New Jersey Learns
The New Jersey Learns (NJ Learns) program unites schools and communities to learn and change together to instigate, sustain, and scale up the innovations and best practices that contribute to sustainability and that characterize Education for Sustainability.
We can accelerate the shift toward a Sustainable New Jersey by linking schools' and communities' efforts to educate for sustainability. Education for sustainability will secure the role of children, young people and adults as participants, innovators and leaders in transforming our future.
NJ Learns offers introductory and advanced Education of Sustainability programming, ongoing coaching and instructional support for schools, individual educators and community leaders, and is influencing educational policy. NJ Learns participants acquire the knowledge, skills and habits of mind (the different way of thinking) that characterize Education for Sustainability (EfS) and then become certified to educate others to understand and integrate the concepts of sustainability into their work across sectors. Many continue their participation in NJ Learns to develop catalytic leadership skills, design programs and curricula through the lens of EfS, and stay connected to a growing network of thought leaders and practitioners creating fundamental and lasting change for a sustainable Jersey.
NJ Learns also provides special opportunities to strategically link Sustainable Jersey Green Teams and Earthwatch Action Teams with leadership development and content of EfS.
The Keystone Year
The NJ Learns Keystone Year is our 9-month introductory Education for Sustainability program. We are now accepting applications for our 2012 cohort. Between May 2012 and January, 2013, the Keystone Year program will provide you with a transformative understanding of what sustainability is—and the knowledge, skills and tools to lead it and educate for it in your community or school!
As part of the Keystone Year, you’ll receive:
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Eight days of expert training, best practices, and leadership tools to educate for sustainability
- Knowledge, skills, materials, and habits of mind to approach community interests from a sustainability perspective
- Constructive peer and expert feedback to help you match your message to your audience
- Practicum opportunities to apply what you learn in the program in an authentic way with your target audience
- Learning portfolios to track your participation and change in thinking over time
- Resources from Sustainable Jersey and networking opportunities to build capacity in New Jersey’s sustainability initiatives
- Access to Cloud Commons, our digital library, with hundreds of reference materials to help you build the work in your community
- Membership in an on-going learning community of all NJ Learns participants
- A NJ Learns Introductory EfS Certificate of Completion from the Cloud Institute
By spacing the days over nine months, participants are provided sufficient time to gain a deep understanding of EfS and to apply that learning over time in coached and authentic environments.
Ideal applicants:
- Live or work in New Jersey
- Live or work in a municipality that is registered with Sustainable Jersey
- Are passionate about sustainability and contributing to it in their community or school
- Have experience in leading formally or informally in their school or community
- Have an interest in developing a vision and action plan for reaching their goals
- Have an orientation to collaboration
- Consider diversity of all kinds an asset
Evaluation criteria:
Applicants will be assessed based on their potential to be a catalyst for change in their community or school as demonstrated by their leadership experience, orientation to teamwork and team-building, and goals for applying Education for Sustainability to the ongoing work of their community and/or school to accelerate the shift toward sustainability.
To earn your Introductory Education for Sustainability Certificate, participants will have: After certification, all of our participants remain connected through local community networks and partnerships, and continue the ongoing work of creating fundamental and lasting change for a sustainable New Jersey. Cost: Tuition for the program is on a sliding scale depending on team size.
Individual leaders $945
Teams of two $895 per person
Teams of three $845 per person
Teams of four $795 per person
Teams of five $745 per person
Tuition includes:
- All course materials
- Access to a digital library of hundreds of EfS resources to help put your plan into action
- Membership in the NJ Learns Community of pioneering change agents throughout the state
- Breakfast and lunch on each day of the program
Limited scholarship funds are available on a needs-basis, and a list of additional funding opportunities are available to upon request. If you are interested in either of these options, please indicate that at the time of application. NJ Learns Keystone Year participants may choose to pay their tuition in full at the time of being selected or through a payment schedule.
APPLY HERE FOR THE 2012 KEYSTONE YEAR
The Leading Change Series
The Leading Change Series is part of our NJ Learns Advanced Leadership program. The series is designed to build on what you learned during the Keystone Year by strengthening those habits of mind you need to educate for sustainability and to provide additional tools to help you lead the shift toward a sustainable future in our communities and schools.
In each session of the Leading Change Series, we’ll draw on the real-life leadership challenges you face in your own communities and schools through various topics. We’ll work together to strengthen your skills of catalytic leadership and delve into the complex processes of change management. You’ll learn to anticipate and mediate challenges better, build them right into your process, and handle them creatively and effectively when they arise.
By participating in the Leading Change Series, you will:
- Gain strategies for expanding your target audience
- Build connections with your fellow NJ Learners from all cohorts
- Strengthen the collective capacity of the NJ Learns network
- Deepen your resolve and resiliency as you navigate the change-making process
Download the flyer and schedule for the series here.
Program Partners include:
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Sustainable Jersey, Farm to School Network and Earthwatch.
