Social Sustainability Education Research Articles

Quality education in the field of sustainability using a statistical analysis

AbstractThis paper discusses the importance of quality education in the field of sustainability. The paper highlights four different types of education related to sustainability, including environmental sustainability education, social sustainability education, education for sustainable development (SE), and green skills education. The statistical information on these types of education is summarized and presented in a table format. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for increased access to education in the field of sustainability to prevent environmental degradation and social problems and to prepare individuals for jobs that contribute to sustainable development.

Discarded Identities/Inspiring Just Sustainability with Reuse Persona Dolls

The author identifies as a mixed-race Chicana teacher/educator, bridging ecology, culture, and learning situated within an early learning center on a university campus. This inquiry integrates Gloria Anzaldúa’s autohistoria teoría/autobiographical theory and documents (1) the social construction of a gender-fluid persona doll named “Logan” during a focus group with REMIDA Reggio-inspired educators, (2) a (dis)rupture that took place after engaging the persona doll to introduce the term “transgender” during a preschool circle time, and (3) lessons learned to move early childhood education for social sustainability forward. During this disrupture in our learning community, the question of whether or not to discard Logan’s (gender non-binary) identity emerged. Logan’s story is one of curricular innovation in the examination of topics and concepts of ecological sustainability, equity-based pedagogy, and creative reuse through the construction and use of persona dolls. The dolls themselves are created from reuse materials, and they adopt personas and social backgrounds reflecting awareness of ecological and social injustice while co-developing ideas of actions for equity with the input of children.

Образование для социальной устойчивости перед лицом вызовов XXI века

Достижение целей устойчивого развития, принятых во всем мире на основе международных соглашений ООН и ЮНЕСКО, тесно связаны с системой образования, призванной формировать мировоззрение и навыки для осознания взаимосвязи человека с обществом и окружающей средой. Повестка устойчивого развития в мире находится в состоянии постоянного расширения поля охвата проблем по мере возникновения новых вызовов обществу. В статье представлен анализ включения в стратегию устойчивого развития вопросов, возникших в условиях миграционного кризиса в Европе, а также анализ актуальных вопросов, вызванных пандемией COVID-19 и форсированным переходом к цифровому образованию в мире. Отмечено, что этот переход затрагивает не только технологические, методические и кадровые ресурсы, но также связан с вопросами социальной устойчивости. С позиции теории безопасности основные проблемы в реализации этого процесса оказываются связанными с технологическими, витальными, адаптивными, аддиктивными, социальными рисками. Одним из рисков выступает ослабление навыков социальной коммуникации, солидарности, умения взаимодействовать в мультикультурной среде, что требует профилактических мер и специализированных курсов в учебных планах. The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted worldwide on the base of the United Nations and UNESCO international agreements, is linked to the education system, which is designed to form a worldview and skills for understanding the relationship of man with society and the environment. The world’s sustainable development agenda is in a state of constant expansion of the scope of problems as new challenges to society arise. The article presents an analysis of how to include in the sustainable development strategy the issues that arose in the context of the migration crisis in Europe, as well as an analysis of topical issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the forced transition to digital education in the world. It is noted that this transition affects not only technological, methodological, and human resources, but also related to issues of social sustainability. From the perspective of security theory, the main problems in the implementation of this process are associated with technological, vital, adaptive, addictive, and social risks. One of the risks is the weakening of social communication skills, solidarity, and the ability to interact in a multicultural environment, which requires preventive measures and specialized courses in the curriculum.

Om slöjdämnet och sociala aspekter av hållbarhet

This essay is about social aspects of sustainability in sloyd in Swedish compulsory school, against the backdrop that this knowledge area is perceived as difficult to teach by teachers. Drawing on previous research from differing fields, implications for teaching and learning are discussed in relation to students’ emotional experiences and to the role of materials and sloyd artefacts in social interaction. While interaction between the student and the material/artefact is at the core of sloyd, education for social sustainability, as a new challenge, requires new approaches for teaching.

Integrating social sustainability in engineering education at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate what are perceived to be the main challenges associated with the integration of social sustainability into engineering education at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with programme leaders and teachers from four engineering programmes. The paper focuses on how the concept of social sustainability is defined and operationalised in the selected engineering programmes, how social sustainability is integrated and taught, and what resources are required to support teachers and programme leaders as social sustainability educators. Findings – The findings show that programme leaders and teachers at KTH struggle to understand the concept of social sustainability. The vague and value-laden nature of the concept is considered a challenge when operationalising educational policy goals on social sustainability into effective learning outcomes and activities. A consequence is that the responsibility for lesson content ultimately falls on the individual teacher. Study visits and role-play are seen as the most effective tools when integrating social sustainability into the engineering curriculum. Allocation of specific resources including supplementary sustainability training for teachers and economic incentives are considered crucial to successful integration of social sustainability. The findings indicate that social sustainability education needs to be built on a theoretical foundation. It is therefore suggested that a literature canon be established that clarifies the contours of social sustainability. Practical implications – The findings of the paper can be used as a basis for discussion regarding measures for improving social sustainability training in engineering education, a subject which has attracted relatively little attention, to date. Originality/value – There is a noticeable lack of empirical research on how technical universities integrate social sustainability into engineering education. The paper provides an account of how actors directly involved in this work – programme leaders and teachers – define and operationalise the social dimension of sustainable development in their engineering curricula, the pedagogical tools they consider effective when teaching social sustainability issues to engineering students, and the resources they believe are needed to strengthen those efforts.