You are here:
Home
»
GUNi.HEiOBS
»
Good Practices
»
Literature to Address the Problem of Violence: Infusing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into the Curriculum
This has program introduced major issues of sustainability and focused on that of violence in Jamaican society. To begin with, there was student exploration of the concept of sustainable development through lectures, discussions, and projects. In doing so, there was a reflection on a number of issues related to the environment, the economy, and society, and encouraged students to further pursue research in these areas. In addressing attitudes to and behaviours of violence through literature, the set literary texts were taught by focusing on their social/historical, economic, and environmental aspects. We examined (1) the roots of violence in Caribbean society, (2) the impact of violence, and (3) alternatives to violence, in other words, the path to peace. This included conflict resolution management.
One of Jamaica's serious societal challenges continues to be endemic violence and its repercussions on local and wider levels. This project has aimed to infuse education for sustainable development (ESD) into the curricular content of the largest teacher-training college of Jamaica, thus providing a potential long-term impact via the elucidation of the youth, future hope for any struggling, or even stable country. It started with the reorientation of the Literature program for student teachers who were preparing to teach English literature and language to secondary school students.
The objective was to introduce students to the concept of education for sustainable development (ESD) and to methodologies for infusing ESD into the curriculum as well as to help them see themselves as agents of change—by being able to transform society by becoming active citizens.
First, the concept of ESD was introduced. This was done in various ways: lectures, discussions, PowerPoint presentations, and projects in which students had to find and present material on various sustainability issues. They were encouraged to further research these areas. Texts assigned for Caribbean Literature were taught with a focus on the social/historical, economic, and environmental aspects of violence. The class engaged with the specific contexts of these texts – enslavement, colonialism, post-colonialism, a context of rich cultural mixes, creolisation, but also a context of inequities, resistance and violence. The class also explored the texts' exploration of alternative visions of violence, as in Jamaican playwright Denis Scott’s play "Echo in the Bones", where the play becomes a ritual emphasising forgiveness and reconciliation. Dominican author Jean Rhys’ novel "Wide Sargasso Sea" highlights the need for taking into account the other side. The Jamaican poet Lorna Goodison evokes the spiritual response as she maps the systemic nature of violence. Contemporary situations of violence became another text to be analysed. Students and lecturers both kept journals that reflected their experiences with and responses to, violence. These have served as powerful texts for understanding violence and charting a way for peace.
Using an 'ESD perspective and approach' to the study of literature impelled a critical analysis of violence in the Caribbean that disclosed specific regional factors, both historical and current, that have given rise to violence. Alternatives to violence within the Caribbean context also emerged. Yet the connection between local, regional, and global violence was not missed as a systematic overview revealed. Students, in effect, saw how a global context of violence influenced local violence and how that too, helped to contribute to global violence. Problem solving and action planning also became central as a result of this approach.
Students found the program meaningful and valuable. They commented that approaching literature in terms of sustainable development deepened their understanding and extended their knowledge of global and local issues. For them, it was ‘literature in action.’ Of particular importance to them was the conflict resolution workshop that gave them the tools to deal with conflict and anger. They also spoke about how the journal sessions gave them an opportunity to express negative feelings in a safe place. Some were at first wary about opening dialogue with the police, but most of them at the end of the session saw it as providing another, more humane perspective of the police. The candid discussion encouraged them to review negative feelings they have towards the police and helped them explore community policing from different perspectives.
Students' performances on the examination common to all teachers' colleges was, in general, commendable. Though the course was extended to include a conflict-resolution workshop and planning peace projects, students did not lose focus on the immediate testable items—their analysis of these was in fact deepened.
Lecturers also stated that the curriculum became more relevant as it focused on real life experiences. They felt that approaching literature from a sustainability angle also emphasised for their students the connection between different aspects of life, between theory and practice. They saw their students as having an opportunity to explore sustainability issues globally as well as locally. Also critical was the exploration of alternative responses to violence, of other possibilities for the future, and for the transformation of society.
Having introduced ESD into the curriculum, many lecturers became more aware of the concept of an education that engages students on various levels to focus on sustainability issues, on creating a better future for society and created a ripple effect.
Other developments in the Caribbean have helped promote ESD. In 2004, a Caribbean Network of Teacher Educators to address sustainable development was formed. In October 2005, the Regional Conference in ESD was held in Kingston, Jamaica, to launch the UN Decade for ESD. In 2006, in Jamaica, the Joint Board of Teacher Education (JBTE) in association with CIDA/GOJ ENACT (Environmental Action Programme) and UNESCO conducted ESD workshops for lecturers in teacher education from Jamaica, Belize, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Most recently, in August 2006 in Jamaica, a presentation on ESD at the JBTE Conference provided an opportunity for us to share our experience with the ESD literature project. The cascading effect of that single initiative has been tremendous.
We began the program of infusing ESD in literature with the Caribbean Literature course. This course was a 90-hour course common to all Year I student-teachers pursuing a Single or Double Option English program in teachers' colleges in Jamaica. At Mico Teachers' College, students were divided into two main groups which met together as a large group for specific lecture sessions on ESD and then separately in their two groups for small group discussions. Lecturers met and discussed the approach that was being tried and at the end of the first year all reflected on what had taken place and discussed relevant changes for the upcoming year.
guninetwork.org | Ph: +34 93 401 70 08 | Fx: +34 93 401 08 55 | C. Jordi Girona, 31. Edifici TG(S1). E-08755 Barcelona
