Angola and Mozambique Join Sustainability Starts with Teachers Programme
-
Loading... - Denis Da Silva
- 22 Aug 2022
- 71 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
When there is a common goal, geographical locations do not matter. Angola and Mozambique, though linguistically alike, are geographically disperse. Nonetheless, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has posed itself as a common goal for the two countries alongside other SADC countries. Angola and Mozambique launched the Sustainability Starts with Teachers (SST) programme, fondly called A Sustentabilidade Começa com Professores by the participants, with a two-day workshop in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa from 16 to 17 March 2022. Through the workshop, the participants were able to develop a shared understanding of the context for ESD in their countries, initiate the implementation of the SST programme, share its vision, objectives and expected impact as well as discuss the implementation processes of the SST programme.
Both Angola and Mozambique have enabling policy framework for ESD integration into their education systems. However, teacher educators acknowledged systemic weaknesses in teaching sustainability issues in school and teacher education institutions. The main constraining factors raised include the general lack of understanding of ESD, which leads to a lack of political will, and supporting structure within institutions. Participants also pointed at poor implementation plans, resistance to transform to ESD-compliant pedagogies and an exam-oriented system that appears to promote rote learning as other constraints to ESD integration in their education systems. The gaps and opportunities presented during the workshop inspired participants to start brainstorming their institutional change initiatives in Teacher Education and TVET institutions. These initiatives are known as “Change Projects” the Angolan and Mozambican participants passionately call the Projectos de Mudança. Read More...
