ESD with effect: 3 key conditions

Katrien Van Poeck: "Qualification, socialisation, personality formation: each of these 3 functions deserves a place in good education. ESD lends itself ideally to personality formation, because sustainability issues affect us personally and provide an opportunity to engage in dialogue in the classroom about our divergent beliefs."

"You can't just provoke that. The trick is to be open to it and seize opportunities when they present themselves from the classroom. As a teacher, though, you can optimise the circumstances by providing a safe classroom context in which students reveal their personal beliefs. Or by choosing forms of work that do not require that, such as a writing assignment."

Katrien Van Poeck: "In ESD, a pluralistic view is necessary. Try to study as many different perspectives as possible. No non-committal rounds of spouting opinions in which every view carries equal weight and you get bogged down in misplaced relativism. Instead, take each perspective seriously and examine it critically together, so that you can also decide together to discard an opinion if it does not hold water. Those who have their students' best interests at heart also question their opinions."

Katrien Van Poeck: "A lot is at stake in sustainability issues. Climate, refugees, a healthy living environment: these topics touch us personally. When we bring authentic challenges into the classroom, we can - without instrumentalising education - boost pupils' engagement and critical sense."