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2021/2022

Education, Sustainability and Consumption

Code: 101639 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500260 Social Education OT 3 2
2500260 Social Education OT 4 0
2500261 Education Studies OT 4 0
2500797 Early Childhood Education OT 4 0
2500798 Primary Education OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Merce Junyent Pubill
Email:
Merce.Junyent@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Prerequisites

There are no previous requirements.

Objectives and Contextualisation

The world faces global, complex and interrelated challenges and problems that affect lifestyles, values, social equity and also demand complex responses. Challenges arise from values that have created, and create, unsustainable societies. We have the knowledge, technology and skills needed to reverse the situation, so we need to mobilize our potential to take every opportunity to improve action and bring about change towards a necessary transformation. Education is key in this transformative process.

A transformative education must be a quality education, which facilitates the clarification of values, promotes holistic,critical and creative thinking, the construction of knowledge, the development of attitudes and skills necessary to participate in the positive and effective transformation of society. Education for Sustainability is, therefore, a key process in the construction of new imaginaries and alternative models based on social and economic justice, food sovereignty, responsible consumption, ecological integrity, the solidarity economy, the sustainable livelihoods, respect for all forms of life and strong values that promote social cohesion, democracy and participatory action. Education for Sustainability have to take on this challenge and highlight the interdependence between the environment, the economy, society and cultural diversity, from the local to the global level, and take into account the dimension of time (past, present, future).

The course will focus on the role of educators in Education for Sustainability, as well as the exploration of different professional profiles that link education, sustainability and consumption

Objectives:

- exploring the concept of environment and sustainability
- approaching the conceptual and methodological framework of Education for Sustainability

- encouraging holistic thinking and critical and creative thinking as fundamental aspects of Education for Sustainability
- recognizing the importance and need to develop Education for Sustainability and Consumption processes in various educational contexts (formal, non-formal, informal, citizen participation ...)
- analizing the implications of Education for Sustainability and Consumption in relation to professional skills
- approaching the design, elaboration and evaluation of projects and / or didactic materials in Education for sustainability and Education in responsible consumption.

 

 

 

Competences

    Social Education
  • Contextualize educational action based on the different theoretical paradigms that have developed in science and education in accordance with the socio-historical context of individuals, groups and institutions.
  • Maintain a respectful attitude to the environment (natural, social and cultural) to promote values, behaviour and sustainable practices that address gender equality, equity and respect for human rights.
    Education Studies
  • Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activity.
  • Identify educational approaches and problems, inquire about them: obtain, record, process and interpret relevant information to issue supported judgments that enhance education and training.
  • Maintain a respectful attitude for the environment (natural, social and cultural) to promote values, behaviours and practices that address gender equality, equity and respect for human rights.
    Early Childhood Education
  • "Critically analyse and incorporate the most relevant issues of contemporary society that affect family and school education: social and educational impact of audiovisual languages and of screens. changes in gender relations and intergenerational changes; multiculturalism and interculturalism; discrimination and social inclusion and sustainable development."
  • Develop educational proposals in relation to the interaction between science, technology, society and sustainable development.
  • Maintain a respectful attitude for the environment (natural, social and cultural) to promote values, behaviours and practices that address gender equality, equity and respect for human rights.
  • Promote interest and respect for the natural, social and cultural environment through appropriate educational projects.
  • Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
    Primary Education
  • Appreciate individual and collective responsibility in the achievement of a sustainable future.
  • Maintain a respectful attitude to the natural, social and cultural environment to foster values, behaviours and practices that attend to gender equality, equity and respect for human rights.
  • Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse the indicators of sustainability of academic and professional activities in the areas of knowledge, integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions.
  2. Apply systemic thinking to analysis of environmental problems and issues.
  3. Being able to establish links between environmental knowledge and actions and sustainable consumption.
  4. Practising a dialogic vision in the face of antagonistic behaviour related to environmental problems.
  5. Recognising the different sustainability models in educational proposals.
  6. Weigh up the risks and opportunities of both one’s own and other people’s proposals for improvement.

Content

- Conception of Environment - Sustainability - Sustainable Development Goals 2030
- From Environmental Education to Education for Sustainability: historical perspective, evolution and mapping of various currents
- Education for sustainability: purpose, objectives, key components and methodological approaches
- Environmental issues and holistic thinking
- Critical thinking in Education for Sustainability and Consumption
- The dimension of futures in Education for Sustainability
- Strategies in education for sustainability and consumption in different areas of intervention: formal, non-formal and informal education
- Professional skills in Education for Sustainability and Consumption
- Design, elaboration and evaluation of a Education for Sustainability and / or Consumption project.

Methodology

The student is the protagonist in the teaching-learning process and it is under this constructivist perspective that a participatory and interactive methodology has been planned. The types of activities have been diversified to ensure attention to diversity and the connection between students and skills from the individual and group dimensions, and from work outside the classroom and work activities to the classroom.

Face-to-face classes are mainly in large groups, but small group, seminar or workshop type strategies are incorporated.

In one of the sessions, the teacher will allocate an approximate time of 15 minutes to allow students to answer the teacher evaluation and evaluation surveys of the subject.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Explanation by teacher staff of the content and key issues of the module program. It is done with the whole group class and allows exposure of the main content through an open and active participation by students. 38.5 1.54 2, 4, 5, 3
Type: Supervised      
Workspace in small groups supervised by teachers for analysis or processing activities and / or curriculum materials, study and / or resolution of cases, field activities and / or laboratory in order to go deep into the themes proposed. 27.5 1.1 2, 4, 5, 3
Type: Autonomous      
Analysis of readings, educational innovation proposals, design of activities, preparing reports, analysis and resolution of cases, field work 75 3 2, 4, 5, 3

Assessment

The evaluation will be continuous along the semester and will include both individual and group work. The specific evaluation activities and the deadlines are the following:

Cooperative group work (50%)

  • Group work:  pre-presentation and coevaluation 21/01/20221 and work delivery deadline 28/01/2022.

Individual activities (50%):

  • Participation 10%: attendance and follow-up of the daily work of the subject (specific activities)
  • Individual Exam 40%: 14/01/2022

Attendance is compulsory and a minimum of 80% is required in order to be eligible for evaluation. To get a pass grade a minimum of 5/10 is necessary.in all assessment activities. To be eligible for a making-up test, an average of a 3,5 mark for the subject will be necessary. The make-up test can be either an individual test or a group test offered during the UAB week exams.  To pass this subject matter students need to show the acquisition of communicative competences (oral and written) and a good command of the languages specified in the Teaching Guide of the subject. Students are expected to show a high level of reading comprehension of academic texts, to express themselves orally in a fluid and correct way, and to write texts that are linguistically and formally correct. An activity can be rejected it does not follow the above-mentioned criteria.

According to the Facultat de Ciències de l’Educació (UAB) regulations (Acord Comissió Ordenació Acadèmica, 4 juny 2014), students will fail the exams if they engage into either copying or plagiarism behavior. Any paper or exam will be categorized as copied when it reproduces parts or the whole of another student’s material. A paperor an exam is considered plagiarism when it is presented as one’s own without mentioning the original sources.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Cooperative group work 50% 4 0.16 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 3
Individual face exam 40% 2 0.08 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 3
Individual work and participation 10% 3 0.12 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 3

Bibliography

Bibliography elaborated with perspective of gender: 

CEBRIAN, G.; JUNYENT, M. (2014) Competencias profesionales en Educación para la Sostenibilidad: un estudio exporatorio de la visión de futuros maestros. Enseñanza de las ciencias, 32 (1), 29.49.  https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/ensciencias.877

GARCIA, M.R., JUNYENT, M., & FONOLLEDA, M. (2017). How to assess professional competencies in Education for Sustainability? An approach from a perspective of complexity. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 18(5), 772-797. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-03-2016-0055

GARCÍA DÍAZ, J. E., FERNÁNDEZ-ARROYO, J., RODRÍGUEZ-MARÍN, F. Y PUIG GUTIÉRREZ, M. (2019). Más allá de la sostenibilidad: por una educación ambiental que incremente la resiliencia de la población ante el decrecimiento/colapso. Revista de Educación Ambiental y Sostenibilidad, 1(1), 1101. https://revistas.uca.es/index.php/REAyS/article/view/4782

GIL-PEREZ, D.; VILCHES, A. (2019). La comprensión e impulso de la Sostenibilidad: un requisito imprescindible para una acción educativa y ciudadana eficaz. Revista de Educación Ambiental y Sostenibilidad, 1 (2), 2101. https://doi.org/10.25267/Rev_educ_ambient_sostenibilidad.2019.v1.i2.2101

HICKS, D. (2002) Lessons for the future. The missing dimension in education. London and New York: Routledge.

HICKS, D. & HOLDEN, C. (2007). Remembering the future: what do children think? Environmental Education Research, 13, pp. 501-512.

INNERARITY, D. (2010) Incertesa i creativitat. Educar per a la societat del coneixement. Debats d’Educació, 18. Barcelona: Fundació Jaume Bofill. http://www.debats.cat/sites/default/files/debats/pdf/incertesa-creativitat.pdf

LLARENA, G.; ESPINET, M (2017). Agroecologia Escolar. Barcelona: Pol·len edicions.

SAUVÉ, L. (2004) Una cartografia de corrientes de educación ambiental. En Sato, Michèle, Carvalho, Isabel (Orgs). A pesquisa em educação ambiental: cartografias de uma identidade narrativa em formação. Porto Alegre: Artmed. http://www.ecominga.uqam.ca/PDF/BIBLIOGRAPHIE/GUIDE_LECTURE_3/1/2.Sauve.pdf

SAUVÉ, L. (2014) Educación ambiental y ecodiudadanía. Dimensiones claves de un proyecto político-pedagógico. Revista Científica, 18, 12- 23. Bogotá. https://revistas.udistrital.edu.co/index.php/revcie/article/view/5558

SLEURS, W. (coord) (2008) Competencies for ESD (Education for Sustainable Development)- Teachers. Leuven, Bèlgica. https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/esd/inf.meeting.docs/EGonInd/8mtg/CSCT%20Handbook_Extract.pdf

TILBURY, D.; WORTMAN, D. (2004) Engaging people in sustainability. Commission on Education and Communication, IUCN, Gland,Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. https://portals.iucn.org/ñibrary/efiles/documents/2004-055.pdf

UNECE (2012) Learning for the future. Competences in Education for Sustainable Development. Génève, Switzerland: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/esd/ESD_Publications/Competences_Publication.pdf

UNESCO (2017) Education for Sustainable Development Goals. Learning Objectives. Paris. 67pp. Education for Sustainable Development Goals: learning objectives; 2017 (unesco.de)

Educación para los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible: objetivos de aprendizaje; 2017 (unican.es)

UNESCO (2020) Educación para el Desarrollo Sostenible. Hoja de ruta. París, França. 64 pp.  https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374802

WALS, A.E.J.; van der HOEVEN, N; BLANKEN, H. (2007) The acoustics of social learning: designing learning processes that contribute to a more sustainable world. Utrecht: SenterNovem- https://arjenwals.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/acoustics-digital.pdf

NOTE :other bibliography may be recommended throughout the course

Software

There is not specific software in the subject.