{"id":3814,"date":"2013-05-27T08:49:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T07:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=3814"},"modified":"2013-05-27T08:49:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-27T07:49:00","slug":"a-grenade-in-the-curriculum-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2013\/05\/27\/a-grenade-in-the-curriculum-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"A grenade in the Curriculum Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I noted<\/a> recently, I have a forthcoming paper in the Curriculum Journal<\/a>, in\u00a0a special issue on education and sustainability in the UK.\u00a0\u00a0 So has Ken Webster, I'm pleased to say. \u00a0His contribution is\u00a0a poke in the ribs for those who think that the priority should be to infiltrate ESD into current educational practice. \u00a0Here's a taste:<\/p>\n

ESD mistook the superficial for the profound in a way which reflects the persistence of a linear and reductionist worldview \u2013 and its associated myths \u2013 operating \u2018below the radar\u2019 of everyday consciousness. \u00a0By this is meant that so infrequently is the extended context and time horizon considered \u2013 the systems and its iteration over time \u2013 that this speaks to habits of mind which are products of a worldview which is linear (looks to immediate causes and effects) and reductionist (looks at the parts in isolation and assumes the whole is merely the aggregation of such parts. \u00a0Ironic really, that the call in ESD is often for rethinking values when this clearly does not often extend to the assumptions woven into the prevailing worldview, hence the characterisation of ESD aspirations as merely \u2018business as usual but greener and fairer\u2019. <\/span>...<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The roots of many of the fallacies and misconceptions, are found in a failure of educators to think in systems, not least because they themselves have been educated in narrow subject disciplines derived from the dominant worldviews of the Enlightenment era. \u00a0As a result the failure principally means a failure to see the interconnections, and map the consequences; a failure to see the \u2018big picture\u2019 and emergent properties (the whole is more and<\/em> different than the sum of the parts); to have, very often, an overrated sense that the situation can or could be managed<\/em>. \u00a0Never was an image so poorly thought through than the one where the earth is placed in human hands. \u00a0We are not in charge, not least because it is impossible in systems terms. \u00a0It\u2019s just bad science to think so. \u00a0There is also an exaggerated focus on the individual as the locus of change and the na\u00efve notion that the system is very open to change rather than being heavily path dependent. \u00a0Some of these misconceptions ... have become so much a part of so much ESD in practice but are rarely challenged ... .<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Good stuff. \u00a0The full set of papers is:<\/p>\n

Sustainable development, environmental education, and the significance of being in place<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Bonnett<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Eco-schooling and sustainability citizenship: exploring issues raised by corporate sponsorship<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

John Huckle<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Developing the sustainable school: thinking the issues through<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Bill Scott<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Uncharted waters: voyages for Education for Sustainable Development in the higher education curriculum<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Alexandra Ryan & Daniella Tilbury<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Exploring and developing student understandings of sustainable development<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Nicola Walshe<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Missing the wood for the trees, systemic defects and the future of education for sustainable development<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Ken Webster<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I noted recently, I have a forthcoming paper in the Curriculum Journal, in\u00a0a special issue on education and sustainability in the UK.\u00a0\u00a0 So has Ken Webster, I'm pleased to say. \u00a0His contribution is\u00a0a poke in the ribs for those...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-new-publications"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}