Definitions of sustainability

Anna Hughes has compiled a comprehensive slide show Definitions of sustainability

.

When "waste not want not" goes horribly wrong.

Using posessions sustainably by reusing and recycling is laudible but there are limits. Surround yourself with things that you need and a limited quantity of things you just like and want. Excessive clutter has the ability to affect our mood and the way we function as individuals socially, at home and at work.

Our ability to function effectively at work is important. This site gives ideas for being organised and minimising clutter at work.

This site has many tips and ideas for getting organised around the home and avoiding clutter.

For some people collecting useful items has become such an obsessive activity that is no longer sustainable, and has had damaging and serious effects on peoples lives.

How to survive the world around us.

"All stress isn’t bad. Stress can initiate change, help us focus on the task at hand, and in some cases even save our lives. Yet, when stress builds up, it can result in the opposite— and cause us to spin our wheels, keep us from concentrating, and cause bodily injury and even loss of life. "
At the end of the day we want to be able to look back at a life that has been fulfilling, enjoyable and happy. In our busy lives it is important to manage stress levels and look after ourselves to work towards this end goal. This site has some tips for stress management.

Sustainability an essential part of every course.

Week 8

Reflect on your process of designing an experiential learning activity that enhances sustainability awareness for your students and provides them with the tools to add social, environmental and economic value to your industry.

The idea of ‘The project’ was at first daunting but on-going discussions with the course convenor helped clarify my ideas and set me on my current course. 

Reflective practice

It seemed to me that the key to it all was for us all to examine our behaviour at all levels and engage in reflective practice.  To consider how continuing with business as usual would play out in the future for myself and those around me.  And to think about how changing that behaviour could lead to greater sustainability for both myself and for those whose lives I touch ‘when wearing my various hats.’

How do we get buy-in to sustainability at all levels of society?

What is the connection between experiential learning and sustainability?

Te Kete Ipurangi (the basket of knowledge).

This site is run by the Ministry of Education and gives guidelines and information about Education for Sustainability in the New Zealand curriculum
Experiential learning in education for sustainability is developed through personal experience, guided reflection and learning conversations. It places the student at the centre of teaching and learning to explore sustainability issues in authentic contexts using active personal experience combined with reflection and feedback to develop deeper understanding.Experiential learning activities vary in length, complexity and contexts addressed. When exploring sustainability issues teachers are encouraged to provide a range of experiential learning opportunities including experiences in the environment. To see case studies of learning experiences outside of the classroom click here.

Education for Sustainability

Week 6

For week 6, the course out line called for students of this course to: -

 Plan an experiential learning activity that can enhance sustainability awareness for your students and provide them with tools to add social environmental and economic value to your industry.

The problem with this requirement is that it pre-supposes all students of this course are lecturers.  As non-lecturers are accepted into the course, the tasks need to be couched in more inclusive language, since every person on the planet has a part to play in moving our world towards improved sustainability. The behaviour of every Otago Polytechnic employee has an impact on the people (academic staff, students, service and admin staff, visitors, stakeholders, management etc.) they come into contact with each day. We have a responsibility as individuals to act in a sustainable manner, in as far as we are able, to act as positive role models for others.  When enough people engage in “doing the right thing” on a regular basis the behaviour comes to be seen as normal and will. Over time, be adopted by others.  ‘Small things done by many can change the world.’

My project will capture the insights gained as I experienced the rolling out of this course.  Careful reflection will highlight those elements that contributed to a successful blended delivery course, identify issues that caused some difficulties and make recommendations for change to improve the course.  In carrying out this exercise a blueprint of successful strategies will be revealed and serve to inform  my own future blended delivery courses.

Tilbury (2004) referred to the terms   ‘critical reflection,’  ‘values clarification,’ and ‘participative action’ as being core components for Environmental Education for Sustainability.  And it is these terms that will be brought into play as I develop my project. 

This EfS course is probably one of the most important courses being conducted by Otago Polytechnic (in terms of the end goal of turning out sustainable practitioners in every graduating student) since it moulds conditions and instils notions of sustainability in the educators and other Polytechnic employees (engaged in the EfS course) who will all ultimately play their part in passing on notions of and modelling sustainable practice behaviours. 

Since Otago Polytechnic is moving more and more towards blended delivery of courses because of its cost effectiveness, flexibility and perceived enhanced benefit to students it is most important to examine such courses routinely and carefully to see if they perform in the manner expected, to look for any problems or issues that may need tweaking and (since all learning is dynamic and ever changing) to look for ways to make improvements.   

My plan is to critique the EfS (Education for Sustainability) course wearing my student hat.  The rationale for this is to try to find the best fit for content and delivery of this course both from my perspective and from the perspective of my classmates.  I gathered informal feedback from classmates in on-going discussions with them throughout the course, and by having them complete a course evaluation at the end. 

This project is important not only for examining this course but for also using it as a background source of ideas for creating my own blended delivery courses of English for foreign nationals.  These courses are supposed to be moving to more of a blended model but it is all new territory so it is change that needs to be managed very carefully.  The challenges (that I will go into more fully later) that my classmates encountered would be much more significant for the students that I teach since English may be their 2^nd or 3^rd  (or more) language.

Education for Sustainability – Course critique

The pros:-

• This course is well constructed from a content point of view.  It links to many excellent and useful resources which have served to open my eyes to a much more holistic view of what exactly sustainable practice equals.  Coming from a starting point of sustainability being all about recycling and looking after the environment to now understanding its much broader application as it relates to the economy, society and ecology and recognising that we all have a part to play in moving towards a sustainable future. 
• The course has raised my awareness of what is being done in my local community, highlighted opportunities to become involved in various sustainable activities and given me insights as to how I might change my own behaviour at a personal level and incorporate notions of sustainability into my own courses.
• The face to face sessions were extremely valuable and exposed me to a wide range of ideas from the course convenor and fellow students. The student cohort came from widely varied backgrounds and had a wealth of experiences and ideas to share.
• As the course materials were online I was able to engage with them whenever it suited me.

The cons:-

• No fixed deadlines were set for completion of assessable work.  This sounds very accommodating but meant that students did not give coursework the timely priority it should have had. This resulted in the equivalent of a terms work still not being completed by the end of the year for all but one student.  This comes about largely because of the policy of open enrolment.  Students can begin the course whenever they want to and complete within a timeframe that suits them within a year period.
• There were multiple platforms for course materials.  This was confusing.  Both Moodle and Wiki educator were used.
• Feedback was not routinely given for all completed work in any regularised manner. Sometimes it was comments to a blog posting, sometimes an email, sometimes oral and sometimes nothing at all.  With the course being linear in nature I found myself waiting to have one piece of work Ok’d before launching on the next bit in case I had not done a satisfactory job of the current piece of submitted work.
• There was no clear line of communication was it supposed to be by blog comments or email or both.
• Open enrolment allows maximum flexibility but when this can occur at any time over the course of a year for an 8 week course it does not allow for a sense of learning community to develop ( a necessary component for the sharing of ideas at face to face meetings).
• The course at present has been designed for lecturers and project tasks are supposed to be delivered to our students.  The course has value in being offered to all staff (academic, administrative, management, service etc.). Because of this it needs to be re-designed to be more inclusive. 
• The course was supposed to represent 50 hours of work.  I found I spend a lot more time than that. I feel that the content should not be cut back as it was valuable, but 10 points should be awarded rather than the present 5 credit points.

Recommendatons:-

1. Increase the points allocation for the course to better reflect the amount of work required.
2. Have clear deadlines for assessed work (and make special provision for those needing more time on a case by case basis).
3. Conduct a needs analysis at the start of the course to ensure that the course will deliver what students want/expect.  Sometimes the course can be modified slightly to accommodate what the students ask for (so long as it fits within the perceived parameters of the course). Some students commented to me that they would have liked a practical aspect like time spent volunteering perhaps on a community garden or the like.  Others said they would have liked a more political focus (perhaps involving some kind of action to effect desirable change on some issue).
4. Students need to know how and when to expect feedback.
5. Some students expressed a desire for more face to face sessions although this can be difficult to arrange when people have different availability for sessions.
6. The course could be tweaked to make it more inclusive for non-academic staff taking the course.
7. One person expressed a desire for more technical support, particularly with the creation of blogs.  This could have been arranged amongst the students themselves with more able students helping less able.
8. And lastly a physical hand-out could be given out at the first face to face session that outlined:-

• the course outline
• what was to be done for assessment.
• Where the course materials were to be found and an explanation of the purpose of multiple platforms if more than one was to be used.

What does education for sustainability mean at an international level?

 

It is argued that "Education is an essential tool for achieving sustainability. People around the world recognize that current economic development trends are not sustainable and that public awareness, education and training are key to moving society toward sustainability" (Hopkins & McKeown 2000).

CHAPTER 2 provides a thought provoking article on sustainability and education in a global playing field.

Reference: Hopkins, Charles and McKeown, Rosalyn. (2000). Chapter 2, Education for sustainable development: an international perspective in Tilbury, D., Fien, J., Stevenson, R.B., and Schreuder, D. (2000). Education and Sustainability: Responding to the Global Challenge

 Week 5.  Reflection: How the reorientation of education (according to Hopkins and McKeown’s article) and the extra knowledge and skills needed to educate for sustainability, fit with Otago Polytechnics aims visions and policies.

I have extracted a number of key ideas from this reading to explore further.

What is EfS?
A difficulty in moving forward with new standardised courses for EfS courses is that, while we can readily describe current practices that are unsustainable, there are many and varied visions about what a sustainable society would look like.
Otago Polytechnic policy now requires teachers to intertwine aspects of EfS into all courses. While this approach is laudable the idea is not without its problems. There is no ‘one course’ or approach that is to be rolled out to all courses. Practitioners have the freedom to create learning experiences that best fit their individual courses.
Before this can happen effectively however in-service training needs to be provided for teachers to adequately teach them what EfS is, to decide what kind of skills and values might need to be instilled in students and what kind of learner centred activities could employed to involve the students in critical thinking and reflection around issues to do with sustainable practice.
Illustration through modelling of courses delivering EfS at other institutions would also help educators in their quest for ideas for incorporating EfS into their courses.
There is a paper in the Graduate Certificate for Tertiary Learning and Teaching (GCTLT) that would serve as training for teachers, ‘Education for Sustainability’ (EfS) but this course is not compulsory. This leaves room for huge variation in interpretation as to what EfS means and how it will be incorporated in any given course. There are some educators whose simplistic view of EfS might have them deliver one 50 minute class in a course, about recycling, and this is their obligation met. Perhaps this is a matter of ‘lip service.’

EfS needs to have a much broader application than this however if it is to create sustainable practitioners of our graduands. Perhaps educators could be required at their annual performance review to state how EfS was incorporated into their course. Also at school level there should be collegial sharing of ideas for the incorporation of EfS into courses.

Several themes have emerged at world conferences concerning themselves with ESD (Education for sustainable development) that serve to broaden the scope of ESD. Each conference:-
*stressed the need for social and human development along with economic development and environmental concern;
*called for the advancement and empowerment of women;
*demanded basic social services for all;
* recognized the critical importance of sustainable livelihoods;
*cited the necessity of broad enabling environments for social and   economic development;
*sought to sustain the environment and natural resources on which all people depend;
*underlined the importance of human rights; and
* identified the role of education as critical to achieving sustainability goals.
While there is a great deal of variance in the descriptors for what a sustainable future might look like these themes mentioned above are hugely significant and actually need to be taught so that educators are informed by the same ideas. For sustainable practice to result however education must have at its core, the fundamental values that will protect and sustain the environment, society and the economy both now and in the future.
A first step in moving towards EfS is to improve basic education. Nations with high illiteracy rates and unskilled workforces have fewer development options and currently find themselves, of necessity, exploiting natural resources in unsustainable ways just to survive now; without having the luxury of being able to look to the future and consider the flow on effects of their actions. Provision of basic literacy and numeracy allows the development of sustainable targets, improves agricultural productivity, the status of women, the education and health of children, environmental protection, reduces the population, and in general raises the standard of living. Improving basic literacy and numeracy alone however will not in itself support a sustainable society. To the contrary, “the most educated nations have the highest per capita rates of consumption and currently leave the deepest ecological footprints.”

What is needed is a reorientation of education to a new model. One that has at its core the learning of knowledge, skills, values and perspectives that will guide and motivate people to lead sustainable lives, to participate in a democratic society and to live in a sustainable manner.

According to Hopkins and McKeown, students need to develop a range of
Knowledge and skills for ESD
*the ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing;
*the ability to think about systems (both natural and social systems);
*the ability to think in time – to forecast, to think ahead, and to plan;
*the ability to think critically about value issues;
*the ability to comprehend quantity, quality, and value;
*the capacity to move from awareness to knowledge to action;
*the ability to work cooperatively with other people;
*the capacity to use various processes – knowing, inquiring, acting,
judging, imagining, connecting, valuing, questioning and choosing; and
*the capacity to develop an aesthetic response to the environment.
In addition, pupils will need to learn specific skills that will help them manage and interact with their local environment, economy and society. Regarding the environment, such skills may include:
*learning to prepare materials for recycling;
*learning to harvest wild plants without jeopardizing future natural
regeneration and production;
*learning to grow low-water-need crops; and
*learning to protect local water sources from contamination.

A number of assumptions underpin the values necessary for a sustainable future.

*a healthy environment is essential for sustainable development;
*sustainability is a global goal for the betterment of both humanity and the
planet;
*sustainability should be achieved through democratic processes;
*sustainability depends on peace, justice, and equity;
*the individual has basic human rights;
*no nation or people should prosper through the explicit impoverishment
of another nation;
*diversity, both biological and cultural, is intrinsically valuable;
*development is to be human-centred (i.e., for the betterment of humanity as a whole as opposed to empowerment of a few); and
*intergenerational respect and responsibility will safeguard the rights of
future generations.
Otago Polytechnic began moving toward ESD by looking at the knowledge and skills that would be necessary for its implementation, and then examined the perspectives and values that underpinned it. The next key consideration was to help society address the major issues that threatened the sustainability of the planet and mankind.
Our mission is to develop capable practitioners for Otago and New Zealand. Capable practitioners are people who have specialised knowledge and (technical) skill and also a range of personal qualities that enable them to be effective in the work place, i.e. to perform in their chosen vocational area.
Also, we develop our learners so that they may be “creatively capable”, i.e. so that they are open to new ways of thinking and doing, and can bring innovative solutions to the problems which they may face in work and life generally.
There are a number of key personal qualities which underpin capability. Our graduates will have the following attributes, consistent with their field of study and level of qualification obtained. They will be:-
1. Skilful communicators of ideas and information, both verbally and in writing and through the appropriate use of information and communication technologies
2. Creatively capable - Thinking creatively – able to explore innovative ideas and new ways and apply to decisions and judgements
3. Problem solving – able to identify and analyse problems and develop solutions
4. Literate,information and digitally literate and numerate o Literate – able to listen and read with understanding and to write with clarity and purpose
5. Numerate– able to use mathematical and numerical knowledge to meet the demand of study and work
6. Information literate – able to research, access, analyse and use information from a variety of sources (including contemporary information sources, repositories and modes)
7. Digitally literate– able to use, communicate with and learn through information technology.
8. Personally effective - Self-aware – have self-knowledge, be self-critical and able to take into account their feelings and intuition
9. Adaptable–prepared to learn and adapt; and to participate effectively in and respond to change. Open to new ways of thinking and acting; future focused
10. Reflective – able to assess the effectiveness of their actions and learn from experiences. Critical of and creative in their thinking and action

Students possessing these qualities mentioned above will, in combination, will give rise to graduates ready to take their part in creating a sustainable future. Number 7 creates something of a problem however. It calls for digital literacy and the ability to use, communicate with and learn through information technology. This is a fundamental skill needed for both staff and students. Otago Polytechnic in a recent cost saving measure closed many Community Learning Centres (CLC’s) and removed a number of computer suites.

This was no doubt done with the belief that students would have learned digital literacy through the state school system and so did not need this facility any more. And it was expected that the trend these days was for students to carry their own lap tops with them.

This is not the usually the case for refugees, immigrants and international students for whom English is a second language. Many do not have the means to buy their own lap top and may not have had any training in computer use. For these students the CLC’s were extremely important for computer training. In this way they were able catch up with main stream students and have computer access that they might otherwise not have had. There are also staff that are similarly disadvantaged now, through not having access to training in computer use. A short sighted move I would have thought for both teachers and students in an era of blended delivery where both groups need high levels of digital literacy. And this move certainly does not support the stated goal of digital literacy for all students and for teachers (possessing cutting edge literacy in computing and other educational technology). To remedy this apparent mismatch of ideas I would like to see goals for EfS matched to capital expenditure so that the goal is supported by appropriate expenditure.

These are just two areas where there is a mismatch between goal, and behaviour that will realise that goal. For most part Otago Polytechnic has made significant inroads in educating students in such a way as to create graduands that may be considered sustainable practitioners of the future.