This document describes an Education for Development and Sustainability (EDS) program in Bangladesh that aims to develop youth as change agents for sustainable development. The EDS program uses action learning and confluent pedagogy to engage children in hands-on learning activities. It gives children responsibility over teaching younger students and community projects. This helps the children develop feelings of mastery, self-esteem, and motivation to enact positive change in their communities. The program has reduced school dropout rates and helped send over 1000 children to school and 90 former child laborers to university. It developed one student, Alamin, into a leader who has spoken about EDS at the UN and in Norway.
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Facilitating Youth as Sustainable Development Agents in Bangladesh
1. Learning for Sustainable Development: an
example from Bangladesh
-How do we facilitate youths to become
change agents for sustainable development?
Dr. Hafizur Rahman, Teacher and
researcher
Md. Alamin: Researcher
Trine Lund: Researcher
Dr. Erling Krogh: Professor
Dr. Birgitte Bjønnes: Professor
Dr. Sigrid Gjøtterud: Professor
Education for Development and
Sustainability (EDS)
2. Threats to sustainable development in Bangladesh
• Socially and culturally
-Poor quality of teaching
-Method: Chalk and talk; Moral, Critical
thinking??
-Content: theory, not related to the
children's everyday life
- Adults' view of children
- Children misuse time when playing
- 40% drop out of school by grade 5
- Child marriage, child labor
- Drugs, illegal labor, corruption
• Economic
31% live in poverty (UNDP, 2015)
3. • Free education program by/for children (grade 1-12), before/after school
• Children/youths are resources
• use learning by doing (Action learning/research: Dewey) and confluent
pedagogy (Grenstad)
Objectives are to:
- develop children/youth as change agents, sustainable development through
education
- Develop relation between Norwegian and EDS children
- fulfill the UN child rights (education, heard and seen) goals
What is Education for Development and Sustainability (EDS)?
6. Feelings- sustainable development
Goal (Alamin) Lack of motivation
- social capital
Engaged
-role model (Bandura)
-meaning (Antonovsky)
Mastery
If I can do something once,
I can do it again (Bandura)
Collaborative learning
Develop empathy
School as an organization (Bronfenbrenner)
1000 children got education
64 at the university
RYLA, Norway
UN, New York
Leadership training, USA
Community of practice
in EDS:
- Scaffolding (Bruner)
- proximal zone of
development (Vygotsky)
Reflect
- on process, methods and result
- teacher’s role for a sustainable society
Develop self-understanding and
self-esteem (Klafki)
How have we developed change agents? (Modified relation model: Erling and Sigrid)
Recognition Developing relation
Giving responsibility
7. Inner motivation modell (Rahman et al. 2022)
Inner motivation
Stage 2
Stage 1
Stage 3
Stage 4
9. Grade 4-5 teach and guide grade 1-3 We observe when they teach
University students teach and guide grade 6-12 Grade 9-12 teach and guide grade 1-5
Give responsibility: Children teach and guide children
18. Results of EDS
- Children develop feelings to other children
- Feel mastering –interest in learning/teaching
- Enhance self-esteem & wish to make a change in society
- New identity: change agent and motivator for change
- Self-confidence: I believe I can handle the problem!
- Reduced school dropout, child labor, child marriage
- 1000 poor children have education, 90 university students (ex-child laborers)
- Developed Alamin to EDS leader: UN New York and RYLA Norway
29. How can you help us?
- How can we make EDS economically sustainable?
- How can we use EDS modell in other areas?
- Inspire EDS children to take positive initiatives.