Sustainability and Service Learning Growing in the Region

For some select few the past Spring Break brought with it an opportunity to attend the EARCOS Teachers Conference in Bangkok. There were a number of ISKL representatives both attending and presenting. I had the chance to present ISKL's direction as a sustainable school and highlight some of the many things we do on our campuses. Among other things that were covered were the ISKL ESD standards and benchmarks current under review and development. 

What struck me about the conference was the plethora of workshops focusing on sustainability and service, and the level of participation in them. In a conference packed with so many topics, these workshops were often overflowing. There is obviously a trend toward sustainability in education, and ISKL is sitting right at the forefront of it. In such a light we participated in the Sustainable, Environment and Service Learning Job-Alike that took place there and were invited to attend a Sustainability and Service summit in September aimed at determining the educational direction and opportunities collaboratively with other schools across the region.

The second thing that jumped out is just how far ISKL has come in the past 14 years. From our humble beginnings of our Green Team, ISKL is well positioned in terms of what we offer our students. Perhaps the most important element of that is the connection between sustainable future, powerful learning and making a difference to the world here and now through service learning. We have already been contacted by several schools to offer our know-how, our experience and to provide exemplars for moving forward. We are proud to be an important player in this regard and so support and assist both students and communities in the region and beyond. 

Though ISKL is still developing its sustainability education programming and service learning opportunities it is heartwarming to know that we are moving in the right direction and we're walking hand in hand with an ever increasing number of schools. There is power in holding firm to our direction, but being flexible enough to bend with the circumstances, and we are doing this quite nicely.