University of Gloucestershire Business School Writer’s Workshop

11 April 2011

David Selby

• What have we done that is worth telling and sharing?

• What key learnings do we have to communicate?

What do we see as blocks and obstacles to our publishing in ESD journals?

Dimensions of Sustainability • Aesthetic • Cultural • Ecological • Economic • Educational • Ethical

• Health • Philosophical • Political • Scientific • Social • Spiritual • Technological

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a learning process (or approach to tethat underlie sustainability and is concerned with all levels and types of education. ESD supports five fundamental types of learning to provide quality education and foster sustainable human development – learning to know, learning to be, learning to live together, learning to do and learning to transform oneself and society.

Education for Sustainable Development must be seen as a comprehensive package for quality education and learning within which key issues such as poverty reduction, sustainable livelihoods, climate change, gender equality, corporate social responsibility and protection of indigenous cultures, to name a few, are found.

(ESD description/definition as provided in the original DESD guidelines)

Key Words in ESD Definitions (Wals, A. 2009. Review of Contexts and Structures for Education for Sustainable Development 2009. Paris: UNESCO, p.27)

• Creating awareness • Local and global vision • Responsibility (learn to be

responsible) • Learning to change • Participation • Lifelong learning • Critical thinking

• Systemic approach and understanding complexity

• Decision making • Interdisciplinary • Problem-solving • Satisfying the needs of the

present without compromising future generations

Wals, A. 2009. Review of Contexts and Structures for Education for Sustainable Development 2009. Paris: UNESCO, p.27 Wals, A. 2009. Review of Contexts and Structures for Education for Sustainable Development 2009. Paris: UNESCO, p.27

Sustainability Literacy: Skills &Knowledge

• An appreciation of the importance of environmental, social, political and economic contexts for each discipline;

• A broad and balanced foundation knowledge of sustainable development, its key principles and the main debate within them, including its contested and expanding boundaries;

• Problem-solving skills in a non-reductionist manner for highly complex real-life problems;

• Ability to think creatively and holistically and to make critical judgements; • Ability to develop a high-level of self-reflection (both personal and professional); • Ability to identify, understand, evaluate and adopt values conducive to

sustainability; • Ability to bridge the gap between theory and practice; in sustainable development,

only transformational action counts; • Ability to practice creatively in inter-disciplinary teams; and • Ability to initiate and manage change.

-HEA (2006) Sustainable Development in Higher Education Current Practice and Future Development: Progress Report for Senior Managers in Higher Education, Higher Education Academy, p.7.

EMBEDDING ESD IN HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM • INFUSION • INTERDISCIPLINARITY • TRANSDISCIPLINARITY

ORDERS OF CHANGE AND LEARNING • FIRST-ORDER CHANGE/ LEARNING • SECOND-ORDER CHANGE/ LEARNING • THIRD-ORDER CHANGE/LEARNING (after Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline, 1990)

Shift towards an ESD pedagogy: • From consumptive learning to discovery learning and creative problem solving; • From teacher-centred to learner-centred arrangements; • From individual learning to collaborative learning • From theory-dominated learning to praxis-oriented learning • From sheer knowledge accumulation to problematic issue orientation • From content-oriented learning to self-regulative learning • From institutional staff-based learning to learning with and from outsiders • From lower level cognitive learning to higher level cognitive learning • From emphasizing only cognitive objectives to also emphasizing affective and skill-

related objectives (p. 229) Wals, A. & Jickling, B. (2002). Sustainability in higher education: From doublethink and newspeak to critical thinking and meaningful learning. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 3(3) 221-232.

Review of ESD learning frameworks and processes • processes of collaboration and dialogue (including multi-stakeholder and

intercultural dialogue); • processes which engage the ‘whole system’; • processes which innovate curriculum as well as teaching and learning • experiences; and processes of active and participatory learning. • learning to ask critical questions; • learning to clarify one’s own values; • learning to envision more positive and sustainable futures; • learning to think systemically; • learning to respond through applied learning; and, learning to explore the

dialectic between tradition and innovation. -Tilbury, D. (2011) Education for Sustainable Development: An Expert Review of Processes of Learning. Paris: UNESCO. pp. 7-8

Curriculum

Community Campus

Culture

A ‘4C’ MODEL FOR THE SUSTAINABILITY UNIVERSITY

Abstract 1

Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) is an area which is rapidly expanding amongst Higher Education institutions as the power of available hardware rises facilitating new and innovative HE teaching and learning environments. The University Institute of recently allocated funds to stimulate a learning technology program which was generally intended to impinge on all 4 Faculties within the insititution. Each faculty was asked to bring forward, software development schemes and bids for equipment and other, necessary resources such as human resources, consumables, etc. The purpose of this paper is to describe the experience of a team of academics in the Department of French, School of Modern Languages within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Studies at the University Institute of in the development of a Computer-assisted learning software program. Funding was made available from a central source to develop and implement a software program to assist French language learners to acquire vocabulary in "an innovative and measurably effective manner". The software was implemented and tested on a cohort of level 2 students who had, in general, studied French for 8 years, and staff and students were consulted with regards to their reactions.

Abstract 2

Reviews the manufacturing and processing challenges involved in the later stages of the manufacture of large area full frontal wire mesh coating and describes some of the techniques employed by CSW Packaging Solutions.

Abstract 3

In this article, research as "mass media" (Lerhmann) is appraised. "Videocy" or videoed research results are examined. A form of video research with its roots in action research, Cabalistic methodology and oral anthropology is reported on. The counterparts it produces, wherein disclosure loops are used to produce an effect similar to the fractalizations of reality, achieves a powerful simulation of reality. But is it a "responsible" form of (research) practice?

Do We Have the Data? • Policies, strategies and working documents • Records of staff meetings • Curriculum documents • Learning and teaching materials • Retrospective interviews (with each other; with

students) • Retrospective reflection and feedback sheets (by

ourselves; from students) • Focus group discussions • Course evaluations • Student artifacts

The Good ESD Article (the ‘sand timer’) • Overview of general literature • Overview of topic-specific literature • Setting context • Describing the initiative • Describing the methodology of the enquiry • Describing and analyzing what happened and what the

outcomes were • Relating the findings and insights back to the general and

topic-specific literature (do they reinforce or lead to a rethink of what has been said and/or concluded before?)

• Flagging findings for folding into policy and/or practice

THANK YOU!

http://www.sustainabilityfrontiers.org