[email protected] sustainability in higher education – moving from understanding to action:...
TRANSCRIPT
Sustainability in Higher Education –Moving from Understanding to Action: Breaking Barriers for Transformation
presentation for UNICA Academic Footprint Workshop, Oslo May 3rd, 2011
Arjen E.J. Wals
“The conventional wisdom holds that all education is good, and the more of it one has, the better.… The truth is that without significant precautions, [it] can equip people merely to be more effective vandals of the Earth” (D. Orr).
Higher Education’s Response (Wals & Blewitt,
2010)
Creating environmental engineering/studies programmes (70-ties onwards)
Greening of campuses (90-ties onwards) Whole institution approaches
Sterling: denial, bolt-on, built in, whole system re-design
Three binaries in Higher Education: where to go?
1. Science for impact factors – science for society
2. Increasing efficiency– promoting authentic learning
3. Science as ‘commodity’ – science as ‘community’
barrier way out
Science for impact factors – barrier?
T1990 2000 2010
Time to read/review
n-publicationsn-scientists
[email protected]: George Siemens, 2008
Sustainability Competence (1)
Understanding sustainable development Systems thinking Adopting an integral view
Personal leadership and entrepreneurship Unlocking creativity, utilizing diversity Appreciating chaos & complexity Fostering collective change
Dynamics of SD
Change & Innovation
Sustainability Competence (2) – (Wals,2010)
Transformative learning
Trans-spatial
Gestalt
Trans-cultural
Gestalt
Trans-temporal
Gestalt
Trans-disciplinary
Gestalt
Third generation university – science 2.0 Scientia Techne Praxis
Focus Learning for knowing
Learning for doing
Learning for being
Knowledge produced
Propositional Practical Experiential
Stucture
Subject disciplines Crafts/Skills Issues/Competences
Teacher’s role Expert Master Facilitator
Teaching strategies
Lectures on theory Instruction Demonstrations
Real-world Projects
Research style Basic (Experimental)
Applied (Developmental)
Action (Participative)
Research goals Abstract-universal knowledge
Workplace Solutions
Contextual knowledge / Action for change
Basic philosophy
Positivism Utilitarianism Constructivism
A Framework for Facilitating Sustainability
University as an University as an institutioninstitution Community Community
linkageslinkages
Pedagogy, Pedagogy, learning and learning and instructioninstruction
Contents, Contents, CurriculumCurriculum
ResearchResearchFacilitating Facilitating SustainabilitySustainability
Key questions for today’s universities
Normatively – to what end? Epistemologically – what kind of knowledge?
what counts as knowledge? Relationally – what kind of interface with the
community/society is needed to remain relevant?
Methodologically – what kind of research methodologies are congruent with this changing role/position?
Pedagogically – what are appropriate learning processes and learning outcomes?
