UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
04/24/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 04/24/2024 03:37
How a Gambian teacher is blending sustainability education with cultural heritage
"I believe it is important that both our tangible and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) are integrated into our education system for the Gambia's heritage to be safeguarded and sustained," says Ceesay.
Intangible cultural heritage, including traditions, rituals, and oral histories, enriches education for sustainable development (ESD) by fostering diverse cultural perspectives in the education system. Integrating ICH knowledge into the curricula cultivates a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness between cultural diversity, environmental stewardship, and sustainable practices, nurturing future generations equipped to safeguard both cultural heritage and the planet.
"Education for sustainable development, local indigenous knowledge, intangible cultural heritage…all these terms are largely unknown in the education sector here," she says. "We face an uphill struggle to sensitive and familiarise education stakeholders to the point where they can meaningfully integrate these ideas into the education system."
Challenges integrating sustainability in curriculum
The Gambia faces numerous challenges integrating sustainability aspects into the education system. Cultural heritage is touched upon in primary school in English and integrated studies textbooks, which provides a starting point for schools to explore these topics further. But due to an inflexible curriculum focussed on core-subjects model, fully integrating sustainability topics, such as learning about ICH, is difficult. Rohey L Ceesay explains that at Children First Academy, the focus is on producing child focused ESD programmes, starting with ICH. Children from Grade 2 of primary school learn about their national traditions and rituals by actively engaging in the playful activities such as dressing up in tribal costumes, rehearsing tribal ceremonies, singing tribal songs.
© Children First Academy
Later this year, the Academy will showcase its ICH activities during the annual graduation programme, extending invitations to local media and the broader community. Representatives from different schools will be invited to attend, aiming to raise awareness, enhance visibility, and underscore the impact of cultural heritage education on students' understanding of their country's rich heritage.
This initiative in the Gambia serves as an excellent example how stakeholders can incorporate ESD-themes into the curriculum, the ESD Roadmap serving as a strategic guide, while also spotlighting the need to integrate ICH and sustainability within the educational framework, addressing learning environments, youth, and the local community.
© Children First Academy
Rohey L Ceesay was invited as a speaker to the ESD-Net Learning Webinar held on 28 March 2024, on Local and Indigenous Knowledge in ESD, addressed the importance and relevance of exploring how traditional and cultural practices, and community-based approaches, are integrated into teaching and learning to foster environmental stewardship, social equity, and resilience among present and future generations in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The next ESD-Net Learning Webinar, on Whole School Approach, will take place on Wednesday, 29 May 2024. The learning webinars will focus on providing concrete and practical ESD activities in line with the five priority action areas outlined in the ESD for 2030 Roadmap: 1) advancing policy; 2) transforming learning environments; 3) building capacities of educators; 4) empowering and mobilizing youth; and 5) accelerating local level actions.