Professional reading

These professional readings have been selected to support teachers in Scotland to further enact and embed Learning for Sustainability in their practice. You may also wish to engage with our suggested professional learning and teaching resources:

1. Latest information on Learning for Sustainability in Scotland – and beyond

• ‘Futures of Education’ UNESCO – ongoing
• ‘Education and Learning for Sustainable Futures’: 50 Years of Learning for Environment and Change’ Macintyre, T; Tilbury, D; Wals, A., Taylor & Francis Group (2025)
• Scotland’s refreshed national Learning for Sustainability Action Plan: ‘Target 2030: a movement for people, planet, and prosperity’. Read our response to the Plan here.
• Whole School Approaches to Sustainability: Education Renewal in Times of Distress Wals, A; Bjønness, B; Sinnes, A; Eikeland, I. Springer (2024)
• ‘Where next for Scottish Education: Learning is Scotland’s Future?’ Chapman, C. & Donaldson, G., University of Glasgow (2023)
• ‘Learning from thirty years of experience: case studies in teacher education for sustainability’ Tilbury, D. & Mulà, I. (2023). EENEE report, Publications Office of the European Union
• ‘Whole-school approaches to sustainability : exemplary practices from around the world‘ Mathie, R.G, Wals, A, Wageningen University, (2022)
• ‘Developing a whole campus approach to learning for sustainability: Challenges and opportunities for embedding and sustaining change.’ Stones, T; Collacott, M; Christie, B; Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning in collaboration with the Development Education Research Centre, UCL Institute of Education: London, UK
• ‘A summary of Learning for Sustainability resources’ Education Scotland (2018-)

2. Hearts: Professional values

• ‘The Common Cause Handbook’ Crompton T (2010) Machynlleth: PIRC
• ‘Democracy and Education‘. Dewey J (1916) Project Gutenberg
• ‘Educating for Hope in Troubled Times‘. Hicks D (2014) London: IOE
• ‘Head, Heart, Hands model for transformative learning: Place as context for changing sustainability values’ Singleton J (2015) Journal of Sustainability Education (susted.com)
• ‘Big Picture Thinking: How to educate the whole person for an interconnected world‘ OECD (2022)

3. Heads: Professional knowledge and understanding

• ‘Learning Outside the Classroom: Theories and Guidelines for practice‘ Beames S, Higgins P. Nicol, R. (2012) Routledge
• Scotland’s refreshed national Learning for Sustainability Action Plan: ‘Target 2030: a movement for people, planet, and prosperity’. Read our response to the Plan here. Interested in what came before the current LfS Plan? View the 2019 iteration here: ‘Learning for Sustainability: action plan’ Scottish Government (2019)
• ‘Can we meet the sustainability challenges? The role of education and lifelong learning‘ Wals A (2017) European Journal of Education 52 (4). – p. 404 – 413
• ‘Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning Objectives’  UNESCO (2017)
• ‘Critical thinking: why is it so hard to teach?‘ Willingham, D (2007) American Educator, Summer 2007,(online) 8-19 (p. 11) 

4. Hands: Professional skills and abilities

• ‘Responding to the moral complexities of climate change education through intergenerational dialogue in teacher education’ Rushton, EAC (2024)
• ‘The Sustainable Development Goals: a Guide for teachers’ Oxfam (2019), Oxfam
• ‘The World We’ll Leave Behind: grasping the sustainability challenge‘ Scott W & Vare P (2018), Abingdon: Routledge
• ‘Sustainable Education: Re-visioning Learning and Change‘ Sterling S (2009),Totnes: Green Books Ltd
• UN Sustainable Development website
• ‘Imagining transformation otherwise: case studies of learning practices‘ Bridge 47 (2021), Bridge 47
• ‘Transformative climate change education and the school caretaker: a more-than-human analysis with young people‘ Liebhaber, N., Ramjan, C., Frick, M., Mannion, G., & Keller, L. (2023) Environmental Education Research, 1-16.