Learning By Doing In Projects For Sustainability – A Contribution To Higher Education For Sustainable Development

Author(s):

Mandy Singer-Brodowski(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

21. Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

ERG SES C 08, Higher Education

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-09

11:00-12:30

Room:

A-203

Chair:

Geert Thyssen

Contribution

The grand challenges of the 21st century - like climate change, global justice and the scarcity of natural resources - require a societal transition towards sustainable development (Kates et.al. 2001). The United Nations (UN) underlined the importance of education in this transition to sustainable development in its UN- Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) from 2005 to 2014. Universities - as society’s laboratories and training centres for future decision makers - have a crucial role in the UN-Decade of ESD. Therefore, Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD) is becoming increasingly important.

The question is: which competencies do graduates need to cope with the grand challenges of sustainable development? In the field of general educational science there is a huge discussion about key competencies for working and living in the 21st century. Inspired by this broad discussion, several models of ESD competencies have been developed in recent years – for education in schools as well as extracurricular education (i.e. Bormann/ De Haan 2008; Sleurs 2008).

Recently published studies stress the concrete context of transition, in which people develop several ESD competencies (Wiek et.al. 2012). They emphasise the embeddedness of well-qualified change agents in societal sub-systems and create a theoretical bridge to social theories about the transition of different societal sectors and the role of change agents in these transition processes (Loorbach 2007). For students in universities, HESD could frame a “learning for change“ and contribute to sustainable development in fostering three dimensions of learning: (1) individual action and behaviour change, (2) organisational change and social learning and (3) inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation (Barth/ Michelsen 2013).

This kind of learning often appears in project-oriented settings (Brundiers et.al. 2011). Communication with other students in concrete sustainability projects leads to social learning (Wals 2009) and the broadening of mental complexity (Barth et.al. 2007), as well as transboundary competency (De Kraker et.al. 2007). These aspects are vital in the description, modelling and analysis of HESD competencies. Theoretically, this kind of learning can be explained using social-constructive theories. According to these theories, learning is mainly guided through the activity of the learner (Arnold/ Siebert 2006), happens with concrete experiences (Dewey 1995) and takes place with the cooperative participation in a community of practice (Lave/ Wenger 1994). Self-organised learning settings therefore offer an ideal context for developing key competencies (Greif 1998).

Against this background, the study is guided by the following questions: how do students learn in project-oriented courses for sustainable development? What role does self-organisation play? What other circumstances contribute to the development of students’ ESD competencies? These questions should be answered by a qualitative study of students’ learning processes.

Method

This qualitative study uses an explorative process and contributes to the creation of theory. It is designed as a mix of interviews, observations and focus group discussions. The interweaving of the different methods aims to deal with the complexity of qualitative competency measurements and the inquiry of the cognitive, motivational and emotional aspects of competencies as well as the performance. The setting consists of a self-organised sustainability course in Germany where students work together in groups of five with (non-) profit organisations around the university. They will be observed (via video), asked about their individual learning processes (via interviews) and invited to reflect on their implicit structures of acting (via focus groups). The speciality of the study lies in the common reflection of the observation videos together with the students in an interview to validate the assumed development of competencies.

Expected Outcomes

The expected outcomes focus on the changed role of the students in a self-organised project. They learn by taking responsibility in an authentic context and by connecting theoretical knowledge with practical experiences. The organise themselves t synchronise the expected demands, on the one hand and individual coping strategies during the project on the other hand. Together with their team members they cooperatively develop a set of rules that fits with their individual values and therefore motivates them in a unique way.

References

Arnold, R.; Siebert, H. (2006): Die Verschränkung der Blicke: konstruktivistische Erwachsenenbildung. Schneider Verlag: Hohengehren Barth, M.; Michelsen, G. (2013): Learning for change: an educational contribution to sustainability science. In: Sustainability Science Vol. 8 (1), 2013, pp. 103-119 Barth M., Godemann J., Rieckmann M., Stoltenberg U. (2007) Developing key competencies for sustainable development in higher education. International Jorunal of Sustainability in Higher Education 8(4): pp. 416–430 Bormann, I.; De Haan, G. (Hrsg.) (2008): Kompetenzen der Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung. Erfassung, Messung, Operationalisierung. Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften: Wiesbaden Brundiers K, Wiek A, Redman CL (2010) Real-world learning opportunities in sustainability—concept, competencies, and implementation. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 11(4): pp.308–324 De Kraker, J.; Lansu, A.; Dam-Mieras R. van (2007): Competences and competence-based learning for sustainable development. In: De Kraker, J.; Lansu, A.; Dam-Mieras R. van: Crossing Boundaries. Innovative Learning for Sustainable Development in Higher Education. VAS: Frankfurt a.M., p. 103-114 Dewey, J. (1995): Erfahrung und Natur. Übersetzung von Martin Suhr. Suhrkamp: Frankfurt a.M. Greif, S.; Kurtz, H.J.(ed.) (1998): Handbuch Selbstorganisiertes Lernen. Verlag für Angewandte Psychologie: Göttingen Kates R. W. et.al. (2001): Sustainability science. Policy forum: environment and development. Science 292(5517): pp. 641–642 Lave, J.; Wenger; E. (1994): Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge Loorbach, D. (2007): Transition Management. New Mode of Governance for Sustainable Development. International Books: Utrecht Sleurs, W. (Hrsg.) (2008) Competencies for ESD (education for sustain- able development) teachers: a framework to integrate ESD in the curriculum of teacher training institutes. Comenius 2.1 project 118277-CP-1-2004-BE-Comenius-C2.1. Available online at: http://www.ensi.org/Projects/Teacher_Education/CSCT/ Wals, A. (2009): Social Learning towards a sustainable world: priciples, perspectives and praxis. Wageningen Academic Publishers: Wageningen Wiek, A.; Withycomb, L.; Redman, C. L. (2011): Key competencies in sustainability: a refernce framwork for academic program development. In: Sustainability Science 6/ 2011, pp. 203-218

Author Information

Mandy Singer-Brodowski (presenting / submitting)

Leuphana University Lüneburg

Erfurt

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