Academic Journal of Suriname 2015, 6, 547-554 Social Sciences Full-length paper Teacher Education and the Challenges of Sustainable Development in Suriname Henry Ori ¹ and Genevieve Blanchard² ¹,² Faculty of Social Sciences, Anton de Kom University of Suriname Abstract Education is one of the major instruments for sustainable development if properly planned and implemented. It is no wonder that the United Nations proclaimed 2005 to 2015 the Decade for Education for Sustainable Development. The proclamation shows that the world, with the rapid advances in information and communication technologies coupled with the ongoing globalization, is in need of reevaluating and overhauling the current education policies and practices to achieve sustainable development. Many of the more economically advanced countries regularly assess their school curricula and make adjustments to suit their development. Developing countries, especially those in the Caribbean, are lagging behind in curricula development that could facilitate sustainable development. Without serious appraisals of current school curricula, Suriname will face difficulties in being part of the information society. It is therefore no exaggeration to suggest that the country urgently needs to find the tools for reassessing and developing school curricula for sustainable development. Achieving higher standards of education and improving the quality of teaching and learning go hand in hand. Hence, this paper aims to achieve three principal objectives: first, to examine the concept of sustainable development as related to the international and national contexts; second, to review the current goals, structure and focus of teacher education in Suriname; and, lastly, to highlight the challenges posed by education for sustainable development (ESD) for teacher education and articulate some ways of responding to the challenges. Keywords: Sustainable development, teacher education, education for sustainable development, environmental education Introduction Much of the recent efforts at improving human Education is, not unexpectedly, linked with the conditions in most societies have focused on current global advocacy for sustainable sustainable development. The United Nations development, because it is a potent weapon of (UN) gave an additional impetus to this trend change and an indispensable mechanism for by declaring the years 2005-2015 a Decade of bringing about meaningful transformation in Education for Sustainable Development the behavioral and intellectual outlook of (DESD) on December 20, 2000. At the core people. The sociocultural, economic, political, of DESD is the need to motivate, equip and institutional, scientific and technological involve individuals and social groups in challenges faced by nations and regions of the reflecting on how people (youth and adults) world in their quest for development have not live and work, to promote informed decision been fully resolved, to the extent to which making as well as create ways of working they actualize relevant activities and programs towards a more sustainable world (IUCN of education and training. 2003). Correspondence to: Henry Ori, tel: 5978713142, e-mail: [email protected]/ [email protected]. Genevieve Blanchard, tel: 597-8946093, e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]. Faculty of Social Science, Anton de Kom Universiteit van Suriname, Leysweg, Paramaribo, Suriname, Available on-line August 28, 2015 Acad J Sur 2015 (6), 547-554 Teacher Education and the Challenges of Sustainable Development in Suriname 548 Teachers hold the key to major changes in knowledge and skills of future generations schools. This has been recognized by (UNESCO (2005) cited in Ferreira, Ryan & international agencies such as the United Tilbury, 2007). The United Nations Decade of Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Education for Sustainable Development Organization (UNESCO), which has identified (UNDESD) also identifies the need to reorient the professional development of teachers in teacher education towards sustainability. education for sustainable development (ESD) Preservice teacher education provides a as ‘the priority of priorities’ (UNESCO–UNEP strategic opportunity for ensuring that all (1990) cited in Ferreira, Ryan & Tilbury teachers are ready, willing and able to teach (2007). Institutions of teacher education fulfill for sustainability when they begin their vital roles in the global education community; teaching careers (Ferreira, Ryan & Tilbury, they have the potential to bring about changes 2007). within educational systems that will shape the However an increasing majority of the people Sustainable Development: A Perspective live in abject poverty and arrant despondency. The most popular definition of sustainable A clear understanding of the dynamics of the development is from the report of the World local and global ecosystems, for example, Commission on Environment and could go a long way towards assisting the Development (WCED), which defines it as people to get the best quality of life out of “development that meets the needs of the their environment without compromising present without compromising the ability of future needs. future generations to meet their own needs." It is in this context, in particular, that the The definition further explains sustainable promotion of education for sustainable development as: a process in which the development (ESD) seems to readily suggest exploitation of resources, the direction of itself. ESD calls for public understanding of investments, the orientation of technological the principles behind sustainability, and the development, and institutional change are all social process needs to be mainstreamed into in harmony and enhance both current and all sectors including business, agriculture, future potential to meet human needs and tourism, natural resource management, local aspirations (WCED 1987). government and mass media, adding value to program development and implementation. In Commenting on the WCED’s definition, the addition, ESD is lifelong learning for all, World Conservation Union (IUCN??), the regardless of people’s occupations and United Nations Environmental Programme circumstances. It is relevant to all nations, be (UNEP) and the World Widelife Fund for they industrialized, less industrialized or Nature (WWF) in their Caring for the Earth: agrarian. Lastly, ESD calls for specialized A Strategy for Sustainable Living (IUCN/ training programs to ensure that all sectors of UNEP/WWF 1991) stresses that sustainable society have skills necessary to relate to their development can only be meaningful in the world in a sustainable manner (IUCN 2003). context of improving the quality of human life The issues involved in ESD, as highlighted, while living within the carrying capacity of are at the moment no main challenges or supporting ecosystems. The current thinking is priorities for policy makers in Suriname. that sustainable development is a process of While they overlap with some other sectors of adaptive management and systems requiring national life, it is with regard to teacher creativity, flexibility and critical reflection education that meeting the capacity challenges (IUCN 2003). are perhaps the most striking feature. Before returning to this, however, a cursory look at The imperative of concerns for sustainable teacher education in Suriname might be development in many Caribbean countries helpful. (particularly Suriname) resides in the scenario. Acad J Sur 2015 (6), 547-554 549 Ori H. & Blanchard G. Teaching and Teacher Education in that they continuously meet the required Suriname minimum standards: a) Pedagogical colleges of education or The importance of teacher education is teacher training colleges, mainly for emphasized in educational policies of the training of teachers through in- countries worldwide, including Suriname. Just service and pre-service programs for as no nation can rise above the quality of its a period ranging from three to five education system, by the same token, no years after secondary education; education system can rise above the quality of its teachers. b) Programs of education, and certificates in education through in- We need to define new strategic goals in service and pre-service programs for Suriname to cope with integrating ESD into a duration of between three and five the professionalization of teacher education. years following secondary education; Implementing a new profile of the teacher with emphasis on ESD elements is also the new c) Teachers training institutes for challenge. With the help of the VVOB secondary education (IOL- Teacher (Flemish Association for Development training institute for secondary Cooperation and Technical Assistance) and education) and LOBO (Teacher IOL ( Instituut voor Opleiding van Leraren, training institute for technical Teacher Training Institute for Secondary vocational education), and certificates Education) a new profile of the teacher and through part-time learning for periods teacher education is being implemented in varying between two and five years. teacher training colleges (pedagogical d) By and large, in de future the whole institutes) in Suriname. teacher education policy needs to be Many more efforts should be made to integrate seen against the backdrop of a ESD competencies into the new profile of Surinamese National Education teachers. This is an ongoing project that will Strategic Plan of orienting the quality end in 2018. of instruction at all levels