Worcester Polytechnic Institute University students Athina Koutougka, Max Maria,Matthew Urrea, Alexander Zhang created a Green Skills workshop guiding the promotion of a sustainable future.
The goal: to improve knowledge and interest in green skills and careers, by developing and piloting a workshop for young adults.
“This project sought to improve green skills and careers knowledge by developing a workshop that could be used by teachers in their classrooms. Green skills are those used in professional settings that encourage sustainable methods (Rahmaningtyas, Joyoatmojo, & Kristiani, 2023). Green careers are jobs that contribute to the preservation and restoration of the environment (Gromm, 2008).”
The 25 year environmental plan
The UK passed legislation and announced plans addressing the concerns of climate change. One of the strategies published was the 25-Year Environmental Plan. This plan is very broad, attempting to solve many problems. Educational reform needs to be addressed and implemented; however, the government has not provided the necessary resources, and instead, the job is left to educators to handle themselves. This results in teachers having to do more work outside of the curriculum, creating new lessons that are optional if they want to educate their students about sustainability.
This small research project looks to assist by addressing this lack of education about sustainability in secondary schools by creating materials that teachers can incorporate into their education plans.
Methods of approach: workshop development, teacher guidance and content review
The workshop was first piloted to a cohort of Worcester Polytechnic Institute university students. This pilot served as valuable testing, showing the strengths and weaknesses of the workshop. After revision, the workshop was delivered to four secondary school classes and revised according to feedback received. Additionally, the workshop was presented to a cohort of student teachers at the University of Worcester between the third and fourth classes.
A teacher’s guide was developed after the workshops were delivered and refined. The objective was to provide educators, interested in delivering the workshop, with useful advice and instructions about how to run the workshop. This guide also included a list of materials required and where to find them.
Finally, an article was written for the UW Source Magazine to share project results with teachers interested in teaching sustainability.
Workshop feedback and results
Data from pre and post workshop surveys showed that the workshop was successful in educating students about green skills and in increasing their interests towards pursuing a green career. Data also showed that as the workshop became more refined, participating students displayed a better understanding of green skills and careers. Additionally, the workshop was shown to be engaging, as 71% of attendees would recommend it to their peers. Only 1 out of 71 students said they would not recommend it.
Lastly, the cohort of student-teachers gave overwhelmingly positive feedback, while still providing valuable improvements. Most of the student-teachers mentioned that if few modifications were made, they would be able to deliver the workshop themselves.
Recommendations to project sponsors, teachers and beyond
Short term:
- Distributing the teachers guide and supplementary resources to multiple organisations
- Hosting opt- in workshops for students and young adults
- University of Worcester hosting a summer training session for teachers to learn about the workshop
- Presenting the workshop to student teachers
Long term:
- Routinely upgrade workshop materials
- Teachers and career counsellors invite green workers to interact with students
- Schools create partnerships with green companies
- Organizations such as teachers unions engage in policy advocacy initiatives
The future of the project
For the continuation of the project the group recommend expanding the scope by testing it in additional schools; testing the effectiveness of the teacher’s guide and testing other workshop designs. This all contributes to meeting the goal of improving knowledge and interest in green skills and careers.
Watch the students presenting their work here