G-STIC Conference Keynote Address on Transforming Teaching and Learning Towards Sustainable Development

1. Teacher Training: Transforming
Teaching and Learning Towards
Sustainable Development
Dr. Patrick Blessinger
St. John’s University and the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association, New York
Keynote Presentation
G-STIC Conference, Brussels, Belgium, November 21, 2019

2. Introduction

3. Introduction

4. Challenges and obstacles
Lack of awaresness and
understanding about SD
among academics
(stakeholder awareness)
Resistance from academics
towards SD (not viewed as
relevant or important for
teachers to learn)
SD is not a requirement
from accreditation or
governmental agencies (not
integrated into the
curriculum)
SD is not be considered under
any specific disciplinary
purview (ignored or treated as
a specialized or one-off topic
that is confined to a single
course or project)
Uncertainty and doubt about
how to integrate SD into the
curriculum and its benefits
Institutional and disciplinary
inertia inhibits action on
integrating SD into the
curriculum
Integrating sustainability
into learning typically
involves three sequential
stages:
1) conformative,
2) reformative, and
3) transformative.
The ultimate goal of
integrating SD into the
curriculum is to provide
leaders, faculty and
especially students with
opportunities for
reflection on their values,
beliefs and behaviour
regarding SD (Balsiger et
al., 2017).
For the transformative
stage, three phases occur:
1) diagnostic phase – when
leaders, faculty, staff, and
students become aware of
SD
topics/problems/issues,
2) conflicting phase –
recognizing when one’s
values, beliefs, and
behaviors conflict with
the SD
topics/problems/issues,
and
3) reconstruction phase –
when one changes or
adopts new values,
beliefs, and behaviors that
align with SD
topics/problems/issues
(Piasentin and Roberts,
2018).
Reaching the
transformative stage
requires all stakeholders
and decision-makers to
have a change in mindset
(i.e., adopting a growth
mindest) which can be
acheived by engaging in
education, training, self-
reflection, discourse and civic
engagement (Moore, 2005;
Boland, 2014).
Two main approaches to
integrate SD into the
curriculum:
1) horizontal integration
where SD
topics/problems/issues are
connected across disciplines,
programs, and courses and
2) vertical integration where a
stand-alone course in SD is
integrated into selected
course and/or programs
(Ceuleman and De Prins,
2010; Dagiliute and
Liobikiene, 2015).
Universities can approach SD
in different ways:
1) ignoring major SD issues
and not changing the
curriculum in any meaninful
way (conformative stage),
2) including SD as a stand-
alone course and/or
program(s) (reformative
stage),
3) partial intergration of SD
into the curriculum and
teaching-learning process in
some fashion or degree
(reformative stage), and
4) full-scale intergration
(transformative stage)
where SD is an important
component of all major
activities of the institution
(Lozano, 2010; Savelyeva
and Kenna, 2011;
Sidiropoulose, 2018;
Sterling and Thomas, 2006).
To overcome disciplinary
inertia and silo mindsets, best
to adopt an incremental and
participative approach to
integrating SD.
SD is complex, multi-faceted,
and interdisciplianry. Thus, it
requires a holistic approach and
growth mindest through
institutional and departmental
leadershhip and cooperation that
invites all impacted stakeholders
(institutional and community) to
discuss and decide how best to
integrate SD given their
particular context (e.g,
institutional mission, type).
(Lozano 2010; Kurland et al.,
2010; Bacon et al., 2011;
Mochizuki and Fadeeva, 2010).

5. Research by the International Higher Education
Teaching and Learning Association (HETL)
https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/Integrating-Sustainable-
Development-into-the-Curriculum/?k=9781787699427

6. Research by the International Higher Education
Teaching and Learning Association (HETL)

7. Case Study
 As noted by Edward Zlotkowski, “…the very way in which the academy has defined
its responsibilities is dangerously incomplete.”
 He states that foundational knowledge (level one of Bloom’s Taxonomy) should
not be the limit of what higher education teaches. Rather, higher education
institutions should become socially responsible - transforming the entire curriculum and
reinventing teaching strategies and implementing meaningful learning activities.
 Higher education institutions must reinvent their entire mission, vision, and value
systems to bring them into alignment with social responsibility and sustainable
development.
 For example, Portland State University, USA, has reinvented itself by aligning its
curricula, research, teaching, learning, faculty performance criteria, and community
engagement with its new mission as a socially responsible institution.
 As Craig Mahoney puts it, “If we’re not socially responsible, then there is no future
for our universities.”
https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/faculty-role-civic-engagement

8. Case Study
 International Association of Universities
 Higher Education and Research for Sustainable Development (HESD)
 The Higher Education and Research for Sustainable Development (HESD) global
portal is a tool developed by the International Association of Universities; it provides
access to actions and initiatives developed around the world to promote sustainability. It
showcases best practices of universities and higher education institutions worldwide.
Actions include student initiatives, Living Labs, Green Campuses, faculties engaged in
sustainable development, and leadership initiatives.
 https://www.iau-aiu.net/HESD?lang=en
 http://www.iau-hesd.net

9. Conclusions and recommendations
Recommendations for research
 Design and implement SR/SD into teacher training using a research-based approach
 Design and implement SR/SD into teacher training involving all stakeholders at all levels
 Design and implement SR/SD into teacher training in alignment with the institutiuon’s missioin,
vision, and values
 Design and implement SR/SD into teacher training in alignment with third-party (accreditatiomn
bodies, government education agencies, etc) input and requirements
 Evaluate and monitor SR/SD teacher training for continual quality improvement
 Evaluate and monitor SR/SD into teacher training for effectiveness for clearly defined
benchmarks and standards
Innovating education for sustainability (normative major premises)
 Education should be about creating a better world for all (for the common good)
 Education should be about whole student development (cognitive, social, and emotional)
 Education should be about oriented around lifelong learning, rights-based philosophy (human,
animal, and environmental), and democratic processes

10. References
Bacon, C. M., Mulvaney, D., Ball, T. B., Melanie DuPuis, E., Gliessman, S. R., Lipschutz, R. D., &Shakouri, A. (2011). The creation of an integrated sustainability curriculum and student
praxis projects. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 12(2), 193-208.
Balsiger, J., Förster, R., Mader, C., Nagel, U., Sironi, H., Wilhelm, S., & Zimmermann, A. B. (2017). Transformative learning and education for sustainable development. GAIA-Ecological
Perspectives for Science and Society, 26(4), 357-359.
Boland, J. A. (2014). Orientations to civic engagement: insights into the sustainability of a challenging pedagogy. Studies in Higher Education, 39(1), 180-195.
Ceulemans, K., & De Prins, M. (2010). Teacher's manual and method for SD integration in curricula. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18(7), 645-651.
Dagiliūtė, R., & Liobikienė, G. (2015). University contributions to environmental sustainability: challenges and opportunities from the Lithuanian case. Journal of Cleaner Production, 108,
891-899.
Kurland, N. B., Michaud, K. E., Best, M., Wohldmann, E., Cox, H., Pontikis, K., &Vasishth, A. (2010). Overcoming silos: The role of an interdisciplinary course in shaping a sustainability
network. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 9(3), 457-476.
Lozano, R. (2010). Diffusion of sustainable development in universities’ curricula: an empirical example from Cardiff University. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18(7), 637-644.
Mochizuki, Y., &Fadeeva, Z. (2010). Competences for sustainable development and sustainability: significance and challenges for ESD. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher
Education, 11(4), 391-403.
Moore, J. (2005). Seven recommendations for creating sustainability education at the university level: A guide for change agents. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education,
6(4), 326-339.
Piasentin, F. B., & Roberts, L. (2018). What elements in a sustainability course contribute to paradigm change and action competence? A study at Lincoln University, New Zealand.
Environmental Education Research, 24(5), 694-715
Savelyeva, T., & McKenna, J. R. (2011). Campus sustainability: emerging curricula models in higher education. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 12(1), 55-66.
Sengupta, S., Blessinger, P. & Yamin, T.S. (2019). Integrating Sustainable Development into the Curriculum. Emerald Group Publishing.
Sidiropoulos, E. (2018). The personal context of student learning for sustainability: Results of a multi-university research study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 181, 537-554.
Sterling, S., & Thomas, I. (2006). Education for sustainability: the role of capabilities in guiding university curricula. International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 1(4),
349-370.

11. Additional Resources
http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/ijshe.htm
https://www.iau-hesd.net/sites/default/files/documents/261445e.pdf
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/2843WESS2013.pdf
http://www.iiasa.ac.at/web/home/research/twi/TWI2050_Report_web-small-071018.pdf
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/6529115_Calvano_The%20Role%20of%20Educator%20Training%20for%20a%20Sustainable%20Futu
re.pdf
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/40ee/dc4986b5debcc00fda1f7ee6abcd23fd9ce7.pdf
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=V7lQDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA6&dq=transforming+teaching+and+learning+towards+sustainable+developm
ent&ots=oW1hQ14DSv&sig=E1dfYOO4n1C-
k3NOq33QDT3mVhk#v=onepage&q=transforming%20teaching%20and%20learning%20towards%20sustainable%20development&f=false
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095965261831984X
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/dfb2/53ca44b7343d6a2468c7abeafcbc7a0f0ea9.pdf
https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/file/69206/download?token=r_65VVK_
https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-sustainable-development
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266681609_Transforming_Higher_Education_Towards_Sustainable_Development_Issues_And_Challenges
https://www.academia.edu/3348246/current_issues_on_teacher_education_and_sustainable_development_in_india
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1158064.pdf
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/05/why-education-is-the-key-to-sustainable-development/