In this research I explore ways in which teachers and parents can enhance the sustainability agenda to bridge the gap towards sustainability through the creation of caring, democratic, just, ecologically regenerative schools-as-communities. I learned that we can only transform ourselves and not others, therefore to transform the model of experience of schooling and society, we need to transform ourselves, the whole community of the school, towards sustainability. This follows the work of Sterling (2001, 2002a and 2002b) which illustrates that education and society will need to change together in a mutually affirming way, since there is no linear cause-effect relationship. This dissertation focuses on one aspect of the developing field of education for sustainability (EfS). I use radical ecology as the philosophy which supports the vision of community transformation towards sustainability (Orr 2002; Fien 2001; and Sterling 2001). I use the emancipatory research paradigm and detail a participatory epistemology fused with a holistic, constructivist notion of reality, to situate a participative approach which enables important interdisciplinary connections to be made. The research comprises ethnographic research and cooperative inquiry projects that were implemented at two small community schools, as well as reflective practice to develop personal and professional practices of sustainability. Contemporary work in the field of EfS has a cultural understanding of sustainability, which uses four pillars: the biophysical, the social-cultural, the economic and the political. The political pillar is the key organising principle for this research. The research is significant because I develop and build upon Sterling’s (2001) notion of transformative learning for sustainability. I show that participatory structures, procedures and processes are necessary, but not sufficient for a socially transformative school-as-community culture and that socio-ecologically contextualised knowing is transformative knowledge about community sustainability. For people to behave in cooperative ways, they need to develop a practical, reconnective knowledge of cooperation. Likewise, for people to behave in ecologically regenerative ways, they need to develop a practical, reconnective knowledge of ecological reconnection. The research methods of reflective practice and cooperative inquiry are discussed and evaluated as vehicles for transformation towards sustainability. The dissertation thereby assesses their effectiveness in enabling the development of practical knowledge about sustainability. In Australia, over the last decade our federal government has shown little interest in fulfilling its own narrowly defined ecological sustainability policy commitments. In Western Australia, our government has recently launched a comprehensive State Sustainability Strategy however its major weakness is that it has afforded very low significance to education at a time when major international organisations such as UNESCO (2002b) see education as an integral part of sustainability and learning as a key to a sustainable future. Sadly, the State Sustainability Strategy does not recommend a reorientation of the education system towards sustainability, does not incorporate a socially critical view of education, and almost completely overlooks the role of learning in the social task of change towards sustainability. In Western Australia, we urgently need policies and political action for commitment through structural reorientation towards EfS. Even in the face of this, a multi-perspectival, inclusive approach to the development of civil society through devolved, locally-based decision making and action within a school community can facilitate the emergence of learning for sustainability in that community. Even within a context of contradiction, tension and paradox, it is possible for school communities to contribute to sustainability through reconnective transformative learning.

The aim of this thesis is to gain knowledge and understanding about Marine-Based Ecological Education and then apply this knowledge and understanding to form the vision of an Eco-Camp in Western Australia. This has been done in three stages. Part one is an account of my personal immersion in a grass roots not-for-profit environmental youth organization, Millennium Kids. The most valuable lessons that I learnt during this time came through the Environmental Citizenship program. Initially I was a participant, and then on three other occasions I was a facilitator for the program. It was through these programs that I began to understand the value of facilitating lessons learnt from robust healthy nature. Part two of my research is concerned with marine education centres and uncovering their stories; documenting their ethos, education and public relations. I aim to focus on what each centre does best and how this has enabled them to become the entity that they are today. Through this process I collect information that will inform the culminating vision of this thesis, the Eco-camp. Part three is the vision for an Eco-Camp, which has developed organically from my understandings derived from parts one and two. Through both my research on marine education centres and my personal immersion in Millennium Kids Environmental Citizenship program, I began to realize the value and need for an Eco-Camp. The Eco-Camp will be in remote robust healthy nature and will immerse participants in these environments, attuning them to the rhythm of Gaia.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 211-224). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR19792

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.E.S.)--The Evergreen State College, 2007. / Title from title screen viewed (2/6/2008). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-73).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-98).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2003. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Science and Engineering. Bibliography: leaves 307-322.

Thesis (M.Env.St.)--University of Adelaide, Mawson Graduate Centre for Environmental Studies, 2000. / Bibliography: leaves 127-134.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Antioch University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed February 20, 2009). Advisor: Jon Wergin, Ph.D. "A dissertation submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2008."--from the title page. Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-246).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-169). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR29629