Teaching Sustainability

About this book

"American colleges and universities have been relatively quick to address the challenge of sustainability in operations. Ironically, they have been slower to respond in regard to their core mission: educating students. Teaching sustainability aims to redress this shortcoming by opening doors to education for sustainability in the humanities and social sciences. The essays in this collection are richly diverse. They investigate ways sustainability education "pushes back" against traditional disciplines while it simultaneously benefits from the perspectives and skills these fields have to offer. They also address "big questions" such as how to make education meaningful, how to examine hidden assumptions underlying current curricula, and how a focus on sustainability can answer critics of contemporary higher education. The heart of teaching sustainability is reflection and advice on pedagogy. From these richly diverse case studies important common themes emerge: the "symbiotic relationship" between classroom and campus operations; techniques for transforming the campus itself from merely a setting to a "learning laboratory;" and the potential of community partners for teaching sense of place. An equally significant theme is the overlap between sustainability education and emerging best practice in pedagogy. Essays on theory and practice, individual and collaborative projects, service learning, and consequential activities, all exemplify how sustainability and deep learning go hand and hand. Like sustainability itself, the volume infuses theory with practical application. The contributors demonstrate the ways in which a single course can serve as a powerful change agent for an entire campus, how to build bridges between faculty and administrators, and even how to move forward on modest budgets. The authors themselves constitute a network of advisors." -- Publisher's description