Abstract
AbstractStudent-led courses have been described as a promising approach to improve sustainability education. However, there is a lack of systematic studies about the benefits and challenges of such courses. This qualitative case study examines the challenges and tensions that arose in the planning of a student-led higher education course on sustainability education. The challenges were identified from the student course designers’ conversations and interviews using discourse analysis, focusing on their disagreements during planning. The identified challenges concerned sustainability and sustainability education, the course designers’ roles, and collaborative decision-making. To relate the challenges to wider discourses on these topics, five underlying tensions were recognized. These include the tension between participatory action and critical discussion approaches for sustainability education, and the tension between drive towards unanimity and agreeing to disagree in collaborative educational planning. Finally, it is discussed how, and to what degree, the challenges and tensions can and should be mitigated.
Highlights
The world is facing many challenges, which cannot be solved by doing things the same way as before
Challenges and tensions related to sustainability education
Three types of challenges and tensions related to sustainability education were found in this study
Summary
The world is facing many challenges, which cannot be solved by doing things the same way as before. These challenges, such as climate change, are often referred to as wicked problems (see Rittel & Webber, 1973) because they are difficult to solve and require solutions that may be contradicting, incomplete and constantly changing. Sustainability presents numerous new challenges for education as well The challenges seem numerous, it is clear that the wicked problems of sustainability are so urgent that ‘education as usual’ will no longer suffice and new approaches are directly needed (UNESCO, 2016)
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