Concepts change at an incredibly fast rate for human beings and more specifically in the world of education and whence for society. To cite an example, there exist conceptualizations ‘issued’ such as ...Industry 4.0 or University 5.0. The very standpoint here arguably directs the focus to andragogy “at the brink of the post-anthropocene” (Wallin, 2017) in a rather inevitable fashion. Integrating the salient elements of the notion post-anthropocene into andragogy of Vocational Education and Training (VET) and ensuring the ‘sustainability’ of learning and teaching related practicum in this regard is deemed essential considering “growing ecological awareness in the era of the Anthropocene could also productively influence all spheres of life-ecology, economics, education, politics and the social sphere–in the interest of sustaining the planet” (Le Grange, 2019, p.1). In this direction, this paper intends to discuss the optimal means through which the VET given to the marginal groups in Türkiye as part of a project entitled “Professional Skills Development Project (MESGEP)” can be enriched towards raising an awareness about the climate crisis and about the other ecological issues awaiting to be confronted. It is hoped that with the new amendments to made to the available curricula, the individuals as the participants of the project can gain more consciousness about ecological crises and adopt the relevant skills. Thereupon, it is thought that educating disadvantaged groups in this way will not only point to equal opportunity in education but also attempt to alter the previously held belief, which pinpointed environmental pollution is indeed an externality of education.
This paper presents research emanating from a deep concern about the existential health of our planet; my personal pursuit of effective teaching in the area known as creative technologies; and the ...responsive engagement of the students facing the insurmountable problems we all confront. The Anthropocene is one of those problems that demands a response, but denies singular, simplistic solutions. Paradoxically, the Anthropocene is the result of the human impact on the earth, however, it is apparently beyond individual, and probably, even technological control. Just as there has been the emergence of a global environmental and social consciousness there has been a dawning suspicion that the wicked problems of the Anthropocene may elude our technological solutions resulting in planetary anxiety and neurosis. I have undertaken a number of novel approaches to teaching creative technologies in order to explore positive teaching methods with the ambition to liberate students, and ourselves from cognitive and physical paralysis and to open metaphysical boundaries for future innovative research and creativity. Over the course of the past 4 years I have experimented with numerous approaches to assist students in coming to grips with this and other intransigent problems that trouble humanity and nonhumanity alike. Despite the fact that many of these problems relating to the Anthropocene are over 60 years old, wave after wave of student graduates have failed to critically address design innovations and entrepreneurial opportunities that might ameliorate human impact or contribute to sustainable businesses. The military-industrial-academic legacy of creative technologies suggests a wider exposure of education to the pathologies of cyber weaponry. Known as the Great Acceleration of the Anthropocene, exponential technological growth may correlate with the worst excesses of human production, consumption and waste. Through the multidisciplinary Bachelor of Creative Technologies I seek to provide students with the cognitive skills to imagine alternative worlds and speculative futures that enable students to escape the 'transparent cage' and the weaponisation of education. The limitations and successes of student projects will be reviewed and critically assessed in order to provide insights into opportunities for novel pedagogical methods in addressing sustainability and wicked problems.
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