The aim of this study is twofold, first is to create an in-service training example that can be conducted with childhood education teachers in framework of transformative learning towards learning for sustainability and education for sustainable development. Second aim of study is to investigate effects and contributors of created transformative learning example on participants&rsquo / perspective transformation. 24 teachers were involved as convenient sample in this research. Research methodology combined two basic data gathering and analysis methods. Sample group participated in seven half day in-service training, at the end of training initial inquiry was conducted by using Learning Activities Survey with all participants and it was continued with 6 follow-up interviews. Assessment tool and interview format were developed by Kathleen P. King (1997) and were translated in Turkish and adapted for the use of this research. The results of this research revealed that 100% of participants experienced perspective transformation at varying degrees in relation to in-service training conducted.The most telling findings indicate that: (a) perspective transformation learning experiences include major shifts in learner&rsquo / s understanding of his/her life and world, (b) journey of transformative learning differs among learners, (c) sampled population experienced some changes in their perspective of their beliefs, assumptions and points of view as well as they transitioned to a more differentiated frame of reference which is related with sustainability, (d) both classroom assignments and support were noted as important contributors of perspective transformation, (e) discussions, group projects, critical thinking activities, self-evaluation of participants and unconventional structure of training, support of trainer, support from others and challenge from trainer were evaluated as main contributors to perspective transformation.

The aim of this study is twofold, first is to create an in-service training example that can be conducted with childhood education teachers in framework of transformative learning towards learning for sustainability and education for sustainable development. Second aim of study is to investigate effects and contributors of created transformative learning example on participants&rsquo / perspective transformation. 24 teachers were involved as convenient sample in this research. Research methodology combined two basic data gathering and analysis methods. Sample group participated in seven half day in-service training, at the end of training initial inquiry was conducted by using Learning Activities Survey with all participants and it was continued with 6 follow-up interviews. Assessment tool and interview format were developed by Kathleen P. King (1997) and were translated in Turkish and adapted for the use of this research. The results of this research revealed that 100% of participants experienced perspective transformation at varying degrees in relation to in-service training conducted.The most telling findings indicate that: (a) perspective transformation learning experiences include major shifts in learner&rsquo / s understanding of his/her life and world, (b) journey of transformative learning differs among learners, (c) sampled population experienced some changes in their perspective of their beliefs, assumptions and points of view as well as they transitioned to a more differentiated frame of reference which is related with sustainability, (d) both classroom assignments and support were noted as important contributors of perspective transformation, (e) discussions, group projects, critical thinking activities, self-evaluation of participants and unconventional structure of training, support of trainer, support from others and challenge from trainer were evaluated as main contributors to perspective transformation.

<p>VET HUT!</p><p>Om möjligheter och begränsningar med ämnesövergripande tematisk undervisning för hållbar utveckling</p><p>Education for Sustainable Development</p><p>Possibilities and limitations with thematic interdisciplinary education for Sustainable Development.</p><p>Antal sidor: 39</p><p>Att gå från abstrakta ord till konkret handling, när det gäller realiseringen av hållbar utveckling, är en högprioriterad uppgift i dagens och framtidens globala samhälle. En uppgift där skolan besitter en nyckelroll för att lägga grunden till de attityder de uppväxande och kommande generationerna kommer att tillämpa i sina vardagliga handlingar.</p><p>I och med detta anser vi det av stor vikt att ifrågasätta utformandet av undervisningen i hållbar utveckling och vi har i denna studie undersökt lärarnas syn på villkor för ämnesövergripande temaundervisning i hållbar utveckling. Där vi mot bakgrund av ett av oss konstruerat exempel diskuterar möjligheter och svårigheter tillsammans med nio lärare.</p><p>Konklusionen av studien visar att HUT bör ses som ett holistiskt etiskt förhållningssätt snarare än ett specifikt undervisningsämne, då det i slutänden är den gemensamma insatsen som ger förutsättningarna för förståelsen av samspelet mellan ekologiska, ekonomiska och sociala aspekter. För att åstadkomma detta är behovet stort för att i skolan praktisera den normativa undervisningsmetodiken, för att förse eleverna med kritiskt tänkande och förståelse att genom etiska och demokratiska handlingar påverkar det globala samhället i en hållbar riktning.</p><p>Vi konstaterar att det finns ett stort engagemang och intresse för HUT-frågor samt att HUT redan finns tillstor del ute i praktiken. De villkor vi funnit för temaundervisning i hållbar utveckling är att det måste finns ett intresse, en organisation och struktur som möjliggör samarbete och utbyte mellan elever, mellan lärare och mellan elever och lärare. Vi tror att mycket, relativt enkelt, kan vinnas om tid och kraft satsas på att utveckla och förtydliga de ämnesöverskridande kopplingar som finns i begreppets olika aspekter genom exempelvis deliberativa samtal. I diskussionen ger vi förslag på tillvägagångssätt för att underlätta implementering av tematiskt ämnesövergripande arbete i hållbar utveckling</p>

The world is plagued by a daunting array of interrelated environmental crises, economic instability and social injustice. In order to mitigate these issues for present and future generations we look towards the concept of sustainable development (SD) and hence education for sustainable development (ESD) which supports SD. In this qualitative study, participants from varying roles in Canada, England and Australia were interviewed to determine their perceptions and understanding of current practices, successes, drivers and barriers of ESD and changes over time. The progress of ESD in these three countries was compared and contrasted to discover that although they use different terms to describe the work, and have different structures and sociopolitical situations, there was much agreement about what has been accomplished and what needs to be done. Strong leadership, government policy, financial and staff support were seen as drivers, while lack of time and commitment were seen as barriers.

Sustainability education is a contested field in Aotearoa New Zealand, as it is in other countries. A variety of philosophical and theoretical interpretations and possibilities for practice therefore co-exist within this emerging field. This thesis develops a ‘complex perspective’ of sustainability education by exploring the way it is conceptualised in literature and the New Zealand curriculum, and interpreted in practice in the context of a New Zealand secondary school. Guided by the key contributing theories and a qualitative methodology, the thesis maps the complexity of the field from the macro- or global and international level to the micro- or local level using the reference points of theory, practice, and possibility. Developed during and in response to an intense period of social and environmental change that shows no signs of abating, the thesis comprises two interrelated components. The first and more substantial component is the literature review. This takes account of situational factors that are giving rise to different conceptions and approaches to sustainability education and to contrasting views presented in literature and curriculum. Used as an umbrella term for all forms of education with environmental and sustainability foci, ‘sustainability education’ (in whatever form it takes) stands as an admission of broad social failure and the need for substantial change. Conceptions of sustainability education range from ‘education for sustainable development’ (ESD), which is advanced by the United Nations and other influential international organisations, to ‘education for sustainability’ (EfS), which has taken precedence over ‘environmental education’ (EE) in the New Zealand curriculum. The literature shows that this complex, contested, contextualised and emerging field is as much hopeful as it is critical. The qualitative case study comprises the second interrelated component of the thesis. Grounded in the real-life context of a secondary school with a distinctive approach to teaching and learning, it involves an empirical investigation of the ways in which two teachers and a diverse group of Year 9 to Year 14 students understand and practice sustainability education. This component draws on the interpretive methods of interviewing and observation to afford an empathetic and multi-perspectival view of sustainability education in practice. The case does not strive to establish ‘truth’ but rather to be open to multiple truths, realities and meanings - in a manner that is consistent with the theories of social constructionism and interpretivism in particular. It is suggested, through this study, that sustainability education cannot be confined to a stable conception or consistent framework, or approached through a programme of standardised levels and assessments. Representing a complex, multi-dimensional, dynamic and emergent concept, sustainability education may best be approached and sustained in a corresponding fashion, through multiple, critically-informed, and dialogically-linked points of entry.

The term ‘education for sustainable development’ is recently used and discussed in Germany, even though, to many people it is an abstract idea. The development of schoolyards can be seen as a practical project in order to teach and experience education for sustainable development in everyday school life. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how the development of a schoolyard offers possibilities for education for sustainable development. Additionally, some challenges that have to be taken into consideration are pointed out. An extended literature review of education for sustainable development and schoolyard development serves as the basis for the thematic analysis. In order to approach the research question, the five themes that emerged through the thematic analysis, are discussed.  The present research shows that schoolyard development has the potential to support a holistic approach to learning, to offer possibilities for ‘progressive’ teaching strategies, to enhance ecological literacy, to foster the participation of students and to provide equal opportunities. Although there are basic framework conditions that need to be considered, the research indicates that schoolyard development can make an important contribution to education for sustainable development.

Idag står vi inför utmaningen att leva inom vår planets gränser. För att uppnå en hållbar utveckling krävs det en förändring i tankesätt, värderingar och livsstil menar UNESCO-UNEP. Detta kan åstadkommas genom en fundamental förändring i utbildningen från tidig barndom. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur hållbar utveckling tolkas i den svenska grundskolan. Två ämnen har valts; biologi och hem- och konsumentkunskap. I uppsatsen identifieras de miljöetiska perspektiven antropocentrism och ekocentrism och hur de kommer till uttryck i förhållande till ämnestradition. De metoder som används är semi-strukturerade intervjuer av högstadielärare, dokumentanalys av läroplan och kursplaner och tematisk analys intervjuerna. Resultatet visar att i såväl läroplan och kursplaner som undervisningen framgår det att antropocentrismen har stort utrymme, då det är stort fokus på resurser, människan och samhället, i såväl hem- och konsumentkunskap som biologi. Ekocentrismen kan ses i form av uttryck i läroplan och kursplaner utifrån hänsyn och respekt för naturen, och genom att ge eleven förståelse inför valsituationer som rör hälsa och miljö. Ämnestradition har betydelse för hur hållbar utveckling tolkas i undervisningen. Biologi är naturorienterat med naturliga processer och kretslopp i fokus, vilket leder till fler ekocentriska resonemang. Hem- och konsumentkunskap har fokus på individen, hemmet och samhället, vilket ger mindre utrymme för ekocentrism. Alla lärare visade på både ekocentriska och antropocentriska resonemang. Lärarnas egna åsikter angående hållbar utveckling kan finna väg in i undervisningen, vilket anses kunna leda till större utrymme för ekocentrism i undervisningen. / Today we stand before the challenge of living within our planets limits. UNESCO-UNEP argue that to achieve a sustainable development changes in thinking, attitudes and lifestyle is required. This can be accomplished with a fundamental change in education from early childhood. The aim with this study is to research how sustainable development is interpreted in the Swedish elementary school. Two school subjects have been chosen; biology and home economics. In the essay the environmental ethics anthropocentrism and ecocentrism, and how they are expressed in relations to tradition is identified.  Methods used are semi-structured interviews with teachers, document analysis of the curriculum and syllabus and thematic analysis of the interviews. The results show that in the education as well as the syllabus it is clear that anthropocentrism has larger room. This because of the focal point in both home economics and biology is common resources, humans and society. Ecocentrism in the curriculum and syllabus is shown through consideration and respect for the nature, and through students’ understanding when making choices. The tradition of the school subjects has significance for how sustainable development is interpreted in the education. Biology is nature oriented with focus on natural processes and cycles, which lead to additional ecocentric reasoning. Home economics has the focal point on the individual, the home and society, which leads to less ecocentric reasoning. All teachers that were interviewed showed both ecocentric and anthropocentric reasoning. The teachers’ opinions can find way in to the education, which here is considered to the possibility of more room for ecocentrism in home economics.

The world is plagued by a daunting array of interrelated environmental crises, economic instability and social injustice. In order to mitigate these issues for present and future generations we look towards the concept of sustainable development (SD) and hence education for sustainable development (ESD) which supports SD. In this qualitative study, participants from varying roles in Canada, England and Australia were interviewed to determine their perceptions and understanding of current practices, successes, drivers and barriers of ESD and changes over time. The progress of ESD in these three countries was compared and contrasted to discover that although they use different terms to describe the work, and have different structures and sociopolitical situations, there was much agreement about what has been accomplished and what needs to be done. Strong leadership, government policy, financial and staff support were seen as drivers, while lack of time and commitment were seen as barriers.

This study investigates how upper secondary school students constitute relations between the environment and humanity. The aim of the study is to analyse relations that emerge between and within the Earth´s major systems (humanity included) and how these relations are composed when students are faced with a fictional decision of consuming a pair of jeans.                        Using workshop as a data collection method, students creatively visualize their discussions through participatory modelling in groups. The results of the study are based on the analyses of the concluding presentations of the completed models. The results show difficulties in submitting relations between the three dimensions of the concept of sustainable development together with a dualistic worldview, indicating a lack of complexity in the presentations. Therefore, a gap can be identified between the empirical results and the aims of education for sustainable development (ESD) that, according to the Ministry of Education and Research, should be a part of Swedish upper secondary education. In addition, a gap between the steering documents for the Swedish upper secondary schools and the UNESCO guidelines on ESD is revealed, consisting of the latter more distinctly promoting systems thinking and embracing pluralism.                                                                  Three national programmes are represented in the study; social science, science and economics. Differences between the three are established. Groups with a focus on social science present complexity to higher extent than groups on science orientation. Groups with a focus on economics present least complexity in their presentations.

The comprehensive ambition of the present thesis was to acquire knowledge about expectations on and preconditions for environmental moral learning within the education for sustainable development (ESD) in the Swedish upper secondary school. The expectations on ESD were explored by examining the description of “sustainable development” in the curriculum, and the prerequisites were examined by analysing environmental attitudes, commitments, and actions of 18-year-old students. The thesis focuses in particular on attitudes to solidarity as a value that unites the social, economic, and ecological dimensions of sustainable development. The theoretical foundation is based on curriculum theory and learning theory, incorporating influences from pragmatic philosophy, while theories of environmental psychology were applied to explain commonalities in attitudes to altruistic and biospheric values. The thesis comprises four studies, and mixed methods were employed as methodological approach. The first study involved a discourse analysis, and aimed at clarifying the description of sustainable development in the curriculum, and to reveal what subject position(s) the discourse implies. The second study was a questionnaire, where statistical methods were used to analyse attitudes to solidarity, equality, and respect for nature. The third study was also a questionnaire, focusing more specifically on attitudes to different aspects of solidarity. The fourth study was an interview study, utilizing a thematic analysis in order to elucidate how students think about solidarity and the future, and how they have encountered the concepts of solidarity and future in teaching. The results disclosed that the expectations on ESD is characterized by an ecological modernization discourse, in which two subject positions are articulated, one scientific and one technical, the latter with expectations on students to be ethical agents. The quantitative studies in the present thesis corroborated previously found correlations between attitudes to altruistic and attitudes to biospheric values. The significant correlation between future orientation and solidarity unveiled by the present thesis constitutes however a pioneering result. The interview analyses imparted that students have experienced little moral reasoning in school with regard to sustainable development, and furthermore conveyed that the future dimension had basically been missing in the teaching they had encountered. The present thesis furthermore contributes methodologically and theoretically by the development of a new scale for appraising solidarity.