  and  how  they  can  be  integrated  in  all  subject  areas  across  the  curriculum.  The  module  proposes  a  transformative  view  of  education  in  order  to  align  the  current  curriculum  with  education  movements  such  as  environmental  education,  global  citizenship  education,  health  education  or  development  education.  The  transformative  view  promote  the  concept  of  the  teacher  as  an  “expert”  or  “instructor”  to  a  learning  facilitator that  engages  students  in  critical  and  values  reflection  and  challenges  their  own  learning  experience.  See  Figure  1  below: From Passing on knowledge Teaching attitudes and values Seeing people as the problem Sending messages Behaving as expert - formal & authoritarian Raising awareness and Changing behaviour To Understanding and getting to the root of issues Encouraging values clarification Seeing people as facilitators of change Dialogue, negotiation and action Fig.1  Educational  shifts  proposed  by  sustainability  education Changing the mental models which influence decisions & actions More focus on structural and institutional change Source:  Tilbury  (2011) Sustainability  education  is  not  just  about  teaching  knowledge  on  sustainable  development  issues,  such  as  biodiversity,  but  also  helping  the  student  to  develop  skills  to  respond  to  complex  social,  environmental,  and  economic  complexities  related  to  biodiversity that  affect  the  quality  of  life  on  this  planet.  The  focus  is  on  the  pedagogy  and  methodologies that  should  be  used  in  the  classroom.  Therefore, the  teachers’  professional  program  which  has  been  planned  provides  key  pedagogical  principles  that  can  be  used  in  teaching  and  learning  processes.  The  keys  are  as  below: •  Futures  thinking •  Critical  reflective  thinking •  Learning  to  act  and  change •  Systemic  and  integrative  thinking •  Participation  and  participatory  learning 170 Proceedings  of  the  International  Conference  on  Climate  Change,  Biodiversity  and  Ecosystem  Services  for  the Sustainable  Development  Goals  (SDGs):  Policy  and  Practice  27-29  June  2016,  Cha-am,  Phetchaburi,  Thailand


Proceedings of International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals : Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016 at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
To see the actual publication please follow the link above