edu20005 sustainable education and perspectives edu20005 sustainable education an

EDU20005: Sustainable Education and Perspectives Assessment 1: Reflective discussion and analysisWord limit: 1000 (+/- 10%) Weighting: 30% Due date: 9am AEST Monday 8 August 2016 (Week 5) Print Assessment overview This assignment is designed to enable you to reflect on examples from your life experience and think about the perspectives that depict your understandings, experience and attitudes about environmental sustainability. You will also consider how these experiences position you as a teacher and/or practitioner (in your chosen profession). Reflection is a vital skill in knowing and understanding who you are in order to better position yourself within the context of teaching and working within educational settings. This task is assessing your ability to demonstrate that you meet the criteria for the following unit learning outcomes. Students will be able to: critically reflect upon their own attitudes and values in relation to sustainability perspectives and how these affect their teaching and professional role. Assessment details This assessment requires you to write an autobiographical account that articulates your values and attitudes about environmental sustainability. There is a peer review component to this task that has been included to challenge your ideas and help the group to think about multiple perspectives. This links with your ecological profile that you will develop in the first few weeks of the unit. Writing structure The structure for this assessment is an essay style descriptive piece of writing. This means that you can use headings and subheadings but you would not use dot points. Your writing must be structured with body paragraphs that outline some of the events in your life that align with the assessment questions. Write in the first person. Use an introduction to introduce your story not so much about the assessment. Use a conclusion to summarise how your experience relates to your learning and who you are. The details for this should already have been included. Include peer review feedback in your appendices one that you offered to someone else and one that has been offered for you. This appendices is not include in the final word count. Use academic references to support your analysis. Include a reference list with your submission. The reference list is not included in the word count The assignment has three parts. Part A: Past experiences/memories Detail two memories that have shaped your attitudes about environmental sustainability, preferably one that is positive and one that is less than positive – even challenging and confronting. These may build from the ecological profile you included on the discussion board. These two detailed memories may be from any life stage and from family, work, travel or education contexts. When describing two memories make sure that sufficient detail is provided and use the following questions to guide your descriptions (where applicable you may not need them all): Where and when did these experiences take place? What happened? What did you notice or feel? How did it change you or what impact did it have on you? What impact did it have on others e.g. people, plants, animals, environment. How has your life experience formed the values that have shaped your sustainable perspective? What might you have done differently? Part B: Analysis of two memories Following a description of your two memories, analyse and justify why you felt what you felt. Reflection on these memories is meant to stimulate you to examine your perspectives about environmental and broader issues of sustainability. The analysis should be driven by questions that arise from Part A. Such questions may include (but are certainly not limited to): How did your family, teachers, peers, media and/or community members influence this experience? Refer to the peer feedback from your ecological profile included in your appendices. Describe how and why this feedback shifted your ideas? This includes anything you learnt from giving feedback as well as receiving it. What were the environmental benefits, consequences and/or impact of your experience? What environmental philosophies and/or positions were your individual experiences grounded upon? How did this influence your own philosophy, values and/or behavior concerning sustainable issues and practices How have these experiences influenced your knowledge and awareness of the environment and broader sustainability issues? Your reflections afford you the benefit of hindsight, so be critical about your memories and experiences. This is not an exercise to get you to admit that you love the environment or care about sustainability if you do not, explain where those feelings came from. Your analysis must be well supported by existing academic literature from the unit or additional references that support your discussions. Part C: Teaching/practice position After completing your reflections of these experiences what position does this leave you in as a teacher? What are the implications of these analysed memories for your teaching and practice? How and why do sustainable education perspectives impact upon the professional responsibilities of teachers? What would your teaching in environmental/sustainable education look like? Appendices (not included in word count) Include peer feedback from your ecological profile that you recorded on Blackboard in week one/two. This must include one example of feedback that you gave to another student and one example of feedback that you received. This feedback is not included in your word count. References Include a list of references in Swinburne APA style. This reference list is not included in your final word count. Additional resources The following resources will help you meet the submission, format and referencing requirements of this assessment. Guidelines for peer review How to write reflectively Tips for preparing and submitting assessments Swinburne University referencing quick guides APA style guide Submission details This assessment will be submitted via Turnitin. See the Assessment 1 section of Blackboard for more detailed information. Assessment criteria Autobiographical writing Critical self-reflection and analysis including peer review Understanding of the professional role of the teacher Academic expression Your work will be assessed using the following holistic marking guide: Grade Descriptor Pass [P 50-59%] In order to be awarded a pass for this assessment task, all components of the task must be completed and the requirements of all criteria met at a satisfactory level according to the specific requirements listed in the descriptor on the right. The work is the author’s own own except where the works of others have been cited according to APA conventions. The reflection is original, has a distinctly reflective tone, is written in first person, and demonstrates significant capacity for self-reflection and analysis. The reflection, including two memories from life experiences demonstrates an emerging awareness of: how the selected memories/events influenced and informed your perspectives to environmental sustainability how these perspectives have influenced your behaviors and actions analysis of how others have influenced and shifted your perspectives about environmental sustainability how you analysed the peer review feedback from your ecological profile how your life experiences, values and beliefs influence your growth as a developing teacher and the challenges of integrating environmental sustainability in education. The reflection is clearly structured and coherent. It is written in first person and original. The examples are detailed. Attention to professional communication (spelling, grammar, punctuation, word choice, sentence structure and headings) is clearly evident. The assessment is well-supported with academic literature to analyse issues and challenges. APA referencing is generally correct with a reference list. Credit [C 60-69%] To be awarded a Credit, you must fulfil all of the requirements of the Pass level, but with more sophistication according to the specific requirements listed in the descriptor on the right. The reflection demonstrates a mature capacity for critical self-reflection, is clearly based on rich description of the events and on feedback received from your peers The reflection is clearly structured, written in a distinct voice, original and engaging The reflection is free from grammar, spelling and punctuation errors. APA referencing is correct throughout. The reflection demonstrates an insightful understanding and awareness of: peer review that offers analysis of shifting perspectives the environmental impact of your experiences is articulated how to apply knowledge environmental sustainability to practice. how the peer review questions made you think differently. Distinction [D 70-79%] To be awarded a Distinction for this task you must meet all the requirements of the Credit level, but with a level of discernment that demonstrates a capacity for reflection that is thoughtful and balanced according to the specific requirements listed in the descriptor on the right. Examples from your reflection highlight a thorough awareness and understanding of: your growth and development as a developing teacher how the selected memories/events have challenged your perspectives peer review that offers critical analysis of shifting perspectives how ideas from scholarly literature and philosophical underpinnings apply to teaching practice. High Distinction [HD 80-100%] To be awarded a High Distinction for this assignment you must meet all the requirements of the Distinction standard, outlined above, and then they must go beyond that according to the specific requirements listed in the descriptor on the right. The reflection is well-structured, has a distinct voice, is insightful, highly engaging and a pleasure to read. The reflection is thoughtfully written, honest, well-articulated, well-balanced, and care and attention have been paid to eliminating spelling, punctuation grammatical, and referencing errors. The reflection demonstrates a sophisticated awareness and understanding of: your growth and development as a developing teacher with considerations for how to integrate environmental sustainability teaching and learning peer review that offers critical analysis of multiple, shifting perspectives how to communicate personal and professional ideas the use of literature as an additional tool for reflection beyond the prescribed texts. Please note: If the assignment fails to reach a satisfactory standard on each criterion, or it does not fulfill the task requirements, then it must be awarded a no pass. EDU20005 Sustainable Education and Perspectives Week 1: Shining a light on sustainability OVERVIEW LEARNING MATERIALS DISCUSS This week In this course you will refine your own understanding of ‘sustainability’ in light of the range of definitions, contexts and educational approaches that we will discuss. This process will enable you to develop a personal ethic and positive response to ‘environmental sustainability’, and help you to communicate these ideas to others. What on Earth could be more important? This week we introduce the concept of sustainability and some of the key ideas that align with the definitions of sustainability. Sustainability is a central issue of our era. Through the evolution and development of sustainable practices humanity can seek to deal with the myriad economic, social and environmental imbalances of our modern society, improve the world we live in now, and safeguard the future. This significant challenge involves individuals, organisations and whole societies learning about and changing how we relate to the environment and in particular how we manage resource use. This week’s objectives By the end of this week you will be able to: identify and define the concept of sustainability articulate some of the key concepts and themes complete your ecological footprint. Related Unit Learning Outcomes 1. Summarise the scope and purpose of educating for a sustainable future. 2. Analyse the concept of ecological literacy and articulate the benefits of being eco-literate. Photo – Two hands cupping the sun in the sky. Energy sustainability (2013) Read Chapter 1: Ray Anderson of Conversations with green gurus: The collective wisdom of environmental movers and shakers provides an interview with one of the sustainable champions from the quiz (Anderson, 2009). Ray Anderson transformed his carpet company, Interface, into an exemplary model of sustainable business practice. Relating to sustainability To familiarise yourself with the some of the current information about sustainability across the globe it will be useful to sign up for Making Environmental News. This is an email service that sends you daily links to environmental news items which appear in electronic news media. EDU20005 Sustainable Education and Perspectives Week 2: The Age of the Anthropocene OVERVIEW LEARNING MATERIALS DISCUSS This week We live in an interconnected and interdependent world and the global is part of our everyday lives. Our everyday actions can have an impact on far-distant people and places. Achieving a more sustainable society means considering the relationship between social, economic, political and environmental wellbeing. There is very little left of the earth that has not been affected by humans. Satellite images have shown that in a relatively short period of human history on the planet it has been changed irreversibly (Suzuki, 2013). Many issues threaten the future of humans and other species on the planet. The most prominent of these are climate change, the exploitation of our lands and seas, loss of biodiversity, and over-use of manufactured chemicals and plastics that affects the stability of the global systems upon which all life depends. These issues contribute to social inequalities and impact on human well-being and economic stability. It is imperative that we develop an informed response to these challenges and that we feel empowered and enabled to take positive actions towards a sustainable future. In this unit you will refine your own understanding of ‘sustainability’ in light of the range of definitions, contexts and educational approaches that we will discuss. This process will enable you to develop a personal ethic and positive response to ‘sustainability’, and help you to communicate these ideas to others. Graphic – ‘The anthropocene’ – earth with a city of sky skrapers sticking up and a road around the the rim. The Anthropocene (2013) This week we consider how and why humans have been so dominant in shaping the Earth and what this means for the multitude of species who call this home, including humans. This week’s objectives By the end of this week you will be able to: articulate what is meant by the age of the Anthropocene identify how human activities are shaping and changing Earth’s systems consider some of the critical boundaries and tipping points that effect planetary systems align and understand how to apply these ideas with education think about how sustainability aligns with your environmental profile and personal ethic. Related Unit Learning Outcomes Critically consider concepts and themes related to sustainable development and how they can be integrated in all subject areas across education. EDU20005 Sustainable Education and Perspectives Week 3: Sustainable perspectives OVERVIEW LEARNING MATERIALS DISCUSS This week During the first few weeks of this unit we have considered definitions of sustainability and realised that like many definitions, especially for emerging fields, they are contested constructs and academics argue about the meaning and intent behind each one. Our understanding of the reality of the world and our actions within it are founded in and built around our own theoretical frameworks or worldviews. These are directly constructed from our individual and collective ethical and moral value codes and subsequently lived and added too directly from experience, and therefore must be considered within context. This week we examine sustainable perspectives or worldviews and consider how they influence our ways of thinking, being and living; and this in turn impacts what we teach and how we teach it. This week’s objectives By the end of this week you will be able to: describe a range of environmental and sustainable worldviews and perspectives articulate Bonnetts (2002) concept of sustainability as a frame of mind describe the purpose of the Earth charter. Related Unit Learning Outcomes 3. Critically consider concepts and themes related to sustainable development and how they can be integrated in all subject areas across education. Waking up In the sci-fi film The Matrix (Wachowski, 1999) we were introduced to the symbols of the blue and the red pills. At a critical point in the story, the central character, Neo, had a choice between taking the blue pill representing the blissful ignorance of the illusionary world or the red pill thus embracing the potential difficulties of reality. The blue pill would allow him to remain in the dreamlike world of the Matrix while the red pill would allow him to escape from his delusion and enter the real world. This filmic symbolism works quite well as an allegory for the world beginning to wake up to the realities of what is happening on our planet. Ask yourself now: Are you already awake? Would you choose to wake up and see the world anew or take the blue pill and go back to not knowing? Photo – Two hands outstretched, palm up. One contains a red pill, the other a blue pill. Red pill, blue pill (2013) Reading In the following blog post, The waking up syndrome, the authors write about this idea of waking up to environmental realities. This will be a good starting point for this weeks key concepts (Edwards & Buzzell, 2008). EDU20005 Sustainable Education and Perspectives Week 4: Educational perspectives OVERVIEW LEARNING MATERIALS DISCUSS This week During the first few weeks of this unit we have focused on some of the introductory ideas about what sustainability is, some of the ways of thinking about sustainable issues and some of the key concepts and themes. In 1992, the United Nations declared that Education is critical for promoting sustainable development (United Nations Conference on Environment & Development, 1992), and we now turn our attention to bringing sustainability and education together and thinking about the platform that education provides for exploring these ideas. We will also build a rationale for why and how Education for Sustainability (EfS) should be included in early childhood, primary and secondary settings and analyse the prominent role education is being given internationally in addressing environmental issues and the sustainability crisis. This week’s objectives By the end of this week you will be able to: explain the principles of EfS and discuss how they relate to teaching articulate a rationale for why children and young people need to learn about environmental and sustainable issues describe the difference between environmental education, education about sustainability and education for sustainability understand the meaning of key EfS concepts and themes and why they are key to the practice of EfS. Related Unit Learning Outcomes 3. Critically consider concepts and themes related to sustainable development and how they can be integrated in all subject areas across education Why study EfS? In todays rapidly changing and hyper-connected world we live in, our children and young people, and indeed our community as a whole, arguably need more than ever to learn to view the world holistically. Understanding the natural environment and developing insight into how the social constructs of society, economics and governance inhibit our ability to act with meaning to environmental issues is essential. EfS has a crucial role to play in developing new ways of thinking, changing attitudes and promoting skills to create a fair and sustainable future for the world. Education for Sustainable Development is a lifelong process from early childhood to higher and adult education and goes beyond formal education (European Panel on Sustainable Development, 2010). Jaimie Cloud on Education for Sustainability (2014) Education will play an important part in the changes that are needed as we adapt to environmental changes, not only through the dissemination of information and adaptation skills but also through the challenging of ideas and values that transform thinking. The UNESCO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005) outlines the following pedagogical drivers as the determinants of transformative learning. These are: values driven, interdisciplinary and holistic outcomes; critical, problem solving thinking; and multi-methodological, participatory decision making with local relevance. EfS is a movement and process which promotes thinking systematically about sustainability in order to develop an understanding and recognition of the contexts and interconnections involved in the challenges of meeting the future. Through this society will evolve an empowered citizenry equipped to make effective decisions to improve the state of ecosystems, and ensure economic and social health and well-being. In schools, sustainability education is intended to involve every subject. Many schools already have green initiatives like recycling, school gardens or working teams. Typically, these can be described as tokenistic, involving a small number of people. In contrast, EfS aims to promote truly sustainable schools and early childhood settings which will, in time, have environmental literacy at the centre of their institutional processes, as a guiding motif in the fabric of their cultures. The concept of citizenship, as it applies in the context of sustainable thinking, is a significant theme in this unit which you need to address in your assessment responses. Citizens of tomorrow need to be prepared for a world which will be significantly different from the world of the 1990’s: a world characterised by rapid technological change, major environmental challenges, globalism and expanding information networks. This syllabus provides the opportunity for students to develop the skills that will enable them to develop leadership in shaping their own future and Australia’s. (Board of Senior Secondary School Studies, 1998) EDU20005 Sustainable Education and Perspectives Week 5: Ethics and sustainable futures OVERVIEW LEARNING MATERIALS DISCUSS This week This week we continue to define some of the issues and themes in Education for Sustainability (EfS) with a focus on building conceptual knowledge and understandings. We will explore a range of sustainability issues, including climate change, consumption and waste. We examine why these themes are important and consider how they relate in terms of a sustainable and ethical futures perspective as we analyse some of the social, economic, political and cultural implications of these global ‘wicked’ problems. This week’s objectives By the end of this week you will be able to: describe the ideas behind a sustainable futures perspective align the importance of ethical inter-species relationships with the concepts of sustainable futures articulate the concepts of global warming and climate change consider the impacts of growth, consumption and waste. Related Unit Learning Outcomes 1. Summarise the scope and purpose of educating for a sustainable future. 3. Critically consider concepts and themes related to sustainable development and how they can be integrated in all subject areas across education. Illustration: A tree with ‘sustainable future’ across the top. On the branches: ‘equitable societies, living within means, sustainable development, healthy food and ecosystems. The trunk: ‘education’ The roots: ‘knowledge, skills, values, attitudes.’ In the background the sun shines the words ‘inspiration’ and ‘innovation’. Is education enough to become more sustainable? (2012) Sustainable futures perspectives The complex challenges of environmental sustainability and social equity have become increasingly important for the future. As we have begun to discuss, education has a significant part to play in shaping the future. In 2002, the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development was proclaimed with a timeframe from 20052014 to forward this idea (Combes, 2009). The aim of establishing this decade of focusing on education for sustainable development, or EfS, was, to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, in order to address the social, economic, cultural and environmental problems we face in the 21st century (p. 5). The Decade proclaimed the following values and goals. Education for a sustainable future is about learning to: respect, value and preserve the achievements of the past appreciate the wonders and the peoples of the Earth live in a world where all people have sufficient food for a healthy and productive life assess, care for and restore the state of our planet create and enjoy a better, safer, more just world be caring citizens who exercise their rights and responsibilities locally, nationally and globally. (Combes, 2009, p. 11). An example of how this the decade and the principles listed above have been considered and applied in educational settings is evident in the aims and objectives expressed below from an EfS initiative in primary schools in England by the Dorset Local Education Authority. Aims Education should achieve changes in the community which: lead to changes in work, lifestyle and consumption patterns encourage people to consider alternatives enable people to take part in decision making enable people to find information give people opportunities to participate encourage principles leading to a fairer society help people to understand the links between issues. Objectives Achieving these aims mean that education should help students towards the following objectives: Knowledge Values Skills How natural processes work A commitment to all living things Co-operative working How our lives connect with others A desire for social justice Empathy and awareness Critical thinking Negotiation The planet earth as a finite resource Understanding of quality of life Rights and responsibilities Reasoned debate Problem solving How to make decisions How we provide for human needs A global perspective and loyalty to the world community Creative ability Research & data handling Communication skills

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