Special Issue—Pedagogy for Education for Sustainability in Higher Education

Abstract

Education for Sustainability (EfS) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) have been under discussion for some two decades. The UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development 2004-2014 has provided a most important focus for ESD, and for its facilitation. However, while the Decade raised awareness of the need for ESD generally, and particularly in Higher Education, discussion of how this education can be effectively delivered to learners is still gaining momentum. This is especially the situation when considering EfS/ESD in Higher Education Institutions (HEI).Yet HEIs have the task of preparing graduates for professional employment, where they will be expected to apply their learning. As a consequence, the connections between the relevant theories and knowledge associated with EfS/ESD and their practical applications are critical. Similarly, culture and praxis of a discipline are important as they will influence the way that the learning experiences are developed. Equally the competencies (or capabilities, skills) expected of graduates, by both the HEI and employers, will have a direct bearing on both the content of learning experiences and how they are presented to students. The role of values, and the role of the learner in assisting the goals of EfS/ESD are also considerations in the development of curriculum.More broadly, these considerations, and many others, are critical to the development of a science of teaching and learning for EfS/ESD. While we have seen examples of discussion of the content and direction of EfS/ESD in HEIs, discussion of the pedagogy of EfS/ESD is less evident.Hence, this special issue of Sustainability sought to gain some understanding of the direction of the discussion about pedagogy, an indication of what has been achieved, and where attention is required. The task was to seek contributions from scholars and practitioners whose theoretical or practical works examine issues associated with the development and delivery of curriculum, to contribute to the emerging discussion around the pedagogy for EfS/ESD in HEIs.While the content that is included in EfS/ESD is clearly important, so too is the process by which that content is conveyed to learners. A most important component of the pedagogy associated with EfS/ESD is the process by which learners experience the material and values. This is the central theme of the contribution by Barth and Burandt [1], who emphasise the importance of learner centred OPEN ACCESS

Effective Teaching and Activities of Excellent Teachers for the Sustainable Development of Higher Design Education

“…Higher education institutions (HEIs) continuously strive to develop and deliver impactful educational programs, thus, they perform periodical curricular reviews adhering to internal and external quality assurance systems [10]. While there has been a great deal of publicity, and ESD in higher education has been effective, discussions on sustainable teaching approaches for design education are rare [11].Therefore, this study aims to explore "sustainable teaching", which aims to understand the sustainable development of higher design education, explores effective and sustainable teaching activities for high-quality design education teachers, and expects to enhance the teaching of higher design education. Quality and student learning outcomes are as follows.Based on the above argument, this study aims to (see Figure 1):…”

“…Higher education institutions (HEIs) continuously strive to develop and deliver impactful educational programs, thus, they perform periodical curricular reviews adhering to internal and external quality assurance systems [10]. While there has been a great deal of publicity, and ESD in higher education has been effective, discussions on sustainable teaching approaches for design education are rare [11].…”

Competences to Address SDGs in Higher Education—A Reflection on the Equilibrium between Systemic and Personal Approaches to Achieve Transformative Action

“…Consequently, pedagogical discourse should receive much more attention in the HE context, as demonstrated in the third presented case study. The relationship between competence-oriented teaching/learning and relevant pedagogies has also been suggested by other authors [57,85,86] but as the empirical findings do not support close interdependence [25], it is imperative that this be the subject of further research.…”

Preparing Public Pedagogies with ICT: The Case of Pesticides and Popular Education in Brazil

“…Thus, it is necessary to warn and show demonstrate it to the community and students of different levels of regular education. However, it is in discussion how that can be effectively applied to education, mainly for colleges [2].…”