Education Revisited: Creating Educational Experiences That Are Held, Felt, and Disruptive
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Abstract
First, broad issues in education are discussed and similarities with issues in environmental and sustainability education are noted. Second, some key initiatives, arising after the conclusion of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, are noted and discussed. These include the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda and its implications for education, and a special issue of Journal of Environmental Education devoted to a critical examination of the politics of environmental education and education for sustainable development. Analysis suggests that environmental education and sustainability education can both be seen as signs that point to the question, “What is fundamentally wrong with education itself?” Third, a thought experiment is presented to tackle this question. Quotations from Arne Næss, Aldo Leopold, and Albert Camus are used to probe transformative moments in these authors’ lives. They are found to point towards something that is undervalued in much of contemporary education.
Keywords
Environment Sustainability Sustainable development Education Transformation Experiential Feeling Emotion Resonant understandingReferences
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