Nature as a Concept in the German-speaking Discourse of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Author(s):
Almut-Maria Jäcklein (presenting / submitting)
Conference:
ECER 2012
Network:
21. Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)
Format:
Poster

Session Information

ERG SES B 04, Interactive Poster Session

Parallel Poster Session

Time:
2012-09-17
11:00-12:30
Room:
FCEE - Aula 2.4
Chair:
Joana da Silveira Duarte
Discussant:
Patrícia Fidalgo

Contribution

As no unlimited natural growth is possible, sustainable and future-oriented strategies are needed to cope with these limits. Developing such strategies in the economical, ecological and social fields is a global challenge which can only be addressed interdisciplinary. Against this background, concepts of education for sustainable development (ESD) have become more and more important in the past few years. The UN Conference on Environment and Development passed the Agenda 21 in 1992, introducing a shift from traditional environmental education, which excluded social and economic aspects, to a comprehensive societal understanding of sustainability (cf. Michelsen 1998, p.165; Hoffmann et al. 2000, p.25; Haan 1999, p.6).

Concepts of ESD are based on different agendas and written by different protagonists in the field. They generally describe –explicitly or implicitly – the relation of individuals with other individuals as well as with nature regarding the normative aim of sustainability. Thus, the question arises by which normative assumptions the respective agendas of ESD are motivated. This paper, which is part of a larger PhD project, presents the concepts of nature which can be reconstructed in the German-speaking discourse.

Up to now, little empirical educational research exists in the German-speaking context which targets the understanding of nature in programmatic discourses of ESD. Although several studies theoretically analyse the term of nature (Gloy 1995, Heiland 1992), only one study touches the relation between ESD and nature within the discourse of ESD. The study shows that in international documents on ESD an anthropocentric approach is adopted (Di Giulio 2004, p.73; 162; 321).

In the international discourse, the concept of nature is only addressed singularly within certain discourse traditions. In „Retrieving Nature“ Bonnett asks „what constitutes a right relationship with nature“ (ibid. 2004, p.128) within the British discourse on ESD. In the Swedish study „Education for Sustainable Development“ Sandell et al. (2005) address environmental problems from different perspectives. They ask about the concepts of nature in ESD, and argue that the international ESD largely corresponds to a „late-modern anthropocentrism“ (Sandell et al. 2005, p.101).

The study tries to react to this deficit research situation, focussing on the research question: “Which concept(s) of nature can be reconstructed from concepts of ESD in the German-speaking discourse?” The empirical reconstruction is based on analysing documents on and of ESD. Based on the interpretation of these documents, this research project addresses the questions (a) if there are different concepts of nature and (b) which position in nature is taken by the individual. It therewith contributes to the current research on ESD in terms of describing normative assumptions which motivate the different concepts of ESD.

Method

The study draws on discourse analysis, reconstructing the discursive processes for the use of “nature” in documents of ESD. The discourse analysis offers an adequate approach to the research question, as it „examines the production, the distribution and the historical modification of interpretations“ (Schwab-Trapp 2006, p.35). The texts and their relations with each other are analysed, focussing on the use of the term “nature”. The reconstructed concepts of nature are then categorized, using the qualitative content analysis developed by Mayring (2008). For inter-subjective validation according to the quality standards of qualitative research (Bohnsack 2005), the categorisation is validated by a second codification and discussed in an interpretation group. Sample: The texts are chosen according to the „theoretical sampling“ (cf. Glaser/Strauss 1998). Because of its open research design, „theoretical sampling“ is especially suitable for deficit research situations. During the analysis, the institutional background of the authors appeared to be constitutive for the character of the text. Therefore, documents with governmental and academic authorship as well as documents from religious institutions and NGOs are contrastively included in the analysis.

Expected Outcomes

The study shows that different concepts of nature were inherent to the analysed texts. At this stage of the research, two different perspectives on nature can be reconstructed: A technical-modernistic perspective and a concept of nature, which is influenced by the Christian understanding of creation. Furthermore, findings suggest that the normative concept of nature is influenced by the institutional background of the authors and publishers. There is a significant difference depending on whether a document is written by the government, the churches or a NGO. Already in the middle of the 20th century, the Christian churches started a discourse on peace, justice and integrity of creation, which led to a global, cross-institutional discourse on sustainability. However, the concepts found in government documents differ from those authored by religious institutions at the end of this century. There is a very technical-modernistic concept of nature in documents of the Commission for Educational Planning and Research Promotion (BLK) (Haan et al. 1998), while a spiritual, holistic concept of nature predominates in documents of the ecumenical council (ÖRK 1988).

References

Bonnett, M. (2004). Retrieving Nature. Education for a Post-Humanist Age. Oxford. Di Giulio, A. (2004). Die Idee der Nachhaltigkeit im Verständnis der Vereinten Nationen. Münster. Bohnsack, R. (2005). Standards nicht-standardisierter Forschung in den Erziehungs- und Sozialwissenschaften. In: ZfE, 8.Jg, Beiheft 4, S.63-81. Glaser, B.; Strauss, A.(1969/1998). Grounded Theory. Bern. Gloy, K. (1995). Das Verständnis der Natur. München. Haan, Gerhard de; Harenberg, Dorothee (1998). BNE - Orientierungsrahmen. Bonn. Heiland, S. (1992). Das Naturverständnis. Darmstadt. Hoffmann, S. & Zickermann, J. (2000). Von der Umweltbildung zur Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung. In: FORUM GEOÖKOL. 11 (3). S.24-27. Keller, R. (2004/2007). Diskursforschung. Wiesbaden. Mayring, P. (1998/2008). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Weinheim. Michelsen, G. (1998). Von der Umweltbildung zur Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwick­lung. In: Erwachsenenbildung 4/98. S.165-168. Müller, G. (Hrsg.) (1994). Theologische Realenzyklopädie. XXIV. Berlin. Ökumenischer Rat der Kirchen (ÖRK) (1988). Erklärung des Forums für Gerechtigkeit, Frieden und Bewahrung der Schöpfung. Stuttgart. In: http://oikoumene.net/home/regional/stuttgart/stuttgart.0/index.html (letzter Zugriff: 25.01.12). Sandell, K.; Öhman, J.; Östman, L. (2005). Education for Sustainable Development. Lund.

Author Information

Almut-Maria Jäcklein (presenting / submitting)
Universität Kassel
Landshut

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