www.ccp-online.org | CCP 1 (2007): 72-87

THE PRACTICE OF SUSTAINABLE EDUCATION THROUGH A PARTCIPATORY AND HOLISTIC TEACHING APPROACH

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Herrmann, Michael

Abstract: As the concept of sustainable development has become established as a priority that underpins future social and economic development, so there naturally follows the expectation that there will be an effective implementation of curricula for sustainability within higher education.
At the heart of the pedagogical approach described here is an emphasis upon experiential learning, whereby students engage creatively with their own immediate environment. The subject matter to which their attention is applied is the physical and cultural environment of their own university; the spaces that they inhabit and the systems of which they are a part. This is not merely a matter of convenience, but stems from the view that education for sustainability as the mere accumulation of knowledge about environmental problems is ineffective and can even be disempowering. Effective learning about sustainability involves the first-hand experience of issues coupled with efforts to put the theories of sustainability into practice.

Keywords: Sustainable Education, Experiential Learning, Participatory and Holistic Approach, Systems Thinking