Ethical Literacies And Education For Sustainable Development

This book explores the ethical dimensions surrounding the development of education for sustainable development within schools, and examines these issues through the lens of ethical literacy. The book argues that teaching children to engage with nature is crucial if they are to develop a true understanding of sustainability and climate issues, and claims that sustainability education is much more successful when pupils are treated as moral agents rather than being passive subjects of testing and assessment. The collection brings together a range of fresh and creative perspectives on how issues around ethical literacies can be elaborated and expanded with regard to democratic sustainability education. The use of children ́s books in teaching about sustainability is carefully explored, as are the ethical and aesthetic dimensions of environmental education. Including an afterword by Arjen Wals, Professor of Transformative Learning for Socio-Ecological Sustainability, the book will be of great interest to students and researchers in the field of sustainability education.

Education for Sustainability is a component of Encyclopedia of Human Resources Policy, Development and Management in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Education for Sustainability provides the essential aspects and a myriad of issues of great relevance connection between education and more sustainable futures and embraces a reality that all need to know. It demands a much broader interpretation of education--a holistic perspective that accommodates new and challenging ideas. Such education is imperative in creating the knowledge, wisdom and vision needed for the transition to a more sustainable world. In helping to design this sustainable future, education for sustainability implements a vital systemic perspective that will allow for a complex interdependence of all life forms and Earth. This volume is aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students, Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers and NGOs.

The aim of this book is to support and inspire teachers to contribute to much-needed processes of sustainable development and to develop teaching practices and professional identities that allow them to cope with the specificity of sustainability issues and, in particular, with the teaching challenges related to the ethical and political dimension of environmental and sustainability education. Bringing together recent scholarship on the topic, this book translates state-of-the-art academic research into teaching models, methods and tools. Starting with an outline of the challenge of sustainability, it offers insights and models for understanding the interesting yet ambiguous concept of ‘sustainable development’ and the complex process of transforming society in a more sustainable direction (Part I). It then goes on to provide a guide to preparing courses and lessons as well as tools for reflection about teaching practices and the multiplicity of approaches to addressing ethical and political challenges in sustainable development teaching (Part II). Finally, the book offers useful conceptual frameworks, models and typologies about the concrete design and implementation of sustainable development teaching (Part III). This book will be essential reading for students of education, as well as teachers in compulsory and higher education and sustainability education researchers.

"This collection engages environmental, ethical and cultural values perspectives to show how Design and Technology (D&T) Education actively contributes to the significant educational goal of attaining sustainable global futures. An international collection of authors representing all levels of education articulate how D&T research, curriculum theory, policy, and classroom practices can synergise to contribute positively to the education of children for sustainable global futures. The book offers a spectrum of theorised curriculum positions, political and policy analysis, and case studies of successful school practice. A key word in the title is that of contribution which is construed in several senses: first, of D&T as a vehicle for understanding the range of political and social values that arise with such a major educational challenge; second, of D&T as an agent of critical and practical action for students as global citizens; third, by taking global and multiple perspectives (rather than, say, Western or mono-cultural positions); and, fourth, by demonstrating D&T’s capacities for working in holistic and integrative cross-curricular ways. The authors show how students can not only learn about their potential as humans-as-designers but can also develop designerly capacities that enable them to contribute meaningfully in practical ways to their communities and to wider society, that is, as global citizens who can apply design capability in ethical ways that are respectful of peoples, cultures and environments alike."

This timely collection surveys and critiques studies of environmental and sustainability education (ESE) policy since the mid-1990s. The volume draws on a wide range of policy studies and syntheses to provide readers with insights into the international genealogy and priorities of ESE policy. Editors and contributors call for renewed attention to the possibilities for future directions in light of previously published work and innovations in scholarship. They also offer critical commentary on the evolution of research trends, approaches and findings. Including a wide range of examples of ESE policy and policy research, the book draws on studies of educational initiatives and legislation, policy making processes and rhetoric, ideological orthodoxy and critique, curriculum making and educational theory, globalisation and neoliberalism, climate change and environmental worldviews, and much more. In addition, introductory commentary from the editors traces how ESE researchers have dealt with key trends, complexities and issues in the policy-practice-research nexus both conceptually and empirically. Throughout the collection, contributions illustrate how researchers might reimagine and reinvigorate policy research on ESE, including how working with other fields and diverse perspectives, ideas and expertise will aid the cross-fertilisation of a complex terrain of ideas, policy and practice. This book is based on a special issue of Environmental Education Research.

Over the past forty years, media education research has emerged as a historical, epistemological and practical field of study. Shifts in the field—along with radical transformations in media technologies, aesthetic forms, ownership models, and audience participation practices—have driven the application of new concepts and theories across a range of both school and non-school settings. The Handbook on Media Education Research is a unique exploration of the complex set of practices, theories, and tools of media research. Featuring contributions from a diverse range of internationally recognized experts and practitioners, this timely volume discusses recent developments in the field in the context of related scholarship, public policy, formal and non-formal teaching and learning, and DIY and community practice. Offering a truly global perspective, the Handbook focuses on empirical work from Media and Information Literacy (MIL) practitioners from around the world. The book’s five parts explore global youth cultures and the media, trans-media learning, media literacy and scientific controversies, varying national approaches to media research, media education policies, and much more. A ground breaking resource on the concepts and theories of media research, this important book: Provides a diversity of views and experiences relevant to media literacy education research Features contributions from experts from a wide-range of countries including South Africa, Finland, India, Italy, Brazil, and many more Examines the history and future of media education in various international contexts Discusses the development and current state of media literacy education institutions and policies Addresses important contemporary issues such as social media use; datafication; digital privacy, rights, and divides; and global cultural practices. The Handbook of Media Education Research is an invaluable guide for researchers in the field, undergraduate and graduate students in media studies, policy makers, and MIL practitioners.

This encyclopedia serves as a tool to support universities across the world to implement sustainable development in higher education in a number of key areas, spread over 5 volumes:1. Policy-making, visioning, structures, management and strategies 2. Teaching, learning and competencies 3. Research and transformation 4. Campus greening, design, operations and carbon impacts5. Students and stakeholders ́ initiatives and involvement The encyclopedia will be of special interest to administrators and managers at higher education institutions; academic staff (e.g. lecturers, professors, researchers); technical staff and students. Also, other groups working outside higher education, but interested on the theory and practice of sustainable development, will find its contents useful.

A vital resource for sustainability educators, learners and decision-makers on how we can build a more sustainable future. In this ground-breaking book, leading sustainability educators are joined by permaculturists, literary critics, ecologists, artists, journalists, engineers, mathematicians and philosophers in a deep reflection on the skills that people need to survive and thrive in the challenging conditions of the 21st century. Responding to the threats of climate change, peak oil, resource depletion, economic uncertainty and energy insecurity demands the utmost in creativity, ingenuity and new ways of thinking to reinvent self and society. Among the many skills, attributes and values described in The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy are values reflection, coping with complexity, permaculture design, transition skills, advertising awareness, effortless action, and ecological intelligence, each accompanied by ideas for active learning exercises to help develop the skill. Far from being a rigid or definitive statement of the one right way however, the handbook is exploratory, aiming to open up new, unthought-of paths, possibilities and choices. With contributors including John Naish, Satish Kumar, Patrick Whitefield, John Blewitt, Stephan Harding and Stephen Sterling, this is intended for educators, learners and anyone else interested in the vital issue of the skills we need to survive and thrive in the 21st century and build a more sustainable future.