Sustainability Theory and Practice in Education I
As one of the core foundational doctoral seminars, readings and discussion will reveal how the various themes in economy and ecology have evolved and in most cases the relation between them has been uneasy and even conflicting. Despite the fact that both economy and ecology originate from the same root oikos (or the household), the two disciplines developed without the necessary recognition of or integration with each other. While economists ignored nature, ecological scientists in turn pretended as if humans did not exist in their calculations of energy flow or population dynamic. Many attribute the
potential decline of techno-industrial economy due to this basic caveat. As Herman Daly and Joshua Farley (2004) urge us, the emergent discipline of ecological economics does not simply bring the light of ecology into the darkness of economics. Along with them and others, we will examine how both disciplines need fundamental reform if the marriage between ecology and economy is to come to fruition. In order to bring the earth household (ecology) and the human household (economy) in harmony, we will examine several ways to go about such integration. Authors and texts examine various options: the concept of natural capitalism, valuing of biomass and ecosystem services, calculating ecological footprint, investing in eco-economy, developing cradle-to-cradle ecological design, transitioning to post-carbon economy, using appropriate technologies, pursuing sustainable harvest regimes, and respecting indigenous ecological knowledge.
Sustainability Education and Transformational Change
Education as Sustainability explores the theories, processes, and conditions through which individuals, groups, and organizations learn and transform in ways that support a sustainable future. This entails an examination of current educational approaches and strategies as well as innovations that challenge traditional assumptions and practices. This investigation may take place in such arenas as public and private education, community development endeavors, business and economic ventures, government training programs, and through all the social and ecological networks critical for human survival. Sustainable Education is the process by which individuals and organizations engage in new learning that challenges existing norms and draws upon the resources and initiative of those involved in this learning. This approach to education is designed to contrast the predominant managerial and mechanistic paradigm of learning, such as exists in most public education settings and in much of higher education, with a more holistic and ecological model that emphasizes the realization of human potential and interdependence of social, economic, and ecological wellbeing. Such learning is more engaged, experiential, and addresses the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual components of our roles in the world and in human society. Such learning is based on core values of lifelong learning, recognition of diversity, cooperation and collaboration, personal reflection and values, integrative understanding, responsibility and faith in others, and developing learning communities with a commitment to the good of the whole. Education as Sustainability is the means through which we educate our citizenry to the values, opportunities, and choices each person has to develop one's self as an aware, independent, responsible, and active agent of one's own fate and hence contribute to the future of our society and ecological systems.
Modes of Inquiry: Interdisciplinary Graduate Research
This course is presented in two sections and provides an overview of scholarly thinking, research, and writing. The course is designed to address the following areas within graduate scholarship: how to select a research problem; how to conduct a literature review; how to design a research question or statement; how to formulate an appropriate research design; how to incorporate theory and epistemology; how to limit research parameters; and how to decide on the appropriate research methodology(ies) and method(s). It focuses on the interdisciplinary conceptual and methodological approaches necessary to understand complex social and natural systems. Section one of this course introduces the practical elements of planning, implementing, and reporting a research project. It stresses the importance that before it is possible to design effective research projects with appropriate methods in the context of sustainability, one must study the philosophical approaches that address the role of knowledge production in social reproduction, in problem solving, and in action directed at change.
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