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Experiential Teaching and Sustainable Development

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education

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Definition

Experiential teaching for sustainable development is a hands-on, practice-based teaching approach that fosters student learning and change towards building sustainable societies.

Introduction

Experiential teaching draws from the theory and philosophy of experiential learning. Early seminal thinker, John Dewey, introduced the idea of “learning by doing.” Over time, experiential learning has been adapted and adopted to practice. Practice is not limited to K-12 education; it has migrated into higher education in recent years. Experiential teaching goes hand in hand with sustainability education. This is because sustainability education advocates for educating for change. Students can enact change through novel ways of thinking and teaching in higher education. Some of these ways include systems thinking and place-based learning. Teaching methods can include, but are not limited to, experiences such as expeditionary education and problem-based, project-based, and community-based...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI, USA

    Kim Wahl

  2. School of Education, College of Professional Studies, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI, USA

    Joy Kcenia O’Neil

Authors
  1. Kim Wahl
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  2. Joy Kcenia O’Neil
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kim Wahl .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Sciences, World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

Section Editor information

  1. KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Ingrid Molderez

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Wahl, K., O’Neil, J.K. (2019). Experiential Teaching and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11352-0_212

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