April 8, 2011

Pedagogies of Engagement for Sustainability Education

Linfield College

John Rueter, PhD, Professor Environmental Sciences and Management

Kevin Kecskes, PhD Associate Vice Provost for Engagement

Education is the process of

preparing our children in

advance for the task of

renewing a common world.

- H. Arendt, 1961

Goals for our session today

•! Discuss definitions to clarify understanding

•! Consider key elements and opportunities for community-based learning

•! Explore “examples in action”

•! Build community-based learning into your curriculum

•! Learn together / co-create

Agenda

•! Exploration

–!definitions, issues, opportunities

•! Rejuvenation

–! lunch

•! Integration

–!building community-based (service-) learning into your curriculum

Definition: Service-Learning

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN COMMUNITY SERVICE AND

SERVICE-LEARNING?

DIFFERNECES BETWEEN COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SERVICE-LEARNING?

WHAT ABOUT CURRICULAR vs. CO-CURRICULAR SERVICE-LEARNING?

Definition: Civic Engagement

Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference.

Thomas Ehrlich, et. al., "Civic Responsibility and Higher Education (2000)"

Definition: Service-Learning

!!Service-Learning is a deliberate, mutually beneficial, connection between academic learning and community needs

Definition: Community Engagement

Community Engagement describes the collaboration between higher education institutions and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.

- Carnegie Classification Project 2005

S-L: Where does it come from? What are its component parts?

As a pedagogy, service-learning is

education that is grounded in experience as a basis for learning and

on the centrality and intentionality of reflection designed to enable learning

to occur. David Kolb, based on the

work of Dewey and Piaget, provides a model that illustrates the role of

service-learning as pedagogy.!

S-L: Where does it come from? What are its component parts?

Active

Experimentation!

(test theories in

new settings)!

Abstract!

conceptualization!

(form theories and

explanations)!

Reflective

Observation!

(observe ~

analyze) !

Concrete experience!

(engage with

community)!

David A. Kolb, 1984, Experiential Learning !

Characteristics of Experiential Learning

•! Learning is grounded in experience.!•! Learning is best conceived as a continuous process.!

•! Learning involves transactions between the person and the world. !•! Learning is a holistic process of adaptation to the world.!•! Learning is the process whereby knowledge

is created through the transformation of experience.!

Deep Learning

•! 1st Order Learning – “education about sustainability”

•! 2nd Order Learning – “education for sustainability”

•! 3rd Order Learning – “education as sustainability”

- Steven Sterling, Sustainable Education: Re-Visioning Learning and Change, 2001

Sustainable Development: Working Framework

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Place-based

Vision

Competence

Public Good

Balancing Tensions

Livable Community Principle Equality Principle

Environmental

Principle

Balance & Integration

Principle

Health & Wellness

Principle Human-Centered

Development Principle

Education Principle

Family Principle Culture Sensitivity

Principle

Decentralization Principle

Rule of Law Principle

Partnership Principle Change Principle

Transparency & Accountability

Principle

Poverty Eradication

Principle Market

Principle

Right to Development

but with an Obligation

of Mutual Respect

Scope, Scale & Wealth

Principle

Intergenerational &

Intragenerational

Equity Principle

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Public Leadership: Working Framework

The Possibility!

•! Over 4,300 institutions of higher learning in the US.

•! 17.3 million college students in the U.S.

•! Annual operating budgets totaling $300 billion in 2003 = greater than the GDP of all but 25 countries in the world

–! Cortese (2006); Beere et al (2011)

The Reality – An Uphill Climb

The university has become more of a

bureaucracy than a community—"a mechanism

held together by administrative rules and

powered by money…a series of individual

faculty entrepreneurs held together by a

common grievance over parking."

- Clark Kerr, 1963

A Problem

“Although the sustainability movement in higher education has made considerable headway in research, campus operations…it has been much less successful in greening the classroom. In fact, the National Wildlife Federation reported in 2008 that efforts to integrate sustainability into teaching and learning on colleges campus were losing ground.”

- Bardaglio and Putman,

Boldly Sustainable, p. 71

Passive View of Students

“At the heart of the problem is the extent to which sustainability as a way of thinking cuts against the grain of the dominant paradigm in academe. While sustainability encourages whole-systems thinking…the tendency in HE toward specialization leads to an approach that draws boundaries and creates divisions. The prevailing model of education also focuses on the transmission of knowledge and treats the student as a passive consumer.”

- Bardaglio and Putman,

Boldly Sustainable, p. 71

Not “what” but “how”…

…How do we promote (ensure) “deep learning” in our students about:

•! Systems thinking •! Mutual interdependence •! Synergies •! Adaptive behavior •! Evolution •! Participation •! Exploration •! Interrelatedness •! Equity, Ethics, and values •! Community

Think Really Big

•! PSU’s challenge

•! Linfield’s challenges?

Partnership Development: Underlying Assumptions - Persistent Challenges

RECIPROCITY:

~AGENCY

~TRUST

~POWER

POWER

•! How and when do we even talk about this?

•! How is power dispersed?

•! What happens if the partnership loses balance?

TRUST

•! How is this built? How do we demonstrate accountability and reliability? What happens if we break trust?

AGENCY

•! Who is empowered to do/develop what?

Partnership Development Assumptions - Persistent Challenges

PSU’s Community-engaged Research Scholars Program

- 12 projects

-! One year long

-! Focus on reflection, insight, and writing

-! Edited book of collected stories and insights

-! More: http://www.pdx.edu/cae/community-engaged-research-scholars

-! 4 main insights:

Crossing the

“expertise” divide

Research ON, FOR, and/or WITH the community?

Whose knowledge “counts”?

1. Building TRUST is essential

2. BALANCE can be hard to maintain

3. The work is likely to get MESSY

4. POWER needs to be addressed

The partnership “type” continuum – Common examples

•! Higher Education Institution~Community Partnerships

•! College, Department, Program~Community Partnerships

•! Individual Faculty~Community Partnerships for Service-Learning

•! Individual Faculty~Community Partnerships for Community-based Research

•! Student(s)~Community Partnerships

•! Student Organization~Community Partnerships

SEE: Guide to Building Reciprocal

Campus~Community Partnerships: http://www.pdx.edu/sites/www.pdx.edu.cae/files/media_assets/Guide_corrected_041808.pdf

How does it all fit into place?

Continuum of Partnership Approaches

•! TRANSACTIONAL Partnership model

•! NEEDS focus (what is NOT there)

•! SERVICES to meet needs

•! CONSUMERS (programs are the answer)

•! HEIRARCHIST or INDIVIDUALIST approach

•! TRANSFORMATIONAL Partnership Model

•! ASSETS focus (what IS there)

•! CONNECTIONS and CONTRIBUTIONS

•! CITIZENS (people are the answer)

•! EGALITARIAN approach

Summary: Community-Engaged Approaches

In short: Teaching and Learning and Research conducted WITH the community:

•! Is collaborative and participatory •! Draws on many sources of distributed knowledge •! Is based on partnerships •! Is shaped by multiple perspectives and expectations •! Deals with difficult and evolving questions-complex

issues that may shift constantly •! Is long-term, in both effort and impact, often with

episodic bursts of progress •! Requires diverse strategies and approaches •! Crosses disciplinary lines-a challenge for institutions

organized around disciplines - Holland, 2005

International Institute on Partnership 2011

http://www.pdx.edu/cae/partnership.html

Stretch our Thinking and Action

Examples and Opportunities for Co-creation

John Rueter, Environmental Sci

HOW do we (do YOU) ensure “deep learning” in students about…?

Systems thinking Mutual interdependence Synergies Adaptive behavior Evolution Participation Exploration Interrelatedness Equity, Ethics, and values Community

“EDUCATON AS SUSTAINABILITY”

Modifying courses from being about sustainability to doing sustainable work

As assistant dean: Integrating technology and assessment value of feedback

As chair: Multiple disciplinary program value of different perspectives

As faculty: international capstone courses and Sophomore Inquiry (SINQ+cluster) value of engagement

As director: facilitate design of a new curriculum that is trans-disciplinary value of working with community partners

-!"The Great Work now, as we move into a new millennium, is to carry out the transition from a period of human devastation of the Earth to a period when humans would be present to the planet in a mutually beneficial manner.”

-!Thomas Berry (1999). The Great Work: Our way into the future.

Context Learning

Objectives

Amount of

revision and assignments

Grading and

Assessment

•!Four pieces of course revision to include “engagement” •!Go through each step with examples

For each example: Short description of course revision goals Local vs. Global Challenges leading to success or failure Perspectives on course from chair vs. faculty

•!Context and Learning Environment •!Individual course •!Course in a curriculum – with following courses •!Stand-alone immersion course

What are students supposed to learn in an individual class compared to a proscribe set of courses?

What student assets take time to develop as well as effort?

Do students benefit from being immersed in a new environment? What is the tradeoff between an authentic experience and what we can provide (safely, economically, and ethically)?

Context Learning

Objectives

Amount of

revision and assignments

Grading and

Assessment

Context

•! ESM 101 & 102 –! Non-majors’ course

–! No liability in the future

•! SINQ CBL –! In a curriculum of SINQ, cluster

(to included ESS) and then capstone

–! Particular training pays off

•! SINQ + cluster in Spain –! 12 credits bundled into a short

study abroad venture

•! Capstone –! Complements the major

What are “Learning Objectives” •!Could mean “specific learning objectives” •!Could also mean student gains, such as:

•!Engagement, commitment, involvement •!making a connection between academic and personal values

•!Values are tricky to bring into science courses •!Debate about objectivity vs. advocacy in science

•!Two methods I’ve used •!Curiosity-based vs. Problem-based (Norton 2005)

•!“problem” implies something that doesn’t meet current standards or has less value that it could

•!World views •!Cornucopian:Industrial_Ecologist:Committed_Environmentalist:Deep_Ecologist •!Individualist:Heirarchists:Egalitarian

Context Learning

Objectives

Amount of

revision and assignments

Grading and

Assessment

Modifying Learning Objectives

•! ESM 102 (non-majors’)

–! Course details

•! technology to move and purify water

•! A little bit about how much energy it takes

•! Benefits to communities and in particular women and children who have to haul the water

–! Local emphasis with application to the “bottom billions”

–! Very easy to implement study on various methods to clean

water

•! ESM 342 (majors’ methods course)

–! Details

•! Water flow rate, dynamic head, total head

•! Pump characteristics

•! Match pump to solar panel output

–! Very technical course

–! Challenge to assemble the equipment for a short lab (would

be better as a field course)

•! Nicaragua Capstone

–! Affective domain objectives

•! Citizenship, safety, consideration, etc.

–! Major challenge is registration of students

•!Amount of revision •! Single exercise or session •! Portion of a course •! Entire course

•!Will you ever get from revision of single portions to a whole new and improved course and curriculum that makes a difference in students’ lives?

•! This question bothers me.

Context Learning

Objectives

Amount of

revision and assignments

Grading and

Assessment

Amount of modification

•! ESM 101 & 102

–! Simply replace labs with field trips

–! Transportation issues and time

•! SINQ – CBL

–! Ditch 4 weeks in the middle

–! Replace with a project

–! Training to participate in capstones

•! CBL

–! Total course constructed from CBL perspective

•!Grading and Assessment •! Single exercise or session •! Portion of a course •! Entire course

Should you grade student on their maturity, development of personal assets, or commitment?

Students pay more attention to what we grade.

Context Learning

Objectives

Amount of

revision and assignments

Grading and

Assessment

Grading and Assessment

Tools we are using and planning to use:

•! Project report •! Peer evaluations •! Participation, timeliness, etc. •! Evaluation of meeting objectives •! On-line discussion •! Work contract/team agreement •! time sheet/work log (transportation, etc.) •! Collaboration on a wiki or Google groups site •! Contribution & Ascendency index •! Journals •! Reflection

Courses Learning

Objectives

Amount of

revision and assignments

Context Grading and

Assessment

ESM102 Intro to Env Sci

simple Non-major

SINQ - Spain Same as on campus

International immersion

Missed target

SINQ - CBL Switched to include work

moderate In series of courses

Needs work

300 level cluster

International immersion

ESM342 Methods

technical

Nicaragua Capstone

Affective domain

International immersion

Borders Drove partnership

CBL Full revision

Summary of examples

Summary of questions

How does the course fit into the context of other courses or a larger curriculum?

What are you including as learning objectives? Do these include personal development?

How much time do you have to revise and upgrade your course?

Can you assess and provide (normative) feedback to students on their maturity, development of personal assets, or commitment?