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Student Voice and Its Role in Sustainability

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Education for Sustainable Development in Further Education

Abstract

This chapter explores the current emphasis on student voice in education and argues that attempts to democratically involve students in their education are largely tokenistic. It champions the need for such democratic involvement to encourage the transformational learning necessary to meet the guiding principles of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), in particular a healthy and just society. Engaging students in transformational learning can challenge the assumptions which hinder progress in addressing the globalized ‘three-fold crisis—the crisis of resources, the ecological crisis, and the social crisis’ (Schumacher 1997, p.21) we face. We are stuck in a way of thinking that is unsustainable and unless old ways of thinking about education are transformed, the three-fold crisis at the heart of ESD cannot be confronted.

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Further Reading

  • Jarvis (2006b) ‘Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Human Learning’ concentrates on the processes of human learning. It considers the fact that research into learning has been mainly psychological which has simplified its conceptualization. Jarvis argues that learning is existential, and gives much inspiration for a new paradigm of learning theory which is related to theories of human learning.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK

    Sasha Pleasance

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  1. Sasha Pleasance
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, Plymouth University, Plymouth, United Kingdom

    Denise Summers

  2. Institute of Education, Plymouth University, Plymouth, United Kingdom

    Roger Cutting

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Pleasance, S. (2016). Student Voice and Its Role in Sustainability. In: Summers, D., Cutting, R. (eds) Education for Sustainable Development in Further Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51911-5_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51911-5_14

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51910-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51911-5

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