Education for Sustainable Development special issue of Quarterly with interviews of Soren Breiting and Karsten Schnack
“There is no simple solution in merely teaching people to act differently. The solution is rather to empower citizens to make informed choices in a complex and rapidly changing world.”
This statement by Professor Lars Qvortrup, Dean of the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, in Copenhagen, Denmark is introducing this special issue of Quarterly about Education for Sustainable Development and the challenge of climate change.
“No child is too small to work with ESD”
This is the headline of the joint interview with Soren Breiting and Karsten Schnack, both from the Research Programme for Environmental and Health Education at DPU, Aarhus University.
From the interview, done by
Torben Clausen
Quarterly@dpu.dk
… Here is Pedro. He is ten years old, and lives inGuatemala. Pedro and his parents are Indian. Pedro’s favourite dish is fish, which is the best food his family can afford, and when he goes to school, he has to walk there.
Pedro looks different from other children. His feet are as long as his arms and legs, and his arms seem to grow from his hips. His clothes reveal that they were made by crayons. Pedro’s ID card was not produced by the Guatemalan authorities. It was made by a Danish pupil in the third grade, who invented the character Pedro. The only aim Pedro has is to help Danish pupils to think in terms of sustainable development.
A broad concept
The character Pedro was developed for an ESD -course in a third grade in Denmark. With Pedro as a focal point, Danish teachers have helped even the youngest pupils reflect on the differences between living in an affluent country like Denmark and a developing one such as Guatemala. There have been discussions about the differences in living conditions and everyday life, social tensions and conflicts between impoverished indigenous people and wealthy groups in society, the dependency on natural resources and the environment, the different opportunities for development of the two countries, and the vast difference in individuals’ opportunities for influence.
As such, Pedro is a sort of embodiment of how broad the concept of ESD can be. ESD concerns so much more than merely teaching about the environment and natural sciences, according to Søren Breitling from the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University:
“ESD entails a recognition of the complex interactions between the social, economical and ecological issues. It involves important issues such as conflict analysis, global awareness and teaching about the environment.”
Pedro is part of a development project which Søren Breitling has conducted in collaboration with another colleague from the Danish School of Education, Professor Karsten Schnack. Four schools in four different cities were involved in the project, which encompassed children in third, seventh and eighth grade.
What does an Indian get for Christmas?
Pedro had clothes for Christmas. When you are an Indian child in Guatemala, you don’t get fancy toys, you get something you need. The contrast with the Danish pupils’ own lists of expensive unnecessary electronic toys is obvious at a glance. This exercise stimulates the pupils to reflect on the differences in living conditions. The project has demonstrated that even the smallest pupils can reflect and reason rationally about the basic differences that a sustainable development must take into account.
“Some may question whether third-graders aren’t too young to relate to issues on that scale. Should they not be spared? The teachers in the classes we observed started various activities that made the pupils identify with the Guatemalan children. One exercise involved counting how many of the pupils’ toys required electricity and it really drove home the differences.
This shows that no child is too small to work with ESD ,” says Søren Breiting.
The ability to imagine oneself in the other’s place is central to the way the two researchers interpret ESD . Our situation is a product of a historical development. Everything could easily be very different now. In the same way, the future is not fixed, but is shaped by what we do now, all of us. Major challenges such as social inequality and ecological disasters are not set in stone, but topics for discussion and exploration: How can we avert the dire consequences? The aim is to increase the pupils’ action competence:
“The concept of ‘sustainable development’ emphasizes the temporal aspect. Embedded in the concept ‘action competence’ is a political recognition of the fact that those who act help shape the future. The teaching method must reflect that,” Karsten Schnack says.
One way to do this is through project work, where the pupils assume ownership of a problem they address. The pupils in third grade found a good use for mathematics, when they tried to figure out how much space they had in their homes compared to Pedro.
Children in the eighth grade made dolls that represented their grandchildren, which made the students reflect on the challenges of future generations. The real winner was a questionnaire about Guatemala that was given to the third-grader’s parents. The responses demonstrated that the pupils knew more about Guatemala and the differences between that country and Denmark than their parents did. This type of activity sparks enthusiasm, which is a lead-in to action.
Read more of the interview with Soren Breiting and Karsten Schnack about Education for Sustainable Development and Climate change Click here (Free download in new window)
Here is the list of the complete content in this special issue about Education for Sustainable Delopment and Climate Change education CCE:
CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – THE RESPONSE FROM EDUCATION
How can education be a means to sustainable development?
The climate crisis CALLS FOR a new educational era
The International Alliance of Leading Education Institutes is analysing the role that education ought to play in a world struggling with climate change.
Professor Jeppe Læssøe talks about the initial findings.
The emotions of change
The debate about climate change is accompanied by feelings of loss, fear and tragedy. This should be reconsidered for the sake of education, says Associate Professor Noah Feinstein.
BEST CASES AROUND THE GLOBE
The tiger turns turns green
Korea’s master plan for the next six decades is Green Growth. To begin with, the focus is on growth rather than sustainability, but investment in education could turn the picture around, says Dr. Chankook Kim.
CHINA’S ‘RECYCLING ECONOMY’ – FROM PAPER TO PRACTICE
Climate change and sustainability are hot topics in China, but it is hard to find research addressing the outcomes of Education for Sustainable Development, says Associate Professor Yi Jin.
SNAPSHOTS FROM A LEADING ECO-CITY
The government of Singapore wants to make Singapore the leading Eco-city in Asia. Professor Kim Chuan Goh explains why this might be
Sustainability should be a university’s badge of honour
Sustainability has been on the agenda at universities for years, but so far most of the changes have been to the daily operations of university infrastructure, says Dr. Dianne Chambers.
No child is too small to work with ESD
Even children in the third grade can learn through Education for Sustainable Development, because ESD develops their ability to address open questions, two Danish researchers say.
Download the full publication about Education for Sustainable Development and Climate change Click here (Free download in new window)
