The resources and lesson plan presented on this website provide educators with opportunities to apply an inquiry-based constructivist approach to learning about Sustainability through The Arts. This constructivist approach aligns with influential learning theorists such as Bruner, Vygotsky, and Piaget, who advocated involving students directly in the learning process as ‘active participants’ rather than ‘passive recipients’ (Jenkins 2015, p. 35). In the lesson plan provided on this website, students draw inspiration from the artist Bordalo II, and actively create 3D animals from waste materials they have collected. This process involves the teacher and students collaborating to construct works of art that send an important message to the rest of their school community. There are many benefits to this constructivist approach to learning, such as that students are often more engaged in constructivist lessons compared to transmissive lessons where the teacher talks whilst students sit and listen in traditional “chalk and talk” style classes (Jenkins 2015, p. 35); and, research suggests that ‘action-oriented’ lessons go the furthest in alleviating feelings of disempowerment (Taylor, Quinn, & Eames 2015, p. 6). Consequently, this lesson plan presents an action-oriented constructivist approach to education for Sustainability (EfS), in order to best assist students in confronting complex societal problems, such as waste management, overpopulation, and climate change.
Whilst the lesson plan provided on this website promotes the benefits of a constructivist approach to learning, it is important for educators to avoid the trap of being ‘hands on’ without being ‘minds on’ when applying constructivist pedagogies. As Wiggins and McTighe (2005, p. 16) point out, hands on learning experiences are often engaging and fun for students, however, susceptible to being ‘hands on without being minds on’ without a central purpose guiding the learning. Consequently, the provided lesson plan should be engaged with as part of a wider learning sequence where students also research the impact that plastic waste has on the animal they are representing, as well as potential waste management solutions. Additionally, in order to avoid being ‘hands on without being minds on’, this lesson plan involves students writing an ‘impact statement’ explaining how their 3-D animal is affected by plastic waste. This website has, however, provided the (mostly) ‘hands on’ component of the lesson sequence as a resource for teachers, as this is likely to be the most technically challenging part of the lesson to implement, and research suggests that during the artmaking process is when the biggest shifts in student attitudes towards Sustainability occur (Girak, Lummis & Johnson 2019, p. 374).
Another potential criticism of the lesson plan and resources provided on this website is that they invoke a ‘weak sustainability’ argument that presents an anthropocentric (human-centred) approach to dealing with Sustainability issues, rather than a ‘strong sustainability’ approach that views Sustainability through a more ecocentric (nature-based) lens (Taylor, Quinn, & Eames 2015, p. 2). However, whilst this lesson plan focuses heavily on human based solutions to environmental challenges by focusing on how we can best recycle and reuse waste, rather than a ‘stronger sustainability’ argument that involves appreciating nature for its own sake, research suggests that through engaging in action-oriented activities such as creating pieces of art, students become inspired to consider and implement more radical changes, such as eradicating plastic use, or avoiding travel by cars and planes, thus employing a more radical and ecocentric approach to sustainability that values nature for its own sake (Girak, Lummis, & Johnson 2019). This emphasises the importance of teachers guiding the inquiry-based learning process rather than simply letting students do all the work. As Tudball (2020) points out, it is a common misconception that in inquiry-based learning units “the students do all the work and the teacher just supervises”; as teachers should still play a role through: “monitoring individuals and groups as they complete tasks; coordinating whole-class discussions; and providing individual mentoring and individual feedback at various stages” (Tudball 2020, p. 110). Subsequently, the lesson plan provided here involves the teacher working with each group to develop their ‘impact statement’, along with key questions students can be asked to scaffold knowledge during the creative process.
Girak, Lummis, and Johnson's (2019) study of twenty 12-year-olds found that the biggest shifts in students’ awareness of their own impact on the environment occurred during the art making process itself. After the creative process students reported thinking more about their impact on the environment, and reported being more motivated to implement behavioural changes, such as walking or riding to school, turning off and reducing use of electrical appliances, and re-using materials for creative purposes. Consequently, this lesson plan has highlighted the art making process where the biggest shifts in student attitudes are likely to occur, and encouraged students to create their own artworks by re-purposing materials that were destined for waste. As in Girak, Lummis, and Johnson’s (2019) study, this lesson plan advocates students working in groups to create 3-D artworks, thus helping to avoid limitations such as students being overly critical and self-conscious of their artwork, which commonly occurs when students work individually to create 2-D art pieces (Girak, Lummis & Johnson 2019, p. 5). Unlike in Girak, Lummis and Johnson’s (2019) study, students in this lesson were allowed to use glue, sticky tape, and staples to join items together. However, exploring other ways of holding items together using only the materials collected could help students to consider the potential of the resources they collected and could be explored in refined versions of this lesson plan.
As Brett (2020, p. 466) points out, "Sustainability is best experienced, learned, applied and advanced when it is part of the whole culture of a school". Consequently, the provided lesson plan promotes a ‘whole school approach’ to teaching Sustainability through not only asking students to create 'Display Animals' out of re-purposed materials, but additionally asking them to present their artworks to the entire school, thus encouraging other members of the school community to reduce, reuse, and recycle their waste. This lesson could be adopted by any primary school year level; however, I have chosen to pitch my lesson plan at the year-6 level due to their status as the oldest students in primary school, and their subsequent ability and responsibility to influence those in lower year levels to examine their behaviours in relation to waste management.
The selected resource and lesson plan provided on this website relates to the Australian Curriculum’s Cross Curriculum priority of “Sustainability”, engaging primarily with Sustainability in the Learning Area of ‘The Arts’. In this learning area, students “explore the nature of art making and responding” and “Through making and responding in the arts, consider issues of sustainability in relation to resource use and traditions” (ACARA 2021). In this lesson plan students make artwork that encourages them to consider the ways they use resources and the impact of its use, and then encourage other members of their school community to respond by considering more closely the ways in which they deal with waste. Whilst this website primarily engages with Sustainability through the learning area of ‘The Arts’, the resources and lesson plan could fit easily into the Victorian Curriculum’s Design and Technologies content descriptor for year 5 and 6, which requires students: “Investigate characteristics and properties of a range of materials, systems, components, tools and equipment and evaluate the impact of their use” (VCDSTC037) (VCAA 2021). This emphasises the Cross Curricular potential of creative arts projects. Nevertheless, this project has focused singularly on Sustainability through ‘The Arts’ in concurrence with the argument put forward by Everett et al. (2009) that:
“teaching through the Arts links the emotional to the cognitive; it engages the heart as well as the mind and provides opportunities for children to explore issues, solve problems, collaborate and develop their ideas through creative experiences” (Everett et al. 2009, p. 180).
Whilst the big ideas of ‘overpopulation and waste’ explored in this portfolio and learning package will remain significant problems for many years to come, it is hoped that this website will provide educators with ideas, inspiration, and a starting point from which they can begin to explore EfS.
Everett, L, Noone, G, Brooks, M & Littledyke, R 2009, ‘Education for sustainability in primary creative arts education’, in M Littledyke, N Taylor, & C Eames (eds), Education for sustainability in the primary curriculum: a guide for teachers, Palgrave Macmillan, South Yarra, pp. 180-206.
Jenkins, K 2015, ‘How to teach education for sustainability: Integrating theory and practice’, in C Eames, F Quinn, & N Taylor (eds), Educating for sustainability in primary schools: teaching for the future, Sense Publishers, retrieved 27 September 2021, ProQuest Ebook Central, pp. 32-42.
Taylor, N, Quinn, F, & Eames, C 2015, ‘Why do we need to teach education for sustainability at the primary level?’, in C Eames, F Quinn, & N Taylor (eds), Educating for sustainability in primary schools: teaching for the future, Sense Publishers, retrieved 27 September 2021, ProQuest Ebook Central, pp. 1-10.