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Embedding ESD in ITE: from compliance to commitment – sowing the seeds of change

Embedding ESD in ITE: from compliance to commitment – sowing the seeds of change. Denise Summers, TELL Event 3.5.13. Progress on ESD.

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Embedding ESD in ITE: from compliance to commitment – sowing the seeds of change

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  1. Embedding ESD in ITE: from compliance to commitment – sowing the seeds of change Denise Summers, TELL Event 3.5.13

  2. Progress on ESD • Sustainability literacy should by now be woven into the fabric of our educational culture. Our present ignorance and lack of engagement is nothing short of shameful ... (Blewitt, 2010, 16) • Education is a slow learner (Sterling, 2009)

  3. Initiative at Plymouth University • ESD Assessed Learning Outcome from 2007 • Co-operative inquiry to support devpt(Heron and Reason 2001; Summers 2010; Summers and Turner 2011) • ESD embedded in all modules

  4. Research - 6 years on • explore student teachers’ and teacher educators’ conceptualisations of ESD, in order to gather a broad perspective on the different ways of making sense of what is Sustainable Development, and its role in Education, to identify what has informed and influenced this understanding; • examine the stories of how this understanding has developed, and is affecting, individuals’ personal and professional lives; • develop understanding of how this may have been influenced by the introduction of ESD within the PGCE/Cert Ed on students and colleagues.

  5. Table 1 Sterling’s (2011, 25)Levels of Learning and Change

  6. Initial comment from a tutor • I feel that currently ESD is being promoted by well-meaning enthusiasts but is in the same category as animal rights activists, anti-capitalist movements, CND, environmentalist protesters and possibly vegans as well - we all agree in the sentiment but we don’t go around blowing up people’s cars, living in trees or eating horrible cheese!

  7. Conceptualisation of ESD • The majority focus on the environment at first, but this is developing: • ‘there are multiple definitions which can cause confusion and vagueness but are necessary given the various global, local, regional perspectives’ • … ‘sustainability of communities, organisations, departments, courses, and staff and students’ • … ‘encapsulates a culture towards recognising human potential and interdependence of the world we inhabit. It should be a way of being, implicit to our daily lives. The well-being of the world.’

  8. Initial anxieties • Lack of knowledge and confidence • Concern about tackling people’s personal value bases • Another thing to include • Causing anxiety about the future • Appearing hypocritical

  9. Culture of compliance • Not part of mainstream curriculum and no authority to include • Introduced to meet ESD ALO but not since (student) • Introduced when part of programme, but when changed provider, no longer a priority (tutor)

  10. Our responsibility as teachers • … they have a ‘very authoritative role’ and a ‘very fixed view’ about the role of a teacher • ‘Confidence in something I'm not confident about. And actually use that lack of confidence or lack of knowledge as a teaching device. • … has developed a range of projects with her students exploring waste, recycling, poverty, consumption and community relations within the local community and further afield • … bouncing ideas off each other … doing presentations on ESD and our own role, which I think was really interesting for people, because the ones that were struggling with that, kind of just said, “here's what I do, can you all tell me what I can do” which was really good. I think we got more out of that because we were all there just as individuals.

  11. Our responsibility as teachers • … you are training people, you are teaching people, you're working with people who are going to be working in jobs that at the moment don't even exist … • Without a questioning and enquiring approach patterns of behaviour can quickly become entrenched and thoughtless – dogmatic, even. • I am passionate about ESD, but the more I learn, the more I realise that the spectrum is so vast!! Becoming an agent for change is vital.

  12. Levels of learning and change • Some evidence of first level learning – conformative / doing things better • More evidence of second level learning – reformative / doing better things’ • Glimmers of third level learning – transformative / seeing different things

  13. For the future • There are many obstacles and dilemmas to face when most formal learning is concerned with first order learning • Will continue to be agents of change • Consolidate the second order learning and change • Our embedding of ESD is a good step towards encouraging student teachers to move on to third level learning and change to prepare for the unknown challenges in a sustainable future.

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