Can we meet the sustainability challenges? The role of education and lifelong learning

Education and lifelong learning are increasingly being mobilised to address the global environmental crisis and accompanying sustainability challenges. This article discusses the many roles of education about and for sustainable development, drawing on evidence and arguments put forward in the 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report, Education for People and Planet. It highlights specific viewpoints, values and ways of thinking that best characterize effective learning for sustainability. It also emphasises the importance of a 'whole school' or 'whole institutional' approach to education for sustainability.</p

Environmental education and the learning of ill-defined concepts: The case of biodiversity

Sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries, Wageningen Agricultural University and the University of Utrecht jointly investigated the diversity of meanings, values and uses of biodiversity in order to tap its educational potential more fully. Some of the research questions were: What does biodiversity mean? Does it mean the same to everybody? What are some underlying assumptions, values and ethics? What are the possibilities and limitations of the theme of biodiversity in educational settings? How can the theme become existentially relevant to the everyday life of citizens? What should the role of education be in this regard? The answers to these and other questions are to result in a blueprint for designing diverse teaching materials and learning activities. This contribution outlines the research, some preliminary findings and elements of the blueprint. The notion of conceptual ill-definedness is introduced.People from diverse backgrounds talk about biodiversity. Politicians, environmental activists, conservationists, agronomists, foresters, plant and animal taxonomists, geneticists, bio-geographers and ecologists, they all have absorbed and adapted the word biodiversity and talk to each other and to the public, albeit in different languages. All use biodiversity as the hot word in today's small talk, the fashionable keyword to an eloquent but superficial conversation, a worthy successor of earlier panaceas such as ecology, environmental quality, sustainable use or global change.(Vander Maarel, 1997:3

Globalization, sense of plac e and transfor˜ mative learning in times of unsustainability1

In this talk/paper I will try to link the three themes of this conference by discussing and, indeed, critiquing, education in the context of sustainable development (ESD) from a perspective of critical thinking and transformative learning. I will argue that our quest for a more sustainable world requires a sense of place and identity as well as decolonizing pedagogies and socially responsible knowledge co-creation. The search for sustainability cannot be limited to classrooms, the corporate boardroom, a local environmental education center, a regional government authority, etc. Instead, learning in the context of sustainability requires ‘hybridity’ and synergy between multiple actors in society and the blurring of formal, non-formal and informal education. A good example of such hybridity can be found in the so-called ‘whole school approaches to sustainability’ where schools establish linkages between questions around food, energy and health and the curriculum (both espoused and hidden and the community of which it is part). Opportunities for this type of learning expand with an increased permeability between units, disciplines, generations, cultures, institutions, sectors and so on. At the same time we must beware of the use of sustainability and sustainability education in a-critical ways that, albeit intentionally or unintentionally, lead to a consolidation of current hegemonic (economic) systems and educational practices thereby amplifying unsustainability. I will base my argument on a review I did for UNESCO of the kinds of learning that are emerging in the context of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.Keywords: transformative learning, transformative learning, emerging educations

Globalization, sense of plac e and transfor˜ mative learning in times of unsustainability1

In this talk/paper I will try to link the three themes of this conference by discussing and, indeed, critiquing, education in the context of sustainable development (ESD) from a perspective of critical thinking and transformative learning. I will argue that our quest for a more sustainable world requires a sense of place and identity as well as decolonizing pedagogies and socially responsible knowledge co-creation. The search for sustainability cannot be limited to classrooms, the corporate boardroom, a local environmental education center, a regional government authority, etc. Instead, learning in the context of sustainability requires ‘hybridity’ and synergy between multiple actors in society and the blurring of formal, non-formal and informal education. A good example of such hybridity can be found in the so-called ‘whole school approaches to sustainability’ where schools establish linkages between questions around food, energy and health and the curriculum (both espoused and hidden and the community of which it is part). Opportunities for this type of learning expand with an increased permeability between units, disciplines, generations, cultures, institutions, sectors and so on. At the same time we must beware of the use of sustainability and sustainability education in a-critical ways that, albeit intentionally or unintentionally, lead to a consolidation of current hegemonic (economic) systems and educational practices thereby amplifying unsustainability. I will base my argument on a review I did for UNESCO of the kinds of learning that are emerging in the context of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.Keywords: transformative learning, transformative learning, emerging educations

Utilization of design principles for hybrid learning configurations by interprofessional design teams

Educational design research yields design knowledge, often in the form of design principles or guidelines that provide the rationale or ‘know-why’ for the design of educational interventions. As such, design principles can be utilized by designers in contexts other than the research context in which they were generated. Although research has shown that quality support is important for design success, less is known about processes that promote utilization of design principles as the rationale for instructional design. In this study we therefore explored an intervention for promoting the utilization of a set of research-based design principles in educational practice. This intervention aimed to promote utilization through enhancing perceived usefulness of the design principles by design teams in various contexts. The set of design principles that was utilized by the design teams in this study underpins the design of so-called hybrid learning configurations that are situated at the interface between school and workplace. The intervention was developed from the perspective of boundary crossing theory and was conducted with four different design teams. It was evaluated by way of a questionnaire and a dialogue with members of the design teams. This boundary crossing intervention appeared to bring about the desired outcomes. Most of the design team members considered the set of design principles useful in several different ways and they expected that utilization of the principles would lead to an improved learning configuration.</p

Death and Rebirth of Atlántida: The Role of Social Learning in Bringing about Transformative Sustainability Processes in an Ecovillage

This paper explores the role of social learning in bringing about transformative sustainability processes among individuals and communities. At a time when sustainability is being seriously questioned in terms of what it is and how it can be implemented and evaluated, there are increasing calls to focus instead on sustainability processes. Drawing on 12 months of action-oriented research, including interviews and community-reflection meetings, and with contributions by two co-researchers from the community studied, this paper explores the triple-loop learning process of an ecovillage in Colombia called Atlántida. The findings show that disruptions in the community provided the opportunity for members to enter into a process of deep learning, because they were willing to reflect collectively on their process. This, however, took place in a tough reflective environment in which it was realised that differences in world views, ethics and leadership among members had contributed to the ‘death’ of the community, while their acknowledgement and acceptance of these differences were contributing to a process of transformative ‘rebirth.’ We therefore conclude that, when we talk about social learning as a deep transformative process, it is vital to remember that, though it may be necessary, nobody said it was going to be easy

Supporting Secondary Students' Morality Development in Science Education

This review study synthesises 28 empirical research articles emphasising the learning of morality aspects in the context of addressing socioscientific issues (SSI) in secondary science education. The key interrelated questions we seek to address in this study are how morality is conceptualised in the science classroom in the light of emerging sustainability issues and how it can be developed. We used the Four Component Model of Morality to create a knowledge base for how morality has been conceptualised in the literature on secondary science education and how it can be developed. The findings of this review study show that not all studies have used concrete, explicit conceptualisations of morality and that the role of sense of place and the situatedness of morality have often been neglected. It also emerged that studies focusing on students' moral character and action-taking were underrepresented. We recommend that further research be carried out on the interrelationships between moral character and enacted moral reasoning. The review also reveals a gap between morality research and teaching. Based on the outcomes of this review, we propose a set of recommendations aimed at guiding and encouraging students' morality within secondary science education

Biology Students’ Morality When Engaged With Moral Dilemmas in the Human-Nature Context

Framed within the Four Component Model (FCM) of morality, this case study investigates the nature of Dutch 15–16 years old biology students’ morality in socioscientific issues in the human-nature context. In doing so, we discuss the morality of 12 students with data collected through individual semi-structured interviews following the implementation of a specially-designed curriculum. During the interviews the students discussed a moral dilemma related to the rehabilitation of seals. The findings indicate that students demonstrated aspects of all four FCM components. The students placed themselves in the perspectives of involved stakeholders, both affectively and cognitively. In addition, the students exhibited both rationality-based and emotion-based moral reasoning. A number of students experienced an “inner conflict” between cognitive and emotional reasoning, which affected their moral motivation and–as such–represented their moral reflection process. Students’ moral emotions were often decisive in their moral decision-making. Among the different kinds of moral emotions (compassion, guilt, duty, respect), compassion appeared most. The findings are discussed alongside implications for future research with a focus on encouraging aspects of students’ morality, which are an important part of citizenship skills

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