A sustainable future - the recent goal in education

Abstract

Sustainability has become a serious goal of education, and the principles of sustainability have started to be integrated into the secondary education curricula. However, formal education rarely addresses this concept thoroughly and unfortunately students approach sustainability mostly at theoretical level. As a result, it is imperative that besides knowledge, students should be equipped with skills and behaviours to help them take the best decisions and further the best actions with a view to sustainability, to the benefit of the planet and of themselves.

Sustainable and green education initiatives represent a generous potential for teaching and ensures the degree of curiosity and satisfaction that students have become to lack nowadays when it comes to the classroom environment. Students make better acquisitions by means of "learning by doing" strategies and often their feedback after an interactive class is more than enthusiastic.

This article is the result of a gradual endeavour in introducing the principles of sustainability in the English class and further during the Green Week program in order to create positive behaviour acquired in an interdisciplinary environment. The experience is relevant for teachers of foreign languages who are interested in adding relevant content both to the curriculum and to the extra- curricular areas, with a view to economic, social, environmental and cultural development.

The article describes activities developed during the English classes as well as during the Green Week program with focus on the practical character and the integration of science within the foreign language environment.