Abstract
The literature has produced relevant theoretical insights into pedagogical frameworks, tools and competences that would be best suited to teach sustainability at higher education (HE). This article contributes to such a discussion using a course on sustainability developed by us as a case study. Two research questions are tackled in this article: (1) How to empower students to address urban sustainability challenges through the inclusion of transformative, interdisciplinary and intercultural learning into the current HE system? (2) Which pedagogical tools can be used to develop students’ sustainability-oriented competences? To address the research questions, the case study consists of two parts. First, by reflecting on the course design, this article aims to shed light on the benefits and challenges of transformative pedagogy and of an interdisciplinary and intercultural framework. Second, by analyzing students’ learning diaries (N = 36) using thematic analysis, this article offers insights into some of the students’ learning process, allowing us to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the course design as well as draw implications to improve and renew courses on sustainability in HE. The findings from the learning diaries indicate the students’ thirst for formal knowledge on sustainability, which they connected to their professional development and yearning for action. The learning diaries also suggest students’ increasing awareness of sustainability as a systemic and structural issue during the course, which aligns with the transformative learning framework used. Finally, this study emphasizes the need for structural support to meaningfully integrate sustainability in HE curricula and teaching practices.
Highlights
While urban sustainability has developed into a contested societal discourse which calls for higher education (HE) to produce creativity, critical thinking and sustainability-oriented competencies, current HE system does not provide many opportunities to achieve these goals (Scharmer, 2018; Yanez et al, 2019)
This article contributes to such a discussion using a course on sustainability that we developed as a case study and whose pedagogical design was rather unique
To allow the students to understand sustainability as a contested discourse used by competing individuals and groups, and across cultures, we embedded three pillars in the course design, which are transformative learning as the overarching orientation, interdisciplinary and intercultural education at the core, and integrating pedagogical tools for developing sustainability-oriented competences
Summary
While urban sustainability has developed into a contested societal discourse which calls for higher education (HE) to produce creativity, critical thinking and sustainability-oriented competencies, current HE system does not provide many opportunities to achieve these goals (Scharmer, 2018; Yanez et al, 2019). Teachers should be able to promote a dialogue between different perspectives, discourses and methods of addressing sustainability issues, which requires an open attitude and the willingness to learn while engaging with different viewpoints (Feng, 2011). Embedding our course on sustainability in an interdisciplinary and intercultural framework was an opportunity to enhance its transformative orientation. It allowed us to explore obstacles and incentives for action and to engage with sustainability issues from a holistic multifaceted perspective. This transformative orientation aimed at empowering students to become sustainability competent and actors of positive change (Frisk & Larson, 2011; Schnitzler, 2019)
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