Sustainable Development Education Panel
Sustainable Development Education Surveys
3. Extra-curricular Activities
Education for sustainable development need not be restricted to formal learning in the classroom. We asked both schools and pupils what activities they had provided and taken part in, in order to provide some indication of the role that extra-curricular activities play in this type of education at present, both schools and pupils were asked what activities they had taken part in or provided.
| Figure 3.1 Provide sustainable development related extra-curricular activities |
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Half of the total number of schools provide extra-curricular activities which are related to sustainable development. This proportion rises to seven in ten of state secondary schools. All secondary schools were more likely than average to offer relevant activities. This is possibly due to the age of the children, in that older children probably take part in more extra-curricular activities, be they related to sustainable development or not.
Those schools which maintain a link with the local authority about these issues are 26% more likely to offer relevant extra-curricular activities (64% compared with 38%). State secondary schools which had a link were especially likely to offer them; 82% did so.
However, despite the majority of schools providing relevant activities, only a small minority of pupils had taken part in them. This suggests such activities are widely available in many schools but few pupils take up the opportunity given to them.
| Figure 3.2 Taken part in sustainable development Related Activities |
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Boys were slightly more likely than girls to have taken part in the activities (17% compared to 14%). Differences across social grade were very small, with almost one in five school leavers in the higher social grades (AB) taking part in some activities.
| Figure 3.3 Types of Extra-Curricular activities which covered sustainable development topics |
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Schools provide a wide range of relevant sustainable development activities, with two thirds of schools conducting projects and clubs out of lesson time. Competitions and fundraising related to sustainable development are also undertaken by over half of schools. A fifth of schools also offered international exchanges related to sustainable development, but only one in twenty pupils have taken part. Again this suggests these are being offered by many schools but being undertaken by few pupils.
However, although 45% of pupils recall having taken part in projects and clubs outside of lessons, they are far more likely than teachers to cite that they had taken part in sustainable development related field trips. This may be in part due to a difference in terminology used in the two surveys. Pupils were asked to recall any activities they did at school other than in lessons, whereas the term extra-curricular was used in the school survey. Teachers may therefore interpret field trips as being 'curricular' whereas to pupils they are 'activities taken part in outside lessons'.
| Figure 3.4 Who runs the activities |
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Two thirds of state schools elicit the help of outside organisations when it comes to providing relevant extra-curricular activities. However, independent schools tend to be more self-reliant. Six in ten of their schools only provide activities which they run themselves. This especially refers to independent primary schools.
Those schools which have a link with the local authority concerning sustainable development issues are slightly more likely than average to liase with outside organisations but this difference is small and not significant.
Page published 12 May
2000;
Page last modified
20 August, 2002