Hope and fear in education for sustainable development

Abstract

Education for sustainable development represents a politically prioritized area of knowledge in contemporary Swedish education and as such it has acquired a prominent position among the governing values of educational policy. Insofar as education for sustainable development is directed at securing the future of human well-being, this article suggests that it concerns a moral discourse where notions about what may or may not happen in the future plays an important role in the governance of practices and behaviors in the present. Since the future is shrouded in uncertainty, it is suggested that the emotions of hope and fear may be understood in terms of tools for governing the everyday lives of children, invoking alluring and deterrent images that influence their decision-making. Besides seeking to gain a better understanding of some of the preconditions of education for sustainable development, the aim of this article concerns an investigation into some of the effects that education for sustainable development may have on the lives of children. To this end, it looks at how hope and fear are being put into play within the discourse as strategies for governing individuals in relation to the uncertainty of the future.

Education for Sustainable Development: A Systemic Framework for Connecting the SDGs to Educational Outcomes

“…The process relates the ultimate means, the base on which all life, the society and economy rely upon to satisfy the ultimate ends, the higher achievement possible for humanity which is self-actualisation [60]. However, there is a hidden danger, motivating sustainable behaviours on the basis on hope and fear relies on the view that humans can control a future fraught with uncertainty to avoid disastrous consequences [61]. This psychological vulnerability, especially in students, can be used as a governance tool to manipulate them towards specific actions and raises questions of power.…”

“…The focus on learners' values and moral competence is not meant to misdirect the discussion away from collective responsibility. Instead, it aims to highlight that individual actions can have significance; the choices students make, can have a direct link to the development of society [61]. This ultimately could prepare students becoming citizens of a democratic society.…”

Imagining decline or sustainability: Hope, fear, and ideological discourse in Hollywood speculative fiction

“…This brings us to affect and ideology. As with any story about the future, the depiction of what could come can be seen in the light of two impulses, aspiration or warning, corresponding to the affects of hope and fear (Dahlbeck, 2014). What particular referent state may be cause for hope or fear (or other similar types of affect) can vary, however, in part due to ideological beliefs: that is, one group's hope for the future can invoke another group's fear, an inverse relationship of desired ends captured in SF by Samuel Delany's ecological typology of New Jerusalem and Arcadia (Delany, 1990).…”

Towards a sustainable future with education?

“…In the academic discussion of ESD, this euphemistic promotion of a politically set program is contested: It is still criticized for reasons of instrumentalisation (Kopnina 2012;Dahlbeck 2014;Sund and Öhman 2013;Bonnett 2004). These scholars stress the point that setting a sustainable future as a clear, realistic goal in education (and, in so doing, determining exactly what constitutes sustainable action) is not the right approach.…”