How 30 teachers at Avinya International School rediscovered their most powerful lesson: they are the curriculum.
What if the most important sustainability lesson a child ever learns isn't in a textbook — but in watching how their teacher throws away a piece of paper?
That question sat at the heart of a professional development workshop hosted at Avinya International School, Hyderabad, facilitated by Organo Et School (OES). Thirty early childhood educators gathered not to be lectured at, but to genuinely rethink how the youngest learners — children still forming their first habits — can be guided to become thoughtful stewards of the world they are inheriting.
The session, led by Ms. Kalyani of OES, opened with a simple but disarming insight: early childhood is not too soon for sustainability. It is precisely the right time. Children in their formative years don't need grand lessons — they need consistent, meaningful actions modeled by the adults around them. Routines become values. Habits become character.
The workshop was structured around four interconnected ideas. It began with the question of what sustainability actually means for young children — and how something as large as environmental responsibility can be made tangible through small, everyday actions that children can own and repeat. From there, the conversation moved to everyday sustainability: the mindful use of resources, waste segregation, caring for plants, and responsible consumption, all woven naturally into the rhythms of the school day.
One of the most compelling discussions centred on integration across subjects. Sustainability, the teachers discovered, need not live in a silo. A story about a river can teach reading comprehension and environmental sensitivity in the same breath. Counting seeds teaches numeracy and the miracle of growth simultaneously. This is the work of inspired early years educators: finding the ecology in everything — in literacy, in numeracy, in art, in storytelling, in play.
The final segment turned toward something less tangible but perhaps more important: building a culture. Schools are not just institutions. They are living ecosystems of values. And in that ecosystem, teachers are the most visible force. Children don't just hear what educators say — they absorb how educators live.
The reflections shared by participants at the close of the session said it best.
"I learnt sustainability is a habit." — Mrinmayee Banerjee, Teacher
"I now have a fair idea about designing a curriculum on sustainability." — Swathi, Teacher
"It's not about teaching, it's about role modelling." — Arijita Roy, Teacher
These were not abstract conclusions. They were the kind of quiet, clear realizations that change how a person walks back into a classroom the next morning.
The program concluded with a conviction that every school leader, curriculum designer, and early years educator would do well to carry: sustainability is not a subject to be taught and assessed. It is a way of thinking and living — one that schools are uniquely placed to nurture from the very beginning. The classroom is not just where children learn about the world. It is where they learn what kind of people they will be in it.
Avinya International School is proud to have brought this experience to its educators, and grateful to Organo Et School for a workshop that was as thoughtful as the values it championed.
Organo Et School empowers people to embrace eco-living mindsets, behaviors, and habits. We recognize that for any positive impact to be sustainable, it must be long-term and inter-generational.
UNESCO recognized Organo Et School as a green citizen initiative and Uplink, the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum (WEF) recognized OES as Global Innovative Solution.
Organo Et School is an experiential learning initiative set up by Organo in 2017 and has been facilitating field visits and workshops for Schools and Interest Groups. Organo Et School has impacted over 11,500+ students, 5,000+ adults,1,500+ families, 40+ schools, 15+ communities, 10+ corporates over the past 8 years.
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