SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Interdisciplinary Sustainable Development



Interdisciplinary Sustainable Development

Introduction

The reflective report is an attempt to demonstrate my learning through the course. Since, the learning methodology in this course has been very different, a reflective report is yet another way of self learning. Through working on various projects during the course, I have developed an understanding on teamwork. In the reflective report I will be covering the various events that the group went through and the way the group members adhered to ground rules set and team policy set for the group. 'Critical & reflective thinking' is acknowledged as one of the key skills within Education for Sustainable Development in Higher Education Institutions (Dawe et al, 2005). In this chapter we outline why the skill is important for all professionals who will contend with sustainability and provide two examples from our experience of teaching sustainability of how this skill can be developed through participatory learning experiences.

Professional people are tasked with the design and implementation of strategies to address systemic societal problems in a variety of contexts. It is increasingly acknowledged that such challenges cannot be addressed using 'one-size-fits-all' blueprints. The complexity of ecological, social and economic systems means that such approaches often struggle to achieve their stated ambitions because they are based on an incomplete understanding of the system involved and can fail to fully engage the people whose cooperation is vital for success.

An influential argument within Education for Sustainable Development (for example, Sterling, 2001; 2003) is that the understanding that informs sustainability strategy is shaped, often unwittingly, by the dominance of accepted 'versions' of what's important. This includes dominant values, ways of understanding of how systems work and how to influence change. It is therefore necessary for professionals to critically reflect on the influence of their own and others' 'versions' before innovation and change can occur.

The focus on participatory processes in the study of sustainability is arguably a response to this need. Involving interested others in the process allows the professional's own 'versions' to be challenged. It also gives scope for challenging the 'versions' of participants. This is particularly important if their cooperation is required for strategic success as any proposed solutions must be meaningful to them.

Cultivating Reflective Practice

Reflective practice in the learning arena can be traced back to Socratic questioning, where one question is answered by another question so as to challenge the subject under discussion. Dewey called reflection 'a kind of thinking that consists in turning a subject over in the mind and giving it serious thought' (1933). In more recent contributions to educational theory reflective practice has been associated with Kolb's experiential learning cycle (1984), with Schon (1987) as an important component for the development of professional knowledge and practice and with Mezirow (1990) as a trigger to the process of transformative learning in adulthood. Reflective practice has also become part of the movement for 'active learning' (Baldwin and Williams, 1988) or 'whole person learning' (Taylor, 2007) both of which place value on self-determination and autonomy for the ...