“Sustainability” in higher education

Abstract

It is higher education’s responsibility to continuously challenge and critique value and knowledge claims that have prescriptive tendencies. Part of this responsibility lies in engaging students in socio‐scientific disputes. The ill‐defined nature of sustainability manifests itself in such disputes when conflicting values, norms, interests, and reality constructions meet. This makes sustainability – its need for contextualization and the debate surrounding it – pivotal for higher education. It offers an opportunity for reflection on the mission of our universities and colleges, but also a chance to enhance the quality of the learning process. This paper explores both the overarching goals and process of higher education from an emancipatory view and with regard to sustainability.

La sostenibilidad en la formación universitaria: desafíos y oportunidades

“…Desde esta óptica la institución universitaria no puede quedar al margen del camino hacia la sostenibilidad; lo que implica reorientar la gestión de recursos, la docencia, el aprendizaje, las interacciones entre los miembros de la comunidad universitaria y las relaciones entre la universidad y la sociedad con criterios de sostenibilidad (Wals y Jickling, 2002;Wrigth 2004;Velazquez et al, 2005;Adomssent y Michelsen, 2006;Wals y Corcoran, 2006;Adomssent et al, 2007;Axelsson et al, 2008;Junyent y Geli, 2008;FerrerBalas et al, 2008).…”

Potential of service-learning to promote sustainability competencies in pre-service teachers: a case study

“…Hence, a culture of teaching will need to be surpassed by a culture of learning (Barth et al, 2007) -one that will not be implemented per se but rather constituted through discovery and the construction of new understandings, in negotiation with indigenous, local and lay stakeholders (Parker, 2010). Indeed, integrating sustainability into higher education is likely to bring academics into new pedagogic practices (Bawden & Wals, 2000, as cited in Wals & Jickling, 2002, involving shifts from: knowledge accumulation to issue orientation; theorydominated learning to practice-oriented learning; low-level to higher cognitive learning; emphasis on cognitive outcomes to affective and skill-related outcomes; and individual learning to learning in heterogeneous communities, within which students are exposed to a range of stakeholder perceptions, values and decision-making processes (Barth et al, 2007;Brundiers et al, 2010;Parker, 2010;Shephard, 2008;Wals & Jickling, 2002).…”

La formación de maestros en Educación Infantil desde la perspectiva de la sostenibilida. Un estudio de caso en la Universidad de Cádiz

“…Se trata no solo de incluir en las aulas universitarias contenidos relacionados con la sostenibilidad, hecho que simplificaría sobremanera su condición transdisciplinar (Wals y Jickling, 2002), sino más bien de cambiar formas de pensar, de actuar y de vivir dentro del mundo universitario y en concreto del espacio aula. El reto estriba en diseñar estrategias metodológicas que promuevan la evolución hacia una comprensión compleja del mundo.…”

“…Muestra que se puede abordar el conocimiento desde caminos diversos y que existen varios medios para solucionar una misma problemática. Se deben establecer puentes entre esta y el conocimiento disciplinar, facilitando la perspectiva sistémica y transdisciplinar propia de la sostenibilidad (Wals y Jickling, 2002). …”