Strategies to integrate education for sustainable living in the arts and culture learning area

Abstract

The Revised National Curriculum Statement of 2002 does not emphasize the need for Education for Sustainable Living (EFSL) in the Arts and Culture (A & C) learning area. Although the RNCS envisages a learner who respects the environment, the curriculum does not cater for the needs of the educators who are relatively new to environmental education and especially EFSL. Educators are faced with a multitude of barriers and constraints. This research attempts to identify the barriers and provide strategies and recommendations to integrate EFSL in the Arts and Culture area.

The barriers were identified through a questionnaire that was given to educators in the Port Shepstone region. To make the research more valid some questionnaires were given to schools in the urban areas, in the Durban South region, since most of the schools in the Port Shepstone region are in a rural setting. The strategies and recommendations are highlighted using the researcher's personal experience in the education setting, use of literature and the researcher's encounters at the International Children's Conference on the Environment in Connecticut, USA in 2004 and the World Environmental Conference in Japan in 2005.