Embedding Sustainability Learning

2017 ◽  
pp. 486-515
Author(s):  
Ros Taylor ◽  
Elise Barron ◽  
Katherine A.T. Eames

In this chapter the authors argue the benefits of an “embedded strategy” for achieving a robust and sustainable Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) curriculum and outline some of the main approaches used at Kingston University (KU), London. The chapter includes feedback from students, academics, support staff and local employers engaged in these developments and highlights the main successes and the pitfalls encountered. Case studies exemplifying sustainability learning through a diversity of embedded approaches are presented and analysed. The authors' experience demonstrates that, although there is no “one size fits all” solution to ESD, sharing of experiences between sustainability professionals is vital to this agenda. The examples detailed in this chapter show that with careful design, active and multidisciplinary learning, sustainability understanding can be securely embedded in students' learning even where it is not the main programme objective.

Author(s):  
Ros Taylor ◽  
Elise Barron ◽  
Katherine A.T. Eames

In this chapter the authors argue the benefits of an “embedded strategy” for achieving a robust and sustainable Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) curriculum and outline some of the main approaches used at Kingston University (KU), London. The chapter includes feedback from students, academics, support staff and local employers engaged in these developments and highlights the main successes and the pitfalls encountered. Case studies exemplifying sustainability learning through a diversity of embedded approaches are presented and analysed. The authors' experience demonstrates that, although there is no “one size fits all” solution to ESD, sharing of experiences between sustainability professionals is vital to this agenda. The examples detailed in this chapter show that with careful design, active and multidisciplinary learning, sustainability understanding can be securely embedded in students' learning even where it is not the main programme objective.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-202
Author(s):  
Mafalda Franco Leitão ◽  
Albino Cunha ◽  
Manuela Malheiro Ferreira

The present study is based on research in teacher self-training in Education for Sustainable Development (Leitão, 2012). Water was the motivating theme. The priority of a fair distribution of water, guaranteeing the consumption, in quality and quantity, to all mankind and living beings is urgent. To respond to water-related sustainability challenges, people worldwide need to acquire "water literacy" about various aspects of water use and management in order to ensure safer water consumption and to contribute to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Three case studies were carried out in schools in three African countries: Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. A model of skills in education for sustainable development was applied (Sleurs, 2008). From the analysis of these case studies the theoretical assumptions of research were strengthened by the effective professional practice. But, on contrary, the results that the pillars of sustainable development presented in the basic research should be reviewed, placing the political dimension as transversal, thus strengthening education for sustainable development as fundamental for critical and responsible citizens of the present and of the future. This experience paves the way for future water-education and education for sustainable development projects; such as the follow-up of these three schools.  Keywords: Sustainable Development; Education for Sustainable Development; Water-education and Water Literacy; Case Study


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louisa Tomas ◽  
Reece Mills ◽  
Donna Rigano ◽  
Maryam Sandhu

AbstractIn Queensland, Australia, a new senior Earth and Environmental Science (EES) syllabus has been approved for first implementation in 2019. Given the natural alignment between EES and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), this study employs document analysis to investigate the extent to which the intended curriculum reflects the tenets of ESD. An exploratory content analysis examined the frequency of keywords to identify any prominent sustainability themes that might underpin the syllabus, while a curriculum key guided a deeper analysis according to four tenets of ESD: Learning content; Pedagogy and learning environments; Societal transformation; and Learning outcomes. These analyses found that the ESD tenets reflected in the syllabus is limited chiefly to sustainability learning content, while broader notions of ESD, like the promotion of transformative learning, are marginalised or absent. Instead, the syllabus reflects a technical orientation to curriculum, underpinned by a neoliberal agenda. It is argued that the Queensland EES syllabus represents a missed opportunity to engage students with ESD. In a policy climate where achievement and accountability dominate educational discourse, there is an inherent risk that ESD will fall by the wayside, given it is not prioritised in the intended curriculum. Implications for curriculum development are also discussed.


Via Latgalica ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Dzintra Ilisko ◽  
Astrida Skrinda ◽  
Anita Pipere

The report reveals the contribution of two international UNESCO/ UNITWIN Chair’s peer-reviewed journals – “Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education” (DCSE) and “Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability” (JTEFS) to sustainable development of Latgale. They are international, cross-disciplinary, scholarly and open access journals focusing on diverse aspects of environmental, cultural, economic and social sustainability thus enabling one to constructively and creatively address present and future global challenges in creating more sustainable and resilient societies. Both journals aim to respond to the priorities set by the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and the Global Action Programme as implemented in LATGALE and in the partner countries. The study reflects on the thematic scope of the two journals that centres on reorienting education towards the goal of sustainable education and sustainable community in Latgale, Latvia, Europe and beyond. In order to respond to the challenges of global community that we are facing today, the research published in both journals suggests how education can contribute to overcoming the current crises in education and community, as well as offers strategies and ways of dealing with it sustainably and responsibly in Latgale. Education for sustainable development (ESD) includes more than knowledge related to the environment, economy, culture and society. It also addresses learning perspectives, strategies and values that guide and motivate people to seek sustainable livelihoods, participate in a democratic society and live in a sustainable manner. ESD also involves studying both local and global issues. The research offers the study of JTEFS contribution to meeting different views, ideas and research to promote further development of studies and practice of teacher education in all areas of formal and non-formal education in relation to sustainability. DCSE is an international, peer-reviewed journal that provides a platform for examination of policies, theories and practices related to the discourse and communication for sustainable education. Since contemporary discourse study has extended its field to the study of multifaceted contexts of discourse, it integrates a broader study of the phenomena of communication in relation to sustainable education. The diversity of the journal is apparent in the variety of its theories, methods and approaches, thus avoiding the frequent limitation to one school, approach or academic branch.


2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyrki Reunamo

The Agentive Role of Children's Views in Sustainable EducationThe environment and peoples' ideas of the environment are intertwined in the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The environment has an effect on the educational content and people have an effect on the environment. Thus, sustainable education includes producing culture by children and with children. Sustainable learning should include finding ways to consider the effects of actions. The theoretic framework presented in the article was operationalized and studied in four Finnish kindergartens. The results bring children forward as producers of educational content. Children's views have an effect on the educational setting. In agentive learning children learn things that they themselves have been taking part creating. In discussion, the emerging roles of a teacher for ESD are considered. To be balanced, ESD may not only consider the equilibrium between accommodation and assimilation, but also the equilibrium between adaptation and agency.


IIUC Studies ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 113-136
Author(s):  
Farid A Sobhani ◽  
Azlan Amran

The study aims at reviewing the essence of sustainable education, highlighting its different approaches and analyzing transformation process of higher education for sustainable development (HESD). Since there is lack of sustainability research in the developing countries, the study addresses the issues of higher education towards sustainability from the perspective of a developing nation. This research is qualitative and descriptive in nature. It considered extensive literature survey to meet the research objectives. The study found that the issue of higher education for sustainable development got global attention especially in the Western society. In Mexico, many public universities introduced sustainability education as core course at the graduate and post-graduate level. Among the Asian nations, Malaysia has set an example taking initiative to transform higher education for a sustainable society. Universiti Sains Mlaysia (USM) got APEX status incorporating that dimension in the program. Bangladesh, the local context of the study, is lagging far behind in attempting to sustainable education. Both public and private universities are facing many challenges towards that dimension, which are highlighted in this study.IIUC Studies Vol.9 December 2012: 113-136


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