Sample Workshop Content

Site-based Programs: One-Day Workshops

EFS 101: Foundations of Education for Sustainability

“What is Educating for Sustainability? What practical ideas, principles, and activities can I share with my school community?” Participants will be immersed in the essential concepts behind designing any Educating for Sustainability learning experience, while becoming a member of CELF’s Professional Learning Community. Participants will engage in EfS activities and best teaching practices that demonstrate how sustainability provides an integrating context for the content they are already teaching. CELF will help participants apply the habits of systems thinkers to support efforts to build and sustain a collaborative school learning community.

EfS 201: Integrating the Big Ideas of Sustainability in your Curriculum

What do the key practices and principles of Education for Sustainability look like in action? Participants will build conceptual understanding of the 12 Big Ideas of Sustainability through interactive games, discussion and small group work. Concepts like interdependence, cycles, equilibrium and long-term effects can be readily connected to existing curriculum. CELF will share real world models that put the Big Ideas of Sustainability into practice across content areas and grade levels. CELF will support participants as they learn to identify and emphasize the Big Ideas at play in their classroom, school and community.

ST 101: Applying the Habits of Systems Thinking In EfS 1

The complexity of life is on display on the playground, at home, in the forest, at the store, and in our local and national governments. Both natural and human systems function within a network of complex relationships and are marked by interdependencies, dynamic equilibrium, limits and long-term effects. Viewing the critical issues of society and daily life through the lens of sustainability while applying the habits of systems-thinking can be one of the most empowering skills to teach students today. During this workshop, participants will engage in activities that will deepen their understanding of complex systems and prepare them to teach their students to think in systems.

ST 201: Applying the Habits of Systems Thinking In EfS 2  

This workshop builds on the foundation established in Applying the Habits of Systems Thinking In EfS1. During this workshop CELF will build on the established foundation and dig deeper into the dynamics of complex systems, investigating feedback loops, leverage points, long-term effects and change over time. An additional focus will be the applications of Systems Thinking in the classroom and in curriculum design.

PBL 101: Ability to Make a Difference 1: Place, Problem, and Project-Based Learning in your Classroom

To be future leaders, advocates and engaged citizens, students must first connect to the world outside of the classroom. Developing a meaningful and joyful connection to place is fundamental to creating a life-long sense of responsibility to one’s community, environment and the world. Workshop attendees will participate in activities that engage students in their immediate surroundings and explore models of interdisciplinary Place, Problem and Project-Based Learning (P3) that also balance the Three E’s of Educating for Sustainability: ecology, economy and equity.

PBL 201: Ability to Make a Difference 2: Place, Problem, and Project-Based Learning in your Classroom  

“Be the change you wish to see in the world!”  By building on the foundations of the Ability to Make a Difference 1 workshop, participants will activate this quote in their classroom practice and curriculum. This experiential and interactive workshop will include scaffolded and collaborative work time to refine or develop a P3 unit that empowers students to create change in their community.