Abstract
Advocating the humanistic assumptions (i.e. values, norms, practices) in the discourse of sustainability education, we discuss Stefan’s journey with his eighth grade students in planning and building a sustainable village in a fantasy world. As a form of a self-study, Stefan engaged in scholarly dialogues with two other authors based on his reflections on this project and conversations with the students. The students created sustainable villages and languages in Minecraft or other media through their interactions with their imagined land, environment, and characters. We investigated how Stefan’s approach helped learners take critical positions in imagining a sustainable society. Here we discuss three student groups’ emergent designs in relation to Stefan’s teaching practices. We argue that humanistic and aesthetic approaches to learning may help students take their own positions regarding societal norms, values, and practices.
If you all look the same, there is less judgment by appearance or orientation.
—Sherri, Conversation with Stefan
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Acknowledgements
We thank Jeff Eisen for his work on this project and Stefan’s students who eagerly participated in this project and had further conversations with Stefan in this regard. We would also like to thank the reviewers and editors who gave helpful feedback on the earlier versions of this chapter.
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Kim, B., Rasporich, S., Gupta, D. (2019). Imagining the Sustainable Future Through the Construction of Fantasy Worlds. In: Sengupta, P., Shanahan, MC., Kim, B. (eds) Critical, Transdisciplinary and Embodied Approaches in STEM Education. Advances in STEM Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29489-2_4
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