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Professional Development, Promising Practices, Research

Teaching with the UN SDGs Professional Development Discussion Kit

Group discussion and self-reflection guides for bringing the SDGs into K-12 education

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Education Canada Discussion Kits are an EdCan Member Exclusive Benefit for Organizations (School Districts, Faculties of Education, Corporations, Non-Profits), transforming evidence-based literature from our critically-acclaimed Education Canada Magazine into practical group discussion and self-reflection guides that can be used by K-12 staff to question, strengthen, and improve their professional practice across a variety of current and emerging trends in education.

Whether you’re an educational assistant, teacher, school leader, or superintendent, we encourage you to invest in your continuous learning and that of your team through these easy-to-use and affordable professional development resources that encourage critical thinking and actionable strategies for unique school contexts.

About the Teaching with the UN SDGs Discussion Kit

This discussion kit complements our Spring 2021 edition of Education Canada magazine – available both in flippable PDF and online – and puts the spotlight on how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer cross-curricular relevancy and invaluable learning opportunities for students to discover their crucial role in solving local, regional, and global problems. Educators are prompted to explore how they can engage students to become active global citizens and authentically address global issues in empowering and hopeful ways.

This discussion kit contains a total of three group discussion and self-reflection guides – available in both English and French – covering topics ranging from creating a to-do list to help K-12 educators take action on the SDGs in the classroom; taking a whole-school approach to teaching the SDGs and making your school culture the catalyst for change; and using outdoor education as way to build students’ awareness of and appreciation for biodiversity.

Each group discussion or self-reflection guide contains three key components: 

  1. A Cheat Sheet providing a brief summary of the literature, which is intended to facilitate and support the uptake of group discussion within your school community.
  2. A Reflect section with 2-4 thought provoking questions prompting participants to self-reflect in conjunction with their own thoughts and opinions in response to the article.
  3. A Do It section that provides participants with the opportunity to engage with the content in a more interactive way. By completing this interactive activity, participants are encouraged to think about how they can apply their newfound learnings to their professional practice.

Education Canada Discussion Kits have two-fold usage:

  • Group discussions: School leaders can use discussion kits for staff Professional Development (PD) by facilitating discussion during a staff meeting or other designated PD time. Principals can lead sessions by selecting a group discussion guide according to their preference, introducing the theme of the guide, providing a summary of the literature, and finally proceeding to facilitate and participate in discussion by asking the suggested questions and interactive activity provided. Discussion kits can also be used during more informal group discussions (i.e. among colleagues) without the presence of an administrator to facilitate. 
  • Self-reflections: Discussion kits can also be used alone by individual K-12 staff members who are looking to improve their professional practice on their own time. Additionally, newfound knowledge can help individual staff members to later spark and inform conversations with their colleagues.

   

FOR EDCAN MEMBERS

If you’re an EdCan member, you’ll be able to access the full-version of the Teaching with the SDGs Discussion Kit, including all of our other archived and upcoming discussion kits! Simply fill out the form below!

Not sure if you’re a member? Check out our list of members here. If you’re an employee of one of the organizations listed, or a student or faculty member of a university listed, then you’re already a member! Click here to create your employee, student, or faculty account. 

Note: To access this discussion kit, you must have an organizational membership, meaning that you are an employee, student, or faculty member of the following:

  • School District;
  • Faculty of Education; 
  • Not-for-Profit (national and provincial organizations, federations, colleges, schools); or
  • Corporation. 

Not a member yet? That’s okay! To gain unlimited access to the Well at Work Discussion Kit and all other discussion kits, we encourage you to explore our membership options here. 

If you require any assistance or have any questions with regards to becoming a member please contact membership@edcan.ca.

Full Copy Request Form – Teaching with the SDGs Discussion Kit

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