Download Core Pedagogies in SUSTAINABILITY

Core Pedagogies in
SUSTAINABILITY
1.
Promote understanding
without doom and gloom
2.
Focus on solutions
3.
Practice being a positive
agent of change:
Move from analysis to action
Promote Understanding
 Political Science: In comparative politics, use a
sustainability theme when discussing economic history,
development history, cultural identity and relationship to
the land, and current political issues/problems as they
pertain to sustainable development (natural resources,
laws, use of international or domestic courts,
development pattern).
 Math: Use energy consumption data and curve fitting to
obtain functions to analyze.
 Chemistry: When teaching balancing equations, use as
an example the combustion of fossil fuels to relate to
how pollutants are released into the atmosphere.
Promote Understanding
 Education, psychology or business: To explain
cognitive dissonance, use a sustainability related real life
example about resistance to behavior change when
exposed to new information.
 Psychology: Provide examples of how to promote ecofriendly behaviors while teaching concepts of persuasion
and operant conditioning.
 Business: When describing the concept of a sustainable
business model, use examples of businesses that have
been successful embracing a triple bottom line
sustainable business model
Promote Understanding
 Biology: Present facts about human suffering regarding
nutrition and the food chain and water resources globally
and the need for sustainability as well as examples of
improvements and data showing some progress from the
Millennium Development Goals and Oxfam.
 Ecology: In discussing biodiversity, include a case study
about a successful biosphere reserve that protects an
ecosystem while also incorporating sustainable use by
local communities (e.g. ecotourism, shade-grown
coffee).
Focus on Solutions
 Political science, sociology, business: When explaining
social capital, describe how native Bolivians organized in
order to regain public ownership of water supplies.
 Earth sciences, biology, history: Tie the discussion of
historical events to environmental drivers. Refer to
examples of civilization disruptions/collapse/causes of
conflict when societies damaged their ecosystems (e.g.,
Irish potato famine as a result of monoculture production:
focusing on a single crop meant that when that crop failed,
famine ensued). Include discussion prompts of how we
(individuals, regions, countries) can use this knowledge of
history to prevent future conflicts.
 Biology, Environmental Science, Ecology: Examine how
sustaining environmental life-support systems benefits
human health.
Focus on Solutions
 History: When discussing the colonial settlement in the North
America, examine the relationship between the settlers and their
environment. When studying the Great Depression, include a
substantial discussion of the Dust Bowl and the policies developed
to prevent future disasters on this scale.
 Career information: Compare and contrast unsustainable versus
"new" sustainability thinking in professions related to each academic
area. Connect to U.S. Department of Labor’s work on the need for
sustainability thinking in existing professions.
 Chemistry: Have students study the infamous unintended
consequences of some past chemical discoveries, discuss what
might have avoided those consequences (e.g., a holistic rather than
a reductionist approach), and then learn the principles of green
chemistry and apply them in retrospect to the past discoveries.
Would the results have been different?
Be an Agent of Change
 Math: Go beyond having students calculate the negative
ecological impacts of buying water bottles. Have them
share their calculations with appropriate groups on
campus that might organize a campus-wide campaign
for reusable water bottles and water refilling stations.
 Biology, Ecology, Environmental Science: Have
students identify on-campus health-related “issues.”
Guide them through a process of vision creation,
systemic thinking (using the triple bottom line
sustainability principles), use of data and the generation
of an authentic initiative that can be used on campus to
make real change.
 Education: Ask pre- and in-service teachers in science
education to develop action plans that promote
education for a sustainable future (ESF) in their schools.
Be An Agent of Change
 Psychology, Sociology: Help students learn about
scientific methodologies of surveys and qualitative
interviewing by having them conduct a survey of possible
sustainability related projects within non-profits that need
interns for implementation and then share the results with
the service learning office on campus. The various stages of
the project (designing the survey, testing reliability,
conducting the survey, writing the results) could be carried
out over several terms.
 Psychology, Communications: When teaching the core
concepts of communication and persuasion, utilize examples
of how to persuade people to be more environmentally and
socially responsible (e.g., promote less energy waste, more
recycling, being more politically active, consumption choices
to reduce sweatshops and slave labor). Have students
present to a group of their choice outside the classroom and
receive suggestions on improving their effectiveness.
Be an Agent of Change
 Any discipline: Have a civic engagement component
where students can contribute to creating a more
sustainable future using the core concepts from the course.
Students might choose reducing energy waste in residential
halls, making school gardens, food co-operatives, park
clean-ups, green fairs, and human rights groups.
 Natural sciences: Have students take their Ecological
Footprints at www.myfootprint.org and reflect upon how
what they are learning in their course can help them reduce
their damage to our shared ecosystems. Ask them to
create a personal plan to reduce their footprint and to take
two steps from the plan during the semester; list three
behaviors that they can practice in their own home or work
environment to be more sustainable for one month; for
another month…
 Any discipline: Have students participate in a Positive
Futures Fair where they explore sustainability related
volunteer and career opportunities. Student affairs offices
or campus Sustainability Coordinators can sponsor such a
fair on the college campus.