Assuming the Future: Repurposing Education in a Volatile Age

The call for integration of competences in tertiary education for sustainable development (ESD) has been heard. Helpful competence models for ESD are available but little exists about how to put them into practice. As illustrated in this article in an initial review of competence models for change agency, this is not easy because competences are fundamentally context-bound and generalized models make little sense. Faculty staff who wish to foster competences for SD therefore need help with contextualising and operationalising competences. They often lack the pedagogic-didactic understanding needed to implement competence orientation in their teaching, in an institutional context where knowledge transmission is traditionally rated higher than competence development. Using a reflective practitioner approach, this paper addresses the need for methodological guidance by introducing a heuristic procedure and a didactic planning tool from adult education that enable lecturers to establish coherent ESD teaching-and-learning environments and curricula: the tree of science model and constructive alignment. Two case studies show how these instruments can be used to increase coherence when operationalising competences for SD. The article concludes by outlining three factors that foster integration of competence orientation in ESD: pedagogic-didactic tools, professional development for ESD, and institutional change.

Section: Moving Towards Esd Didacticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing Competence Orientation: Towards Constructively Aligned Education for Sustainable Development in University-Level Teaching-And-Learning

Wilhelm

Förster²,

Zimmermann

2019

“…For over 30 years, education reform globally has been characterized by increasing standardization and a "narrowing of what counts as curriculum" [1] with economic growth while paying insufficient heed to the way in which wealth is distributed, with one percent of the global population now having more wealth than the remaining 99% combined [2]. Perhaps even more alarmingly, this economic growth is predicated on the exploitation of finite resources, the generation of toxic waste and changes to the planet's biodiversity and climate on a scale that threatens our survivability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Devising a Competence-Based Training Program for Educators of Sustainable Development: Lessons Learned

Vare

Arro

Hamer³

et al. 2019

119

Over recent decades, education policy has been preoccupied with economic growth while paying insufficient heed to global sustainability challenges. International initiatives to promote education for sustainable development (ESD) have been hampered by a lack of clarity on how to implement this form of education. To address this concern, a Rounder Sense of Purpose (RSP) began as a three-year EU-funded project that set out to develop a practical accreditation model for educators working on ESD. Expert and user opinion was sought through several rounds of structured consultation with over 500 people, chiefly using a Delphi approach, to develop and validate the model. The resulting framework comprises 12 competences, each with three learning outcomes and several underpinning components. This is supported by a range of activities largely reflecting a constructivist pedagogy. A range of assessment techniques have also been piloted within the project although this remains an area for further enquiry. Ultimately, it was decided not to design a single qualification template because defining the award to such a level of detail would make it more difficult to apply across multiple jurisdictions. Partners also felt that such an approach would atomize learning in a way that runs counter to the holistic principles of sustainability. RSP provided a rich learning experience for those involved and has already demonstrated its potential to extend its impact well beyond the original participants.

“…For example, time constraints and over-emphasis on knowledge and skill outcomes emerged in our analysis of learners' experiences of the EDE. These constraints are even more intense in IHLs, where skill-and knowledge-orientation drives a broadly vocationalized education focused on labor provision [14,15]. Students' experiences in IHLs also tend to be more fragmented, the result of widely varied coursework and overloaded schedules.…”

Section: Where To Now?-conclusion Constraints and Cautionary Talesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, IHLs are typically constrained by political and economic forces that tend to advocate for learning approaches aligned with neoliberal labor specialization and that are either transmissive, instrumental, or both [4,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conversely, IHLs are often situated in communities where sustainable living is not recognized as a social imperative and where sustainability education is therefore more intellectual and less embodied. Lastly, while many are striving to be hubs of social transformation, the metanarrative of most IHLs remains aligned with neoliberal labor specialization [14,26]. Ecovillages, however, are explicitly intentional about social transformation; therefore, their educational approaches often align with the themes of transformation and emancipation called for by scholars.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Pedagogical Laboratories: A Case Study of Transformative Sustainability Education in an Ecovillage Context

Papenfuss

Merritt

2019

Students, practitioners, and scholars of sustainability education are increasingly calling for divergent curricula and novel pedagogical approaches that cultivate transformation and emancipation at both the individual and institutional levels. For decades, ecovillages around the globe have provided alternatives for sustainable living and many have also developed alternative educational approaches. For this reason, ecovillages can be important learning laboratories for experimenting with sustainability education curricula and pedagogies, allowing scholars to learn across disciplinary, cultural, and worldview boundaries. In the present study, we conducted a descriptive case study of Findhorn Foundation College's 5-week Ecovillage Design Education course. By applying a narrative analysis of archives, field notes, surveys, and interviews, we arrived at 17 different categorical elements across six major themes. Using the field data, we linked these categorical elements to three consistent pedagogical elements: ritual pedagogies, pedagogies of story, and collaborative pedagogies. We conclude by highlighting several inductive themes present in participant data that indicated potential hindrances, constraints, and cautionary tales regarding implementation of these pedagogies in higher education contexts situated in the Global North.