scholarly journals Multi-Disciplinary Experience - A Key Learning Experience in Effective Education for Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahendra Gooroochurn ◽  
Bhoomitra Toolsy

The key role of education for achieving sustainable development has been well recognized around the world and used as a powerful lever for transforming economies based on sound principles. Indeed universities are prime institutions which have the essential role to impart requisite knowledge and skills to learners so that they can stand to the challenges in their respective professions, which means universities have had to bring radical changes to their curricula over the past decade to integrate sustainability principles as well as come up with new programmes centered on sustainability. However, the multi-disciplinary nature of sustainability projects as they occur in real-life has meant that the education curricula cannot be developed in isolation for a given programme of studies, but need to have linkages and crossover with other disciplines to provide a platform for learners to nurture this all-important skill. The University of Mauritius has aligned this key ingredient of education for sustainable development (ESD) with the accreditation framework for engineers provided by the Washington Accord through its graduate attributes, specifically Graduate Attribute 8 which includes multidisciplinary work within the range statement. This paper describes the methods adopted to implement this cross-linking between programmes from different disciplines effectively.

Author(s):  
Elena N. Dzyatkovskaya ◽  

The article deals with the role of science education in explaining the modern environmental crisis and ways out of it. The urgency and peculiarities of education for sustainable development, its challenges to updating the content of natural science disciplines are considered. The directions of such updating are justified: reflection of modern state of science, fundamentality of knowledge, its interdisciplinary integration and worldview orientation. The conclusion is made that for understanding the interdisciplinary concept of sustainable development the set of special scientific pictures of the world is not enough. The problem of developing a natural-science picture of the world as an environmental component of education for sustainable development is posed. The article considers the basic categories of synthesis of natural-science knowledge into the natural-science picture of the world: nature, material unity of the world, development, system, self-organization, determinism, etc. It is determined that the natural scientific picture of the world, in its ecological aspect, is based on V. I. Vernadsky’s doctrine on the biosphere and biogeochemical migration of atoms, N. N. Moiseev’s doctrine on universal evolutionism, and the concept of sustainable development. It is concluded about the role of the natural sciences in the formation of the key concept of sustainable development – the ecological imperative.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 3280
Author(s):  
Hülya Pehlivan

Games, which are as old as the history of the world, were played all over the world in all periods of history and in all cultures; and will be played in the future. A game which can be rule governed or free of rules, but in which children always participate voluntarily is a part of real life; and is the basis for physical, cognitive, social, linguistic, emotional and social development. Games are the mirrors reflecting the inner world of children, and they are the imaginary environments re-created by children so as to understand their emotions and enthusiasm, distress and relations. A game, which is defined as a field of experimenting in which children test and reinforce what they see, sets up ties with the past and forms a source for the future. Games are regarded as  children’s most important pursuit, and they mean discovering, learning, creating and expressing oneself for children. All materials for playing which introduce regulation into children’s movements, which help them in their physical and psycho-social development, which develop their imagination are described as toys, and toys have important functions in children’s development and in the development of their learning and creativity. Designing playgrounds, which are the locations for effective learning for children,  bring about significant responsibility. Therefore, this fact should be taken into consideration while choosing toys for chidren and while desgning playgrounds, and games should be employed in pre-school education in the light of scientific data.  Özetİnsanlık tarihi kadar eski olan oyun, dünyanın her yerinde, her çağda ve her kültürde oynanmıştır ve oynanmaya da devam edecektir. Oyun, belli bir amaca yönelik olan veya olmayan, kurallı ya da kuralsız gerçekleştirilen fakat her durumda çocuğun isteyerek yer aldığı fiziksel, bilişsel, sosyal, dil, duygusal ve sosyal gelişiminin temeli olan gerçek hayatın bir parçasıdır. Oyun çocuğun iç dünyasının bir aynasıdır ve çocuğun duygu ve coşkularını, üzüntülerini, ilişkilerini anlamak için onların yeniden yarattıkları bir düş ortamıdır. Çocuğun gördüklerini sınadığı ve pekiştirdiği bir deney alanı olarak tanımlanan oyun geçmiş ile bağ kurmakta, gelecek için kaynak oluşturmaktadır. Çocuğun en önemli uğraşı olarak kabul gören oyun, çocuklar için keşfetme, öğrenme, yaratma, kendini ifade etme anlamına gelmektedir. Gelişim basamakları boyunca çocuğun hareketlerine düzen getiren zihinsel, bedensel ve psiko-sosyal gelişimlerinde yardımcı olan, hayal gücünü geliştiren tüm oyun malzemeleri de oyuncak olarak tanımlanır ve oyuncakların çocukların gelişim, öğrenme ve yaratıcılığın gelişmesinde önemli bir işlevi vardır. Çocuk için etkili bir öğrenme mekânı olan oyun alanlarının tasarımlanması önemli bir sorumluluğu beraberinde getirir. Bu nedenle, çocuklara oyuncak seçerken ve oyun alanları dizayn ederken bu durum göz önünde bulundurulmalı ve özellikle okul öncesi eğitimde de bilimsel veriler ışığında oyundan faydalanmalıdır.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. e974
Author(s):  
Jordi Castellví Mata

E Wayne Ross is professor at the University of British Columbia (Canada). He is interested in the influence of social and institutional contexts on teachers’ practice as well as the role of curriculum and teaching in building a democratic society in the face of antidemocratic impulses of greed, individualism, and intolerance. Xosé Manuel Souto is professor at the University of Valencia (Spain), in the department of social and experimental sciences education. He directs the Gea-Clío educational innovation group that has developed, for the past thirty years, its work in the fields of teacher training, creation of curricular material and educational research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-119
Author(s):  
V. Mykhailenko ◽  
M. Blyzniuk

The world experience on educational clusters proves their applicability and efficiency. An example is the formation of educational clusters for economic education and business schools. Formation of educational clusters has become an important part of the state personnel policy of many countries of the world. Multidimensional notion of "sustainable development" in combination with a wide range of age-old target audiences requires new methodological approaches for building an open dialogue between a student and a teacher. Taking into account the complex nature of the research subject that combines social, economic and environmental dimensions of human activity, authors propose a scientific and educational cluster as an innovative form of implementation of cross-cutting education for sustainable development (ESD) in Ukraine. The role of the core formation of an educational cluster is best suited for universities that are open to innovation and new educational technologies. The new educational model is illustrated by ad hoc activity of Carpathian School held in Kosiv, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Target audience represented Master students of natural sciences, secondary school students, biologists and geography teachers together with civil society activists. The school organizers were "Centre for Civic Initiatives", Kosiv and Faculty of Geography of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv supported by two National Natural Parks “Hutsulshchyna” and “Vyzhnytsky”. The lecturers’ team included university professors, experts of The Regional Environmental Centre for CEE countries (REC), Hungary, the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine (NECU), leading experts of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Ukraine, employees of local museums and cultural institutions. The main goal of the School is to consider the role of civil society, local activists, entrepreneurs and authorities in building sustainable communities, to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The cluster model was tested for obtaining a professional orientation of the lyceum graduates with a strong TOT component in view of education reform "New Ukrainian School". The students were acquainted with educational materials and methodical guides of the REC multimedia toolkits "Green Package" and "Step by Step", adapted to Ukrainian needs by local experts. These materials are easily perceived by young people, Master students and senior pupils. Interactive games and dilemmas were suitable for the formation of ecologically oriented thinking and social competence of youth. The guides were also highly praised by elderly participants and recommended for training and retraining of school teachers. Interviews with the school attendees and lecturers, interviews and publications in the local mass-media showed the benefits of cluster model in comparison with traditional forms of education. The school also identified the opportunities for professional guidance, training and retraining of teachers' staff.


Author(s):  
Carlos Oliva Mendoza

The idea behind this text is to exhibit some of the characteristics of a form of actualization of the past; more precisely, the movement of the Classic in history. Following Gadamer on the role of tradition as an element of understanding and the configuration of the present, as well as Hegel's model of the Classic in the development of art and aesthetics, the paper claims that there is a movement in the constitution of the classic, through which the past remains by itself summoning the present. Thus, the past remains through its own beliefs and forms of representation. This thesis postulates a criticism of the omnipotence of Enlightenment and some of its immediate discourses: the configuration of the truth as objective knowledge; the unidimensional method; the constitution of determined historical subjects as the only authorities over the configuration of the world. The abovementioned thesis is sustained by a study of the characteristics of the culmination of the Classic. The central point is an attempt to demonstrate that while modern philosophical discourse historizes certain categories as simple descriptive elements of the past, a second argument, based on a proposal which always attempts to find the interpretive aperture, should discover the normative validity in esthetic categories of the present reality. In this view, the past interprets and transmits itself as Classic in the present and future perspectives. Hence, tradition —in its classic form— brings configurations into the present which constitute themselves in real life, while theoretical and methodological criticism on many occasions do not take them into account, but rather avoid or belittle them.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khushgeet Kaur

Although youth are often thought of as targets for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programmes, they are also active partners in creating a more sustainable world and effective ESD programmes. Today, more than ever, young women and men are change-makers, building new realities for themselves and their communities. All over the world, youth are driving social change and innovation, claiming respect for their fundamental human rights and freedoms, and seeking new opportunities to learn and work together for a better future. The education sector is generally seen as the most appropriate forum for involving children and youth in sustainable development, and initiatives to this end have been adopted in many countries. The present paper puts forth such initiatives, interventions and strategies that can be undertaken to engage youth in education for sustainable development at the global as well as the local level.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3465
Author(s):  
Jordi Colomer ◽  
Dolors Cañabate ◽  
Brigita Stanikūnienė ◽  
Remigijus Bubnys

In the face of today’s global challenges, the practice and theory of contemporary education inevitably focuses on developing the competences that help individuals to find meaningfulness in their societal and professional life, to understand the impact of local actions on global processes and to enable them to solve real-life problems [...]


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 712
Author(s):  
Andrea Okanović ◽  
Jelena Ješić ◽  
Vladimir Đaković ◽  
Simonida Vukadinović ◽  
Andrea Andrejević Panić

Growing environmental problems and increasing requirements of green jobs force universities around the world not only to transform their curricula but also to enrich existing ones with contents related to the promotion of sustainable development. This paper aims to show the importance of measuring and monitoring the share of green contents in all university activities, as only in that way it is possible to monitor trends and give realistic assessments of their effect and importance. The paper presents a comparative analysis of different types of methodologies for assessing sustainable activities at universities as well as research conducted at the University of Novi Sad in Serbia and its comparison with the University of Gothenburg (Sweden). This research aims to point out the importance of increasing competitiveness in higher education through assessment of green content in a curriculum and its promotion. In this way, through eco-labeling methodology, it would be easier to identify those contents that, in a certain share, contribute to the promotion of sustainable development. Furthermore, this methodology can easily be extended across the country and the region, which would bring positive effects to all stakeholders in higher education.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 2852
Author(s):  
Paul A. Foster

Steroid sulphatase (STS), involved in the hydrolysis of steroid sulphates, plays an important role in the formation of both active oestrogens and androgens. Since these steroids significantly impact the proliferation of both oestrogen- and androgen-dependent cancers, many research groups over the past 30 years have designed and developed STS inhibitors. One of the main contributors to this field has been Prof. Barry Potter, previously at the University of Bath and now at the University of Oxford. Upon Prof. Potter’s imminent retirement, this review takes a look back at the work on STS inhibitors and their contribution to our understanding of sulphate biology and as potential therapeutic agents in hormone-dependent disease. A number of potent STS inhibitors have now been developed, one of which, Irosustat (STX64, 667Coumate, BN83495), remains the only one to have completed phase I/II clinical trials against numerous indications (breast, prostate, endometrial). These studies have provided new insights into the origins of androgens and oestrogens in women and men. In addition to the therapeutic role of STS inhibition in breast and prostate cancer, there is now good evidence to suggest they may also provide benefits in patients with colorectal and ovarian cancer, and in treating endometriosis. To explore the potential of STS inhibitors further, a number of second- and third-generation inhibitors have been developed, together with single molecules that possess aromatase–STS inhibitory properties. The further development of potent STS inhibitors will allow their potential therapeutic value to be explored in a variety of hormone-dependent cancers and possibly other non-oncological conditions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Hallinger ◽  
Vien-Thong Nguyen

This systematic review of research used science mapping as a means of analyzing the knowledge base on education for sustainable development (ESD) in K-12 schooling. The review documented the size, growth trajectory and geographic distribution of this literature, identified high impact scholars and documents, and visualized the “intellectual structure” of the field. The database examined in this review consisted of 1842 English language, Scopus-indexed documents published between 1990 and 2018. The review found that the knowledge base on ESD has grown dramatically over the past 30 years, with a rapidly accelerating rate of publication in the past decade. Although the field has been dominated by scholarship from Anglo-American_European nations, there is evidence of increasing geographic diversification of the ESD knowledge base over the past 15 years. Citation analyses identified authors who have had a significant influence on the development of this literature. Author co-citation analysis revealed three “schools of thought” that comprise the “intellectual structure” of this knowledge base: Education for Sustainable Development, Developing a Sustainability Mindset, Teaching and Learning for Sustainability. Document content analyses led to the conclusion that the current knowledge base is heavily weighted towards critical, descriptive and prescriptive papers, with an insufficient body of analytical empirical studies. Several recommendations are offered for strengthening this literature.


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