Sustainable learning and education: A curriculum for the future

Abstract

This article introduces sustainable learning and education (SLE), an emerging philosophy of learning and teaching founded on principles of sustainability. SLE is not necessarily education for sustainability, but rather sustainable learning, a new and different idea. The intention behind SLE is to create and proliferate sustainable curricula and methods of learning and teaching. These are designed to instil in people the skills and dispositions to thrive in complicated, challenging and ever-changing circumstances, and contribute to making the world a better place. This article contributes to the literature by (1) elucidating the concept and purpose of SLE; (2) enumerating principles of sustainability that apply in the educational and professional development context; and (3) proposing a curriculum for SLE framed as a university course or professional development programme. The authors emphasise the importance of systems and ecological thinking and the essential role of self-sufficiency as both a means and an end of sustainable learning and education. They conclude with a comment on community: the more fully we accept and appreciate our neighbours, organisations and societies as important, interdependent and deserving of a viable future, and the more we engage with them towards positive ends, the more universally accepted the imperative of sustainability will be, and the more likely we are to attain it.

Technology-Driven Self-Directed Learning of Graduate Pharmaceutists: Adding Value through Entrepreneurship

“…This study review also found that the above approaches agree with the principles of the Sustainable Learning and Education (SLE) philosophy (Hays & Reinders, 2020) that suggests integrating a 'sustainable environment, sustainable society, and sustainable economy' through the use of technology-mediated learning environment. The prerequisite for the SLE is a high degree of the individuals' computer literacy.…”

Parents’ Views on Family Resiliency in Sustainable Remote Schooling during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Finland

“…Studying parents' views is important, because it will help schools support collaboration with families in the future in similar circumstances and promote the support of sustainable education for children. Keeping this in mind, we discuss sustainability as a framework for sustainable learning and education that connects individual and organizational capacity for intentional, proactive, and collaborative learning [63].…”

Throwaway knowledge, useful skills or a source for wellbeing? Outlining sustainability of workplace learning situations

“…Sustainability in learning has also been defined in previous studies in terms of the transferability and usability of learning and knowledge (see Hays & Reinders, 2020;Tractenberg et al, 2016). In these studies, sustainable learning is learning that continues beyond the end of formal instruction (Tractenberg et al, 2016); it can be described as continuous learning situations and generating new understanding and means for learning (Kearney & Zuber-Skerritt, 2012; see also Prugsamatz, 2010).…”

“…The most typical starting point is to see learning as a tool for environmentally or socially sustainable solutions (see, e.g., Albinsson & Arnesson, 2012;Kearney & Zuber-Skerritt, 2012;Scully-Russ, 2012), but there is a call for research on the sustainability of workplace learning situations themselves from a people perspective (Kira et al, 2010; see also Pfeffer, 2010;Gallagher et al, 2017). Therefore, in the current study, we approach the sustainability of the learning situation by paying attention to the perspectives of individual wellbeing (Di Fabio, 2016;Gallagher et al, 2017;Pfeffer, 2010), the wider use and recycling of existing knowledge (see Di Fabio, 2016, 2017Hays & Reinders, 2020;Tractenberg et al, 2016), as well as the rapid application of new knowledge (Brandi & Christensen, 2018).…”