Index
THE CROSS CURRICULAR APPROACH ON WATERS
Background
1. European recommendations on water
2. European recommendations on teaching
3. Key competences for lifelong learning
4. The current status of key competences in Member States’ lifelong learning strategies with reference to school curricula: a change of paradigm
5. What are the challenges for school education?
6. Supporting organisations
A cross-curricular approach
1. General ideas
2. Selecting the theme
3. Planning and management
4. Assessment
5. Pupil benefits
6. Staff benefits
7. Challenges
8. Citizenship will be promoted
THE CROSS CURRICULAR APPROACH ON WATERS
Background
1. European recommendations on water
Water Ecology itself is a science in progressive development. Water protection directives and laws (at National, European and International level, too) have also been in progress for the last 30-40 years, changing together with the evolution of the knowledge of water and river ecosystems. Laws for water protection in EU countries, for example, first started with the prevention of pollution. Initially, they were implemented to ban chemical pollution coming from industries and cities. Besides this, regulations on rivers in the past were managed in order to control flows with walls and dams, aiming to protect the land and its people from flood events.
Successively, the basic concept of laws changed step by step, so that now an integrated approach, based on water cycles, is taken as a basis of a new way of thinking.At this point,the “ecologicalrevolution”provided a new approach to the role of freshwater eco-systems as a “bodies” with many different functions to be taken into account.
The EU Water Framework Directive of 2000 (WFD) takes this integrated approach as a starting point. Water is a limitedresource which needs protection. In the WFD, chemical, biological and ecological functions of a water system are looked atin order to prevent freshwater from being polluted or becoming a threat to human health.
Recent declarations coming from International Agencies affirm the role of active citizenship in the governance in water management.
The World Water Assessment programme of UNESCO says:
“The comprehensiveness of water resource planning and sharing has been the subject of much controversy and debate. It has been widely recognized that in order to maximize the benefits from any water resource project, a more systematic analysis of the broader environment is needed.In addition to a broadening of traditional management approaches, there needs to be increased sensitivity to decision-making that involves multi-purpose actions and multi-user considerations” (from The 2nd United Nations World Water Development Report: 'Water, a shared responsibility' – 2006)
The summary of the “European Declaration for a ‘new water culture’” (Madrid, 18.02.2005) starts with “The fact that over 1.1 billion people do not have guaranteed access to drinking water and over 2.4 billion do not have safe sanitation, whilst the health of the planet's aquatic ecosystems is breaking down, has prompted the emergence of growing social and political conflicts worldwide. Achieving sustainability, equity and democratic governance in water management is one of the main challenges for the international community in the 21st century, and we believe that the scientific community must become involved in this debate through an inter-disciplinary effort”
UNESCO identified the same points and assessed progress in the 1st United Nations WWD Report “Water for people, water for life” of 2003 in11 challenge areas, including: health, food, environment, shared water resources, cities, industry, energy, risk management, knowledge, valuing water and governance.
In the programmes or projects managed in schools, science teachers are used to introduce an ecological point of view on problems such as water protection. However, teachers often start from their curricular activities and prefer usingonlytheir subject-specific and personal competences. These competences can be different depending on specific university degrees and specialisation courses, but they have one thing in common:usually, a disciplinary approach is takeninstead of an integrated one. Often, in other words, water protection and related projects are “a problem of science teachers”, who stop at the science itself, maybetouching on data management, but hardly ever extending on active citizenship. The correctness of the data and its validity andtrustworthiness isoften their main concern, while no attention is given to student empowerment or the acquisition of skills for taking on an active role as a citizen.
However, the Lisbon recommendation towards the competences for 2010 is aiming for active citizenship. They also ask schools to change their teaching methods, also in teaching scientific subjects. A good scientific basis is of course necessary to speak with awareness about rivers, but it can be taken much further than that.
Only a cross-curricular approach towards ecological topicscan really conform to the essence of the Lisbon recommendations.
2. European recommendations on teaching
Lifelong learning has become a necessity for all citizens. We need to develop our skills and competences throughout our lives, not only for our personal fulfillment and our ability to actively engage with the society we livein, but for our ability to be successful in a constantly changing professional environment. The knowledge, skills and aptitudes of the European workforce are a major factor influencing the potential for innovation, productivity and competitiveness of the EU. Growing internationalisation, the rapid pace of change, and the continuous roll-out of new technologies requires that Europeans must not only keep their specific job-related skills up-to-date, but also possess the generic competences that will enable them to adapt to change. People’s competences also contribute to their motivation and job satisfaction in the workplace, thereby affecting the quality of their work. The ways in which we access information and services continue to change. We need new competences to master a whole new digital world, not only by acquiring technical skills, but also by gaining a deeper understanding of the opportunities, challenges and even ethical questions posed by new technologies.
In this climate of rapid change, there is increasing concern about our social cohesion. There is a risk that many Europeans feel left behind and marginalised by globalisation and the digital revolution. The resulting threat of alienation implies a need to nurture democratic citizenship; it requires people to be informed and concerned about their society and be active in it. The knowledge, skills and aptitudes that everyone needs must change as a result.
It is according to this view that the Council and the European Parliament adopted, at the end of 2006, a European Framework for Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. The Framework identifies and definesat the European level, for the first time ever, the key competences that citizens require for their personal fulfillment, social inclusion, active citizenship and employability in our knowledge-based society. The Member States’ initial education and training systems should support the development of these competences for all young people, and their adult education and training provisions should give real opportunities to all adults to learn and maintain these skills and competences.
The differing needs of learners should be met by ensuring equality and access for those groups who, due to educational disadvantages caused by personal, social, cultural or economic circumstances, need particular support to fulfill their educational potential.
The foundations for lifelong learning are laid during initial education and training which has to provide all citizens with the key competences that prepare them for a life in a modern world and set them on the path to lifetime learning. As to the systems, this means integrating the provision seamlessly both from the lifelong (from cradle to grave) and life-encompassing point of view (formal, non-formal and informal learning).
3. Key competences for lifelong learning
Competences are defined here as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context. Key competences are those which all individuals need for personal fulfillment and development, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment.
The Reference Framework sets out eight key competences:
1)Communication in the mother tongue;
2)Communication in foreign languages;
3)Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology;
4)Digital competence;
5)Learning to learn;
6)Social and civic competences;
7)Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship;
8)Cultural awareness and expression.
The key competences are all considered equally important, because each of them can contribute to a successful life in a knowledge society. Many of the competences overlap and interlock: aspects essential to one domain will support competence in another. Competence in the fundamental basic skills of language, literacy, numeracy and in information and communication technologies (ICT) is an essential foundation for learning, and learning to learn supports all learning activities. There are a number of themes that are applied throughout the Reference Framework: critical thinking, creativity, initiative, problem-solving, risk assessment, decision-taking, and constructive management of feelings play a role in all eight key competences.
All European countries are or should be working on integrating these key competences in education. Integrated teaching, using several subjects, offers an excellent approach to tackle these (European) key competences.
Source: European Commission
KEY COMPETENCES FOR LIFELONG LEARNING
European Reference Framework
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
2007 – 12 pp.
4. The current status of key competences in Member States’ lifelong learning strategies with reference to school curricula: a change of paradigm
At the MemberState level, there is substantial activity in creating lifelong learning strategies that build on the development of key competences, and on combining better non-formal and informal learning with the formal provision. Much emphasis has been put on the consistency and comprehensiveness of provision – both from a systemic view and from a learners' perspective.
Similarly, the initial education curricula reflect a shift of focus from impartingknowledge to developing transferable competences that equip young people for adult life and further learning. In more concrete terms, this paradigm shift implies a growing emphasis on competences that include knowledge, skills and attitudes and that together give students a solid basis for further learning.
Two mapping surveys(from 2004 and 2007) have been undertaken on how national policy agendas for lifelong learning and school curricula recognise key competences. Either implicitly or explicitly key competences are included in most important documents guiding school education, as the following examples suggest.
• In Hungary, the key competence-based approach dominates all areas of school policies: the revised curriculum, teacher education (initial and in-service), assessment system as well as material production.
• In Austria the lower-secondary curriculum comprises three areas: subject related competences, social competences and self-competences. The pre-vocational curriculum reflects the shared responsibility between subjects and cross-curricular objectives, and recently defined standards include elements such as critical thinking, self-regulated learning and co-operative learning.
• In Bulgaria, Hungary and Spain, the legislation regulating school education curricula (and lifelong learning) include key competences. In addition, the Hungarian Lifelong Learning Strategy builds largely on key competences and the links between employment and social developments. In Spain, for instance, the key competences have been incorporated into compulsory education curricula. Moreover, one of the innovations of the new law regulating school education is the incorporation of a diagnostic assessment of the students’ basic competences.
• In Cyprus, the study of the mother tongue, foreign languages, maths, science and ICT are promoted through subjects. In addition to that, the Ministry of Education and Culture sets specific objectives for cross-curricular competences for each school grade.
• In the CzechRepublic, the curriculum defines six key competences with a strong focus on learning to learn, social and communication skills which are further defined as skills to be developed within and outside subjects. Moreover, schools are requested to draft their own programmes, in which key competences and the implementation of cross-curricular competences are planned.
• In Greece, the curriculum reflects the paradigm shift towards lifelong learning and includes key competences described for each level with a strong emphasis on the cross-curricular competences.
• The Croatian 2005 national standards that guide schools have a strong emphasis on the development of creativity, problem-solving and other cross-curricular qualities of pupils.
• In Lithuania, a strategy for renewing the content of general education stresses the need to develop e.g. citizenship, entrepreneurship and digital competences, and a current project develops key competences for basic education.
• In the UK (England), the government has a Key Skills Framework that is primarily accessed by young people. It describes competences such as problem solving, communication, ICT, working with others, and improving one's own learning as key skills. The English School National Curriculum includes Personal, Social and Health curricula. Similarly, the Early Learning Goals summarise what each child should know, understand and be able to do. In Scotland, A Lifelong Skills Strategy sets out ambitions for lifelong learning.The National Qualifications Framework recognises five core skills: communication, numeracy, ICT, problem solving and working with others. In Northern Ireland, the current focus is on standards on literacy and numeracy.
In conclusion, several European countries incorporatethe key competences through a cross-curricular approach.
5. What are the challenges for school education?
For several years there has been a strong demand for helping young people to integrate their knowledge learned within subjects, to help associate knowledge and to be able to use the knowledge they have acquired. All learners should comprehend the meaning and significance of things they learn and to make informed judgements about them. The competence-based approach in teaching and learning aims to achieve this. A successful implementation of curricula based on key competences, is not incontradiction with subjects that can allow for a development of in-depth knowledge of a certain discipline and target the acquisition of specific skills. However, if the focus is on the development of a full range of key competences for lifelong learning, subject knowledge should be seen rather as a first step that alone is not sufficient to fully respond to the needs of a learner in a modern society. The challenge is thus the systematic use of subject matter and the specific skills related to subjects as essentialelements of the development of key competences. This requires all teachers, irrespective their subject specialisation, to be aware of and responsible for, developing the key competences of their students in the whole school context.
You must dare to leave knowledge-based teaching and apply competence based teaching.
It is essential to give a high status to key competences as their development involves several traditional subjects or a whole school approach. Some elements fit easier into traditional subjects while others call for fully coordinated approach.
For example, the experience in Flanders shows that some elements of "Learning to Learn" (those directly linked to individuals' learning strategies) can effectively be dealt with within subjects and by subject teachers, provided that teachers' initial and in-service training is of quality, and that there is a strong focus on learning at school.
Another example is the provision of cross-curricular competences integrated in mathematics teaching in Austria. Students are given tasks to reflect on and solve in pairs or small groups. By discussing and arguing about possible solutions they develop social and communication skills as well as a deeper understanding about mathematical facts rather than simply learning them by heart. Presenting their group results to the other students promotes their respective competences. Finally they get feed-back through a test that further helps them in developing self-evaluation competence and thus supports their autonomous learning.
However, some crucial elements of Learning to Learn, such as the ability and willingness to search for opportunities for learning and using guidance, require a whole school approach and collaboration with services outside school.
Moreover, key competences such as social and civic entrepreneurship and cultural competences, call for even more organised collaboration between teachers and members of the whole school community, involving parents and local community.
source: Directorate-General for Education and Culture
Lifelong Learning : policies and programme
School education; "Comenius"
EDUCATION AND TRAINING 2010
WORK PROGRAMME
Cluster Key Competences – Curriculum Reform
Synthesis Report on Peer Learning Activities in 2007
14.03.2008
6. Supporting organisations
Water ecology teaching in secondary level schools in Europe can be implemented in different ways. Some organisationsare there to help schools.They have a modular approach on different aspects about water systems and are very experienced, for example
- GREEN (Global River Environment Education Network) (
- GLOBE (Global learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) (
- La riviere m’a dit (
They were a great inspiration for the Free Your River platform.
The European Community developed a website «Environment for Young Europeans» with suggestions for school activities, games and questions for personal learning, with a specific section for water:
These organisations and many more can give you new insights and ideas on how to teach about water ecology and even on how to set up projects.
A cross-curricular approach
1. General ideas
You can apply knowledge, principles and values simultaneously to more than one academic discipline. Every subject is entwined with several themes that can make pupils see the bigger picture.