TY - JOUR
T1 - Pedagogical laboratories
T2 - A case study of transformative sustainability education in an ecovillage context
AU - Papenfuss, Jason
AU - Merritt, Eileen
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: Travel for this research was partially funded through the School of Sustainability Martinson Grant and the School of Sustainability Culminating Experience Grant.
Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge the Findhorn Foundation College for its kind support of our research in transformative sustainability education.Travel for this research was partially funded through the School of Sustainability Martinson Grant and the School of Sustainability Culminating Experience Grant.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors.
PY - 2019/7/1
Y1 - 2019/7/1
N2 - Students, practitioners, and scholars of sustainability education are increasingly calling for divergent curricula and novel pedagogical approaches that cultivate transformation and emancipation at both the individual and institutional levels. For decades, ecovillages around the globe have provided alternatives for sustainable living and many have also developed alternative educational approaches. For this reason, ecovillages can be important learning laboratories for experimenting with sustainability education curricula and pedagogies, allowing scholars to learn across disciplinary, cultural, and worldview boundaries. In the present study, we conducted a descriptive case study of Findhorn Foundation College's 5-week Ecovillage Design Education course. By applying a narrative analysis of archives, field notes, surveys, and interviews, we arrived at 17 different categorical elements across six major themes. Using the field data, we linked these categorical elements to three consistent pedagogical elements: ritual pedagogies, pedagogies of story, and collaborative pedagogies. We conclude by highlighting several inductive themes present in participant data that indicated potential hindrances, constraints, and cautionary tales regarding implementation of these pedagogies in higher education contexts situated in the Global North.
AB - Students, practitioners, and scholars of sustainability education are increasingly calling for divergent curricula and novel pedagogical approaches that cultivate transformation and emancipation at both the individual and institutional levels. For decades, ecovillages around the globe have provided alternatives for sustainable living and many have also developed alternative educational approaches. For this reason, ecovillages can be important learning laboratories for experimenting with sustainability education curricula and pedagogies, allowing scholars to learn across disciplinary, cultural, and worldview boundaries. In the present study, we conducted a descriptive case study of Findhorn Foundation College's 5-week Ecovillage Design Education course. By applying a narrative analysis of archives, field notes, surveys, and interviews, we arrived at 17 different categorical elements across six major themes. Using the field data, we linked these categorical elements to three consistent pedagogical elements: ritual pedagogies, pedagogies of story, and collaborative pedagogies. We conclude by highlighting several inductive themes present in participant data that indicated potential hindrances, constraints, and cautionary tales regarding implementation of these pedagogies in higher education contexts situated in the Global North.
KW - Ecovillage
KW - Emancipation
KW - Higher education
KW - Pedagogy
KW - Sustainability education
KW - Transformation
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U2 - 10.3390/su11143880
DO - 10.3390/su11143880
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85073906497
SN - 2071-1050
VL - 11
JO - Sustainability (Switzerland)
JF - Sustainability (Switzerland)
IS - 14
M1 - 3880
ER -