Humans have always lived in eras of more or less obvious crises and risks. When Ulrich Beck wrote about the risk society in 1986, he talked about risks as invisibility lacking spatial and temporal ...boundaries. The environmental risks of the modern society may often appear diffuse, even if, for example, the climate change dilemma has progressively become noticeable. However, this year, people on Earth have had to face a most obvious risk. The effects of Covid-19 have reached such proportions that the human world probably will never be the same again. However, the extent of jeopardies is not similar for all world inhabitants, neither are the tools to handle the risks. To face the threat and learn from it, humans need to change manners on many levels and in many social and physical areas. Some of the main questions to reflect on and discuss in this feature issue of Sustainability are: What will the most urgent role of sustainability education be now and in the future? What kind of teaching, learning and educational policies are most relevant? What issues are most crucial in sustainability education research?
Climate change is a complex and wicked problem, which needs to be addressed through relevant climate change education. However, the preconditions for combatting climate change differ in different ...parts of the world, depending on physical, cultural and social circumstances. The diversity of circumstances also influences the implementation of climate change in education. Therefore, in this article we have chosen to examine climate change education (CCE) based on an interview study in two distinct school contexts. More specifically, the cases aim to explore Finnish and Tanzanian primary students' views on climate change. A hermeneutical approach guided the analysis, and a significant result was that most of the students understood the severity of climate change. Nevertheless, some misconceptions regarding both causes, consequences and mitigation of climate change were also obvious. In addition, the analysis revealed interesting variations in the students' reasoning, which relate to their different contexts. Unquestionably, the sample size in this study is limited, and further research is needed for a more detailed picture of Finnish and Tanzanian students’ views.
Social sustainability is a dimension of sustainability that has received little attention. Our aims in this article are to create a definition of social sustainability based on a comprehensive ...literature study, and to discuss the implementation of the concept in higher education settings at theoretical and practical levels. We also aim to answer the question of whether it is possible to achieve a socially sustainable and transformative practice in educational contexts. Our approach in the study is critical and reflective and, firstly, built on a literature review including policy documents, research articles and books on sustainability from the perspectives of education and social studies. Secondly, we provide examples of practice from four university sustainability courses. In these courses, social sustainability appears in an interdisciplinary and a sustainable leadership framework. The conclusion from this study is that it is possible to implement social sustainability in various ways at the course level. We identify elementary features at basic, personal and educational levels that facilitate the implementation. However, we see the inclusion of social sustainability as the only way to reshape education and rethink the role of educational institutions. In this reshaping, ethics is the core.
AbstractThe idea of phenomenon-based learning (PhBL) was introduced into the Finnish core curriculum for basic education in 2014. The Finnish approach has raised interest in many other countries. In ...Finland, the idea of PhBL is often linked to the traditions of educational psychology, constructivism, problem-based learning (PBL) and inquiry-based learning (IBL). However, philosophical approaches like phenomenology, existentialism, and the tradition of Bildung have also influenced Finnish school development. Drawing on this complexity of philosophical and scholarly developments, we argue that the inherent ideas of PhBL are neither new, nor is it surprising that they have re-appeared as PhBL in the Finnish context. With PhBL’s holistic approach, the focus on collaboration and reciprocal responsibility represents a promising practice for education in a world that is facing complex challenges. Still, despite its strong roots in several philosophical traditions, like in many other countries, Finnish educational policy development has been strongly influenced by the growing demands for measurability and accountability and increasingly struggling with atomisation of knowledge and skills. These specific national developments in Finland can raise awareness for similar challenges relevant in other contexts than the Finnish.
To understand biodiversity, it is crucial to have knowledge of different species and their life conditions. Biodiversity learning for children starts with observing plants and animals in the ...neighbourhood. Therefore, it is important that early childhood (EC) teachers know the local nature. There are few studies on species knowledge among EC student teachers but results from a Norwegian study show that although EC student teachers had poor species knowledge when entering university, their knowledge increased remarkably during their studies. Based on these results, the current study investigates the implementation of species learning in an EC teacher education course in Finland. Our aim was to study the student teachers’ species identification skills, their views on the importance of species knowledge, and their experiences of species learning. The study used a mixed-methods approach and included species identification tests, a questionnaire, learning diaries, and focus group interviews. The results show that the student teachers were eager to learn about species. They found species learning important both for EC teachers and for sustainability, and they appreciated learning about species in a broad sense, from personal, educational, and social perspectives. Our conclusion is that implementing species knowledge in EC teacher education promotes an interest in the natural world and may form a significant contribution to nature and sustainability education for EC teachers.
This article describes an interview study on Finnish upper secondary school students' values of nature. Even if the Finnish adolescents' interest in nature has decreased, most of the interviewees in ...this study regarded nature as worthy of maintenance. They valued nature for its material, aesthetic, and recreational values, as well as its diversity and future value, and because of their holistic view of nature. The nature values of the students were complex. Therefore, we suggest education that supports their value development through deliberation, authentic involvement, and outdoor activities.
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