Recognising the compartmentalisation of subjects in the Irish Senior Cycle, we are exploring opportunities for cross-curricular engagement with sustainability. We’ve been looking at how topics like sustainability fit into the Irish Senior Cycle (the final phase of secondary school in Ireland). Even though Irish Senior Cycle students usually stick to pretty rigid subject boundaries, we wanted to see where there might be room for cross-curricular learning – opportunities to connect what they’re studying across different subjects. For instance, we are examining how topics like petroleum extraction can be explored across multiple disciplines such as physics, biology, and geography to promote a comprehensive understanding of sustainability issues. By exploring it through a sustainability lens, students can gain a much richer understanding of how it impacts the world around them. Making these connections is especially important at the Irish Senior Cycle stage because it helps students see how their learning ties into real-world issues. When they understand that what they’re learning in school is directly connected to the challenges we face, like climate change, it adds value to their education. They start to see their subjects – and the ideas that come from them – in new ways.

Additionally, we are actively engaging with stakeholders to advocate for the inclusion of a 'Climate Action and Sustainability' subject within the proposed Senior Cycle reforms. We’ve been talking to teachers, student teachers, scientists, and policymakers about how the proposed new Senior Cycle reforms could accommodate big societal challenges like sustainability.

See how the idea began and the challenges which we encountered here....