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Teaching Teachers to Teach Sustainability – A Cross-Disciplinary Course for Integrating ESD in Higher Education
On the order of the vice chancellor an in-service course on ESD for university teachers has been developed. The basic purpose of the course is to strengthen the university teacher's competence to integrate sustainability into their teaching. The course structure constitutes a “journey” from a general level of sustainable development, via the concept of ESD into the more concrete adaptation of ESD to the teaching of a specific subject. The course uses the diversity of the participants as an asset for introducing the interdisciplinary character of ESD and for creating stimulating exchanges of knowledge and perspectives. Furthermore, the course also opens up for cross-curriculum cooperation in higher education. The course got very positive evaluations, especially the mix of participants from different faculties and the concrete development work was very much appreciated. Most of these development reports have been published as “good examples” for other teachers to be inspired by.
As education for sustainable development (ESD) has been recognised as one of the most important social activities to ensure a sustainable development for future generations, the Swedish Government has also taken action in formulating laws and legislations to ensure that the educational system as a whole contributes in these efforts. One important step was taken in 2006 when the Ordinance of Higher Education (as well as the Ordinance of the School system) was changed and a formulation was added clearly implying that universities and colleges were obliged to contribute to sustainable development – mainly through education of students (but also in research efforts and co-operation with the surrounding society). Consequently, the vice chancellor of Uppsala University – after a thorough investigation by a cross-faculty committee – decided to give the faculties the commission to implement ESD in all study programmes and applicable single courses. Along with this commission to the faculty boards the Division of Development of Teaching and Learning got the assignment to support this implementation by developing and running a course on ESD for university teachers (teaching in basic and advanced level studies). After an inventory of existing competencies/co-operation partners and expected needs for inspiration and support, a one-week course was developed (see below) and launched during 2007. The course is presented below.
In Sweden environmental issues have long been on the political, mass medial and educational agenda. During the 1980's and 90's – partly as a result of the Rio-conference and Agenda 21 – the discourse changed into the concept of sustainable development (SD). The Swedish Government and several NGO's have since been very active – nationally and internationally – in driving these issues forward, taking active part in international conferences and treaties and developing national plans of action. As education for sustainable development (ESD) has been recognised as one of the most important social activities to ensure a sustainable development for future generations the Swedish Government has also taken action in formulating laws and legislations to ensure that the educational system as a whole contributes in these efforts. One important step was taken in 2006 when the Ordinance of Higher Education (as well as the Ordinance of the School system) was changed and a formulation was added clearly implying that universities and colleges were obliged to contribute to sustainable development – mainly through education of students (but also in research efforts and co-operation with the surrounding society). Consequently, the vice chancellor of Uppsala University – after a thorough investigation by a cross-faculty committee – decided to give the faculties the commission to implement ESD in all study programmes and applicable single courses. Along with this commission to the faculty boards the Division of Development of Teaching and Learning got the assignment to support this implementation by developing and running a course on ESD for university teachers (teaching in basic and advanced level studies). After an inventory of existing competencies/co-operation partners and expected needs for inspiration and support, a one-week course was developed (see below) and launched during 2007. The course is presented as an example of “Good practice” below ….
The basic purpose of the course is to strengthen the university teacher´s didactical competence to integrate sustainability – as content as well as a perspective – in their teaching. The long term aim is to ensure that all students, when leaving Uppsala University, has a basic ability to combine and transform their subject knowledge and their knowledge of sustainability into a personal behaviour as a professionals and citizens. The target group consists of teachers from all faculties, with a special preference for teachers involved in the planning or management of study programmes or separate courses (basic and advanced level).
The in-service course “ESD for university teachers” is run by the Division for Development of Teaching and Learning, in co-operation with Centre for Environment and Development studies and Institute for Research in Education and Sustainable Development (both at Uppsala University). It is designed for 20-25 participants and comprises three scheduled days plus two intermediate days for self-tuition and assignments. The learning outcomes state that after the course the participant should be able to:
Give examples of motives for sustainable development from human co-existence with nature in a local and global perspective
Understand the assignment and possibilities for the university to give students an increased ability to transform their subject knowledge and their knowledge of sustainability into a personal behavior as a professionals and citizens
Problematise our understanding of sustainability, its content and conception, as a base for the development of society - within his/hers own subject identify and clarify aspects of sustainability, for colleagues and students, relevant for their understanding of sustainability as an integrated (ecological, economical and social) area of knowledge
Plan and carry out teaching events that give the students a competence to discuss and contribute to a sustainable development. The basic structure could be described as a “journey” from the general level of sustainable development (SD), via the concept of education for sustainable development (ESD) into the more narrow and concrete adaption of ESD to the teaching of a specific subject (course). The first scheduled day the participants are introduced to the concept of SD – historically and in view of ongoing discussions and developments. In the following human vital needs, conditions of nature, development of society and the most important challenges we face – locally and globally – are focused. Furthermore, the ESD-education task of higher education is presented and discussed in terms of demands and possibilities for teachers to contribute. Lectures, video films and group discussions are mixed during the day. The first day is followed by a period of 2-3 weeks when the participants fulfill a reading assignment (ESD-literature) and a preparatory assignment to start their process of “translating” SD into their respective subject area. During the second scheduled day of the course focus is on ESD – methods and tools for teaching SD and integrating the concept in different subject areas – including aspects of interdisciplinary possibilities. Seminars on the selected literature, lectures and group discussions take place. At the end of the day a home assignment/development mini-project for day three is introduced and prepared. During a period of five-six weeks the participants work with their home assignments, which could be formulating a developmental plan for the department, designing a teaching event, revising a course curriculum etc. The last day of the course is devoted to presentations and discussions of the home assignments. Focus is on pros and cons as well as hinders and possibilities. Furthermore, possibilities for cross curriculum cooperation are explored and the expectations from future employers of our students are discussed.
The course has – so far – been given twice (2007 and 2009) and the participants have represented most faculties at Uppsala university (but a majority has been from the faculty of Science and Technology). The evaluations showed that the overall impression of the course got a 4.1 mark and the usefulness (for teaching purposes) got a 4.5 mark – both on a 1-5 scale. Content-wise (the preparation and discussion of) the home assignment/development mini-project was most appreciated (4.8) and the mix of participants (from different subject areas/faculties) was also very much appreciated (4.9). The participants estimations of the fulfillment of the learning outcomes ranged from 3.7 to 4.3. A concrete result of the two courses is the presented development mini-projects carried out and/or planned by the participants. The mini-projects ranged from formulating a development plan (for implementing ESD in ICT-courses), via development of a two-week course module on ESD (in study program for Chemistry) to creating and giving a lecture on “applied ESD” (in an Archaeology course). Most of these development reports have been published on our ESD-website as “good examples” for other teachers to be inspired by.
The course uses the diversity of the participants (subject area, experience, previous knowledge etc) as an asset and take it as a point of departure for introducing the interdisciplinary character of ESD and for creating stimulating exchanges of knowledge and perspectives. Furthermore, the course stimulates the participants to make use of what they already know and do in their teaching (using ESD “glasses”) – instead of imposing ESD as something “extra”. The course also opens up for cross-curriculum cooperation in higher education.
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