Selby, D. (2006). The Firm and Shaky Ground of Education for Sustainable Development.

Selby, D. (2006).  The Firm and Shaky Ground of Education for Sustainable Development.  Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 30(2), pp. 351 - 365.  Retrieved on September 18, 2010 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03098260600717471

Narrative

"There was a large clearing in the forest, a large open area from which many footpaths led off in many directions.  The people were disputatious.  Some argued the merits of taking one footpath, some the merits of taking another, and yet others the merits of taking a third.  They milled around in a confused and contentious mood.  Then they discovered what looked like a broad, firm and easy path that all might take, where all kinds of folk could walk together shoulder to shoulder.  Many hurried towards it, relieved that their arguments could be brought to an end.  In a sigh of collective relief, few were disposed to enquire whether the path was really heading in the right direction and whether the undemanding way it seemed to offer might discourage the further seeking and exploration of alternative pathways.  Even fewer bothered to ask whether going down the path would really be good for the forest and its inhabitants" (pg. 2).

The Firm Ground

Selby states that the strategy and planning done for tomorrow (i.e. future generations) is based on projections of today.  Sustainable development achieved priority status at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992.  Under key principles one, three and four of Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development, humans are at the center of concern but ecological development must be allowed to ensure sustainable progress.  Both nonformal and formal learning integrate through culture to stabilise local environmental issues.  Reaffirmations were made at the World Summit in Johannesburg, 2004 where a proposal for a Decade for Sustainable Development (DESD) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at their 57th Session held three months later.  The DESD began in March, 2005 with key guiding values for ESD:

1. respect for the dignity and human rights of all people throughout the world and a commitment to social and economic justice for all;
2. respect for the human rights of future generations and a commitment to intergenerational responsibility;
3. respect and care for the greater community of life in all its diversity, which involves the protection and restoration of the Earth's ecosystems; and
4. respect for cultural diversity and commitment to build locally and globally a culture of tolerance, non-violence and peace.

Within the United Kingdom, DfES was launched in 2003 and by 2005 the HEFCE had developed and published a draft proposal to support a framework for strategy and action across curricula, teaching, learning, and estate management in higher education.

Selby asks how ESD became so popular, so quickly.  As a global development it has provided some structure though critics suggest it is wallpaper.  Selby proposes that within the given circumstance, the amorphous concept allows for innovation that leads to constructive action - a theme "vague and diffuse enough to enable everyone to invest in it with their own meanings" (pg. 4).  He uses metaphorical terminology, such as 'the North' and 'the South', to categorise the division between environmental lobbyists and ecological developers.  Since global decolonisation, development has been in the name of social justice, and in the political correctness of concessions.  Establishing a system for developmental discourse has imbued progress with Western values, further alienating the reality of global consumption from ideology.  Representatives of both Northern and Southern culture collaborated to jointly form a framework that encompassed developmental goals based on the hegemony of Northern culture.  A parallel forum, the Rio International NGO Forum, produced guiding principles based on holistic environmental management for the development of communities:

1. Principle 1: environmental education is not neutral but is value-based.  It is an act of social transformation;
2. Principle 9: environmental education must recover, reflect and use indigenous history and local cultures; and
3. Principle 16: education must develop an ethical awareness of all forms of life with which humans share this planet, respect all life cycles and impose limits on humans' exploitation of other forms of life.

Long standing suspicion of others' efforts at ESD are drawn from distrust that the end objective has not been analysed.  Integrating economic improvements with environmental protection and justice has resulted in a range of socially active interest groups from North and South willing to negotiate differences through collaboration.  Selby proposes that ESD supporters have the potential to form a confederation amongst educators to discuss development; human rights issues; human welfare; and, the environment.

With the advent of ESD, environmental education has moved from its original domain within the sciences.  As such, teachers have more opportunity to include various lenses (e.g. political, economic, and social) as a point of entry into ESD.  Selby firmly states that ESD is founded upon solid ground that has captured and sustained interest globally, bringing diverse focus-specific interest groups together.

Narrative

"So, many forsook the narrow paths and took to the broad path.  But is the path proving as firm as was hoped?  Is it realising its potential as a way forward?  Is it benefiting the forest and the trees?

Lingering in the forest clearing are folk who have concerns about the broad path.  Their concerns vary.  Some know what 'development' without the qualifier 'sustainable' has meant, and continues to mean, and worry if 'sustainable development' will really be very much different.  Some - environmentalists and ecologists in particular - worry that they have taken a broad path without the interpretation abilities and markers required to make sense of the path.  Others worry whether the song of sustainable development can really capture the song of the Earth; whether it has been worth losing the turns, complexities and irregularities of the many paths they used to tread.  Yet others worry whether the idea of 'sustainable literacy', much vaunted by ESD advocates, is a sufficient and appropriate educational response in the light of the global environmental crisis and global crisis in the human condition" (pg. 5).

The Shaky Ground

Sustainable Development as Oxymoron

Despite numerous attempts to define sustainable development, the concept remains open to interpretation and perspective.  Dobson argues that sustainable development has been framed by economists who categorically state that sustainable development is about the conservation of development, and not the preservation of nature.  It is proposed that this view is not one that requires a material reduction of living standards, nor does it appear to abate economic progress.  The approach uses resource management to curtail intense use, or seeks new measures to increase natural capital.

While environmental and ecological activists bemoan diminishing resources, economists are actively supportive of implementing alternative greening measures.  Critics argue that ecological sustainability is not only about measurements, but about "beauty, awe, enchantment, reverence and sense of wonder" (pg. 6).  Selby refers to Jickling who states that there are some things that are to be considered in spite of measurements (e.g. not an exact science).  The difference between economists and ecologists is that economists have envisioned a positive and sustainable future which allows them to adapt and design for tomorrow, while ecologists and ESD teachers are debating who should lead.  Worster wrote in 1995 "I fear that in partnership it will be 'development' that makes most of the decisions, and 'sustainable' will come trotting along, smiling and genial, unable to assert any firm leadership, complaining only about the pace of travel" (pg. 7).  Selby states that rendering cultural, spiritual or personal development as reasons to challenge this discourse would be marginalised.

He instead suggests that we view sustainable development as sustainable growth to further clarify this discourse.  Selby discusses the concept as sustained growth within a limited time frame, with general consensus in identifying location.

The fears felt by some eco-theorists and environmental educators are value judgments based on the perceptions of a Western culture heavily dependent on materialism and obsession.  Rigby suggests that 'development' does not mean the automatic acceptance of these attributes and makes the distinction between weak and strong memes.

Alternative terminology is appearing - 'education for the development of responsible societies', 'education for sustainability' and 'education for sustainable futures' have been adopted in favour of sustainable development.  Whatever it's called, Sterling indicates that the focus should remain on whole systems thinking rather than in mechanistic, managerial or transmissive practice.

Sustainable Development as Denial of Intrinsic Value

Selby proposes that much of the controversy surrounding environmental ethics concerns the reasons for wanting to save nature.  Potentially, it may have more to do with identifying cures for human malaise rather than the intrinsic value nature presents.  He reminds us of Principle 1, and argues that worldview is primarily ego- and technocentric.  Selby proposes that the perpetuated view is of nature as a resource (i.e. a.k.a. natural capital or ecosystem services).

The concept of sustainable development therefore, can be interpreted as the ability and capacity of humanity to manage the future of the planet.  Even as educators accept Gaia, an autonomous self-regulating conscious entity, they are equally attracted to human endeavour.

Education for Sustainable Development as Lacking in Thematic and Epistemological Breadth

ESD has often been presented as a complete and holistic experience, when in reality the domain is still in formulation.  Most arguments stem from the fact that there are educators who don't believe that education should have a determined outcome, and who instead suggest a range of possibilities be made available for student evaluation and subsequent choice be the determining manifestation of action.  It is possible that there is a lack of concrete definitions due to potential "instant fossilisation" of key understandings (i.e. ideology trapped under microscopic inspection).  Selby indicates that it is a source of concern that so many government policies are initiated based on a report archived more than nineteen years ago, to address current issues.  The HEFCE support the document stating that a high level document such as the Bruntland had produced a concise and flexible model with multiple points of entry that would only warrant further discussion at some later date.

A training perspective suggests there is a predetermined and achievable goal to education, especially valid as economic and technical progress is in the process of transformation based on sustainable development.  Meanwhile, Selby ponders academia's choices - if sustainable development concerns the issues that challenge the very nature of human existence, then ESD may seem a reasonable and justifiable response.  Education has always been linked to desirable outcomes (e.g. linking HIV and venereal disease with unprotected sex).  Structuring a framework that is flexible enough to withstand challenges and individual determinism achieves the objective of academic goals and alleviates some of the pressure felt by educators who don't know where to begin.  A list of philosophies derived from public voice on sustainability offers popular challenges to students who lead ethically sustainable lives.  Included are:

• animal liberation philosophies, which claim that animals have rights, and offer a philosophical basis for the claim;
• bioregionalist philosophies, which call for humans to live simply and convivially within the place they have inhabited since birth or, if they have moved, reinhabited, i.e. through conscious processes have become native to;
• deep ecology, which calls upon us to think deeply about the human-nature relationship and to renounce the anthropocentrism of much of our thought and behaviours in favour of biospherical egalitarianism;
• ecofeminist philosophies, which, running counter to the thinking of many deep ecologists, identify the problem as patriarchy rather than anthropocentrism, and argue that oppression and exploitation of women, minorities, peripheral groups and nature are mutually reinforcing as well as intersecting in their dynamics;
• environmental justice theories, which identify environmental problems as social justice problems whenever class, race/ethnicity and gender are significant factors in determining who experiences the effects of, and who controls the causes of, environmental degradation; and
• social ecology theories, which argue that environmental degradation is the outcome of inequalities and injustices within human society and that, if the latter are properly addressed, environmental degradation will go into reverse.

It is proposed that by placing these philosophies under sustainable development, nature's value increases.  Systematic degradation leads to a moral paradox, infusing the situation with delusional attributes that has negative impact on sense-making for students.  "We stunt the potential of the broader fields of environmental ethics and philosophy by an over-concentration on sustainable development and sustainability that, by definition, do not in and of themselves lead us to consider what we may need or want to know about beauty, culture, the spiritual and life purposes" (pg. 11).

It does not take much to understand the emphasis on sustainable literacy as:

• an holistic understanding of the need for transformation, individually and collectively;
• having comprehensive knowledge and skills to activate situation monitoring to engage in behaviour commensurate with sustainable development;
• the wisdom to recognise and reward decisions and actions that favour appropriate measures for sustainable development.

Selby indicates that the issues raised in these definitions relates to the need to have closure in understanding the objective goals of ESD.  The term 'literacy' is arbitrary and obscure, as historically it has meant the ability to read and write.  Is it widely accepted to acknowledge literacy as a multimedia, semiotic experience?  Is 'text' a metaphor for the environment/culture/society?  Selby notes that the definitions listed previously refrain from active engagement with environment/culture/society, observing tongue-in-cheek that neither is there instruction on identifying and reading the meaning of trees, biophysical phenomena or ecosystems.

Selby links 'literate' with 'literal' and wonders about the emotional attachment the term 'sustainable literacy' engenders, and how it may differ from the attachment we have to the words 'awe', or 'wonder', or 'beauty' that are typically associated with nature.  Selby takes comfort in Jane Austen, declaring "definitions and conceptions are too much about sense and not enough about sensibility" (pg. 12).  When we adjust our perspective of environmental sensibility to fit our aspirations for sustainability, additive dimensions increase holistic understanding of epistemology.  Initially, these dimensions feel counter-cultural as they were long abandoned by modern practice.

Education for Sustainable Development as Falling Short of its Promised Scope

Selby feels that within ESD, several aspects relating to learning have been under represented.  Furthermore, discourse on peace and social justice is inflammatory to current advocates of ESD.  The voices of indigenous peoples extol the virtues of sustainable living, but are unheard in Northern discourse.  The South, proponents of non-accumulative sustainable living, are similarly disregarded.  Selby proposes the examination and validation of alternative methods of knowing.

Discourse on:

1. probable futures - futures that are likely to pass;
2. possible futures - visions of the future that are inclusive of countercultural infringement; and
3. preferred futures - based on given ontological belief

has not drawn from existing models of future representation that enable students to reflect on their own version of a possible and sustainable future.

Sustainable Development as inheriting an Outdated 'Orderliness' Conception of Ecosystem

Early scientists developed a structure for understanding the comprehensive meaning of ecosystems that make sense of a 300 year old mechanistic worldview.  From this perspective and holistic understanding of the nature nurture debate, humanity can realise its own potential to guide an integrated pedagogy of economics and social progress in balance with the harmony of nature.

Equilibrium and disequilibrium, caused by fluctuations in weather conditions (e.g. tsunami), is nature's gentle reminder and regulation of the balance.  Selby proposes that investigation into 'education for ephemerality', 'education for elusiveness' and 'education for ineffability' is warranted.  Ethics that promote the intangible quality and pureness of feeling that is associated with belonging and tenderness.  Transformation is the enactment of integrated processes and goals to relinquish control in the face of transience and maintain focus.  To captivate the hearts and minds of poets in the aftermath of the industrial revolution, sustainable development requires the unification of spirituality and the sciences.  Holistic knowledge comes from utter acceptance of the absolute, the lived experience.  It is the very transience of nature that inspires awe and appreciation for beauty.

Narrative

So some stayed in the clearing bemused and troubled.  Were their worries big enough and deep enough to avoid the broad path?  Should they look for an alternative path that would be more congruent with what they valued?  Or, should they be pragmatic, join the throng on the wide path, and seek every opportunity to make gains even against the give and camber of the path?

Some wrestled and wrestled in their minds with what to do.  But the application of reason was not enough.  Others smelt flowers, watched the busy-ness of insects, the silk of a butterfly's wing (the flap of which could touch off a weather cataclysm thousands of miles away) and touched the smooth bark of beech and the rough bark of oaks.  Feeling the flow of life through themselves and what they witnessed, they declared that the key was to embrace a fundamental change in our attitude to nature based not on what we can extract from her but on what we can learn from her.  Her lessons of cycles, flows, networks, partnerships, diversity and, yes, unpredictability, uncertainty and turbulence can and should infuse both the curriculum and process of our learning and teaching, as well as the way our learning institutions work.  As long as we are sure that our way is deeply informed by the dynamics and processes of nature, we can walk the firm and shaky ground of any path.


Choose Not To Fall

Scott, W. and Gough, S. (2006). Sustainable Development within UK Higher Education: Revealing Tendencies and Tensions.

Scott, W. and Gough, S. (2006).  Sustainable Development within UK Higher Education: Revealing Tendencies and Tensions.  Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 30(2), pp. 293 - 305.  Retrieved on September 18, 2010 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03098260600717398


Introduction
Scott and Gough discuss the way in which the targets for education implemented at the Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro 1992 were relevant to the needs of higher education.  Their paper reviews how higher education (UK) has evolved post-Summit.


Sustainable Development in UK Higher Education: A Snapshot
Funding councils actively promote and support ESD and it was suggested that higher education contribute as:

• hubs of learning and research; formative support for leaders of the future;
• centres of commerce;
• developers of the community.

Associated bodies (e.g. Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges) are heavily invested in combining both environmental management and sustainability to form business development models that institutions are capable of implementing (e.g. transport, consumption).  The Higher Education Funding Council oversees good management practice initiatives, and is in partnership with four universities.  Their research has four main categories:

1. building level benchmarking of energy and water consumption;
2. developing case studies of best practice in environmental performance improvement in HE;
3. identifying and testing standardised measures for procurement, waste and other functions; and
4. developing the capacity of staff with environment-related responsibilities to achieve positive environmental change within their institutions through action workshops and other means.

Scott and Gough observe that successful outcomes of this project have been primarily related to managing the environment in higher education than with curriculum development.  The authors propose that implementing both environmental management and curriculum together present challenges of its own.  Ashley states one reason this could be is linked to individuals possessing RPL skills in numeracy, IT and communication, but no key skill has been identified as understanding sustainability.

Environmental managers are not required to focus on curriculum, and academics are time-constrained.  Tensions erupt as a consequence.  Tacit knowledge reveals while teaching or researching ESD is professional choice, group ethic or value is against a forced curriculum change in support of academic freedom.  "Determinist curriculum interventions can have a negative effect" (pg. 4).  An HE21 initiative asked UK institutions of higher learning specifically what different professions would need to know to maintain sustainable development, but no change came from this.  Legislation in environmental standards becomes more stringent as organising bodies do their best to ensure measures are based on global opinion.

The UK have adopted a curriculum toolkit on learning for sustainable development, a collaboration between HEPS and the University of Antofagasta, Chile.  Some of the concepts included in the toolkit are:

• as noted previously, universities are hubs of learning and research and act as key intermediaries between community and sustainable development;
• the Triple P attitude towards sustainable development is overly simplistic and requires five types of capital (i.e. natural, human, social, manufactured, financial);
• twelve criteria stemming from the fivefold capital are adduced to project a vision of a sustainable society; and
• learning must be delivered in a particular manner to be supportive of sustainable development; holistic, learner centered education binds social, environmental and economic environments to draw on positive attributes of location and individual; focus is on identified outcomes; it can apply to a range of complexity.

The first of seven stages in the toolkit requires a student profile and represents the student's perspective of the world.  Student identity (e.g. profession, affiliation) is the core and behaviour adjusts as it moves through outer rings and back again.  Interaction that occurs less frequently form the outer rings.  Second, program content is listed in a way that identifies the skills and knowledge a student requires to fulfill the learning contract.  Third, evaluations are based on the twelve criteria of capital.  Fourth, personal learning outcomes depend on evaluations in third stage (e.g. goal setting, clarity of understanding).  Fifth, the strategy for implementation.  Sixth is an embedded point of reflection when the program design is presented to faculty members.

The context in which learning takes place is a determining factor in guiding progress with pragmatism, as Scott and Gough indicate challenges are almost certain when a lack of common interpretation introduces inertia.  The design strategy of the toolkit is founded on natural sciences and economics, consequently learning has more focus on managerial aspects rather than on emancipation and examples are:

• a target population of graduates and professionals;
• emphasis on measurable learning outcomes using the twelve criteria instead of through the pedagogy of self-discovery;
• sustainable development arguably relies on the fivefold capital, or UNESCOs strategy for teaching the strategy of making long-term decisions based on our ecology and the economy;
• learning as the source of achieving sustainable development rather than as an integrated aspect.

In response to feedback, HEPS published a booklet on the attributes of good practice when integrating sustainable development.  The practitioners guide facilitates the identification of aspects in ESD.  As there are no models to provide examples, the booklets' aim is to provide a balance between guidance and spoon-feeding that generates confidence in ability and the skill to begin, belief in themselves and trust in the process.

Developing the Higher Education Curriculum: Further Issues

Despite the progress made with the toolkit, there remain three outstanding issues:

1. Extensive budgets are attractive but not always necessary, Scott and Gough state.  Guided learning to act in ecologically sustainable ways is required to support and/or enhance static knowledge.
2. Opinions of the teacher might not be shared by the student (i.e. what the teacher considers important may be in direct opposition to student opinion).  The skills students bring are either developed or modified.  Learning objectives are clearly stated in the toolkit.
3. Strategy for change must take account of paideia as not all learning is formal or expected.

Observations are that the nature of the booklet is inspired by a conservative and nurturing shared worldview and supported by cultural theory.  As long as society is inexorably integrated through technology (e.g. between private and public, local and national) tensions and diversity will continue to exist.

The toolkit acknowledges this dilemma and offers various entry points to initiate course content that reflects the range of values students and institutions present.  The paradox is the less stimulation the values receive, the less likely natural growth occurs.  Success or failure of such initiatives is highly dependent on the institutions' responsibilities (e.g. financial, patriarchal).  Scott and Gough argue that the integration of sustainable development and learning may have been pushed into the background owing to poor articulation, and misrepresented by hidden individual agendas.

Managing the institutions' environment has thus far proven less challenging, as any change for sustainable development has the potential to make a significant impact on energy consumption, creating a savings.  Scott and Gough clearly state that although the toolkit has the flexibility to address these issues at metatheoretical level, investigative analysis on issues pertaining to sustainable development remain secondary.

Research and teaching at some universities are two areas heavily invested in sustainable development.  Geography departments have been examples of key research activity around the globe.  Scott and Gough indicate that at the time of publication there appeared to be no potential models that used university life to integrate commerce, research and activity as envisaged by UNESCO.

Universities are memes and thus, interconnected at national level.  The relationship the institution has with the community is subject to the Law of Cause and Effect.  The negative association with sustainable development is its perceived expense that is assumed to benefit only the institution, in favour of ongoing projects.  Initiatives abound but do not constitute, nor have they been linked with, a national strategy.  Scott and Gough promote initiatives such as the one proposed by HEP that encompass the seven stage approach and fivefold capital model, and question other research agendas.

Learning as Sustainable Development

Sustainable development reflects lifelong learning and is unlikely to gain public approval if teachers of ESD are not exemplary role models.   In this instance, constructive action is potentially more valuable than constructive feedback.  Progress is necessarily contingent upon the time it takes to link ongoing institutional and professional commitments.

Viewing evolution as a progression of tiny steps towards a greater good, recognises a naturally occurring sustainable phenomena.  Experience and confidence, or single loop learning, occurs according to independent stages of personal development.  Failures are viewed as experience gained, thus professional disappointments can be retained at a rational level without upsetting equilibrium.  Sharing is crucial in order for others to learn from experience by proxy.  Scott and Gough propose that leadership and creativity include the following as priorities:

• commissioning research into learning difficulties facing ESD, and the potential relationship between lifelong learning and sustainable development;
• national planning and strategy to cross-reference domain development through networks and rpl;
• situation monitoring and analysis of proposals for learning in sustainable development;
• strong professional networks to encourage widespread discourse; and
• promotion of leader contributions to international developments.

Two items relating to education were mentioned at the World Summit.  The Millennium Development Goals and the need for a civil society movement to increase national commitment.  The 6th session of UNCSD issued seven areas in need of priority action:

1. clarifying and communicating sustainable development concepts and key messages;
2. reviewing national education policies and reorienting practice, including teacher education and higher education teaching and research;
3. incorporating education within national sustainable development strategies and planning processes;
4. promoting sustainable consumption and production through education;
5. promoting investment in education;
6. identifying and sharing innovative practice;
7. raising public awareness.

A UN backed agenda proposing a decade of ESD highlighted the role universities have to offer.  The perspective taken teaches students to conduct their own explorations into the subject and acquire their own information, which is a more sustainable activity than teaching the subject itself.  Scott and Gough propose that if sustainable development can be learned, then an objective must be established to consistently remain in focus.  Goals achieved from learning may not receive recognition as there is no contextual authority.  The authors are of the opinion that certain perspectives may not be congruent in other domains.  Simply put, it's easier to release preconceptions and move forward into the unknown.

Issues range from outright denial "Problem?  What problem?" to resignation "Humanity incapable of necessary change" (pg. 11).  The authors suggest using a metatheoretical approach, which they term 'the clumsy approach' as a wide acceptance of knowledge can be obfuscated by stakeholder needs (e.g. stakeholders expect definitive answers in order to promote their cause).  Issues relating to sustainable development stem from fear of the unknown.  Uncertainty is causing 'analysis paralysis'.  Dominant roles can only be achieved with clear and open communication.

Scott and Gough indicate that the clumsy way is a heuristic they use themselves as a means of unpacking problems.  Categorisation leads to simplification and the clumsy way provides security in constant evaluation (i.e. situation monitoring).

Concluding comments

The way in which knowledge is categorised (i.e. policy-making in ministries) is only a simplification in conceptual articulation rather than a diminishing of problems.  "For example, the economy, the environment and society are not separable, and sustainable development cannot arise from the independent insights of economists, environmental scientists and social scientists, working with different assumptions and methodologies" (pg. 13).

In closing, the authors discuss shared worldview and the subsequent actions of humanity as indicative of how the human-environment relationship is co-evolving.  Learning content is significant as it is a deciding factor in gaining skills for further endeavour.  Scott and Gough propose that these are factors fundamental to thinking about applying sustainable development in higher education, and suggest that progress will be made in conjunction with contextual and cultural filtering.

Rudsberg, K. and Ohman, J. (2010). Pluralism in practice - experiences from Swedish evaluation, school development and research.

Rudsberg, K. and Ohman, J. (2010).  Pluralism in practice - experiences from Swedish evaluation, school development and research.  Environmental Education Research, 16(1), pp. 95 - 111.  Retrieved September 18, 2010 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/135046209035040763

Introduction

Rudsberg and Ohman state that alternative methods of education practice are fast becoming the norm and caution against indoctrination.  Education, they state, should be about diverse interests; promote and nurture individual opinions; actively encourage cognitive analysis; enhance competence and performance; and, be an holistic attribute of sustainable development.

This perspective forms the understanding Sweden has of environmental education and education for sustainable development.  This study reviews national strategy of evaluative research and development from the perspective of schools, government agencies and researchers in other universities.  Rudsberg and Ohman state that while research on participation, and group participation in detail is available, there are much fewer papers on how these methods translate in classrooms.  In light of this, the authors have explored inclusion (pluralism in practice) in sustainable development based on observations of teaching practice and the capacity for individual sense-making in students.  Rudsberg and Ohman based their argument on "an analytical concept called epistemological moves" (pg. 3).

National evaluation of environmental and sustainability education in Swedish schools

In 2000, the Swedish National Agency for Education was responsible for logging demographics on available environmental and sustainable development with a view to evaluate the potential for development.  The report was based on the study of twenty four schools (i.e. range pre-school to upper secondary and adult) and included interviews from faculty members.  The evaluation identified three traditions linked with environmental and sustainability:

1. fact based;
2. normative; and
3. pluralistic.

They varied in implementation and practice, and in their interpretation of a democratic education.

Environmental issues are accepted as the gap between knowledge and action in fact based tradition.  Science is regarded as the definitive argument for sense-making, and it is in these models that students find reliable sources of information.  Therefore opinion is based in fact, and provides the democratic basis for education.

Normative traditions support friendly transitions.  Discourse is based on question and answer forums with civil servants and other experts to establish scientific transactive knowledge that result in artefacts (e.g. policy documents, curricula).  Teaching consists of leading by example to instill values and behaviours that support fluctuating moods to maintain positive direction.

Pluralism is the metatheoretical incorporation of multi-level and transdimensional views, values and perspectives when responding to issues or questions on sustainability.  The manner in which knowledge is acquired relies on deliberate discourse that is essential to continued balance and democracy is embedded in positive action.  The primary function of education is seen to develop and enhance individual democratic skill.

Rudsberg and Ohman state that all three traditions are well represented in the country, with normative tradition at a popular 52% and fact based at 14%.  Faculty who were interviewed stated that normative tradition is unable to reach today's children, and both faculty and students are doing less in environmental education than ever before.  Core to this issue was the need to develop holistic teaching practice in order to remove obstacles (e.g. the time to consider a new strategy and its initiation.

The HUS project

The objective of the project was to design and develop models (i.e. best practice guidelines) that support the practice of ESD.  Special task force groups were organised to represent geographical location, type, and subject matter.  Leading the project were two project managers, four supervisors from teacher training, and two PhD students.  Care was taken to ensure a flattened hierarchy that could be adapted to fit teaching practice.  Teachers were assigned the task of documenting individual methods of ESD practice while receiving the support that was declared missing in the evaluation.  Direct supervision facilitated collaboration (e.g. working hours reduced, seminars and lectures by experts were mandatory, communication networks established to discuss experience).

As conceptual understanding on sustainable development differs, the consequences are made visible through practice.  Jabareen identifies seven hidden concepts that are ambiguous, contradictory and fraught with tension.  Furthermore, Fergus and Rowney propose that the meaning has changed to represent the success of education as it correlates with economic worth rather than the integrated learning about values and diversity.  Sumner suggests this is the basis for alternative methodology as it can be understood to mean academic imperialism as elitist, or education that makes collaboration about human commonwealth and cooperative practice.  In conclusion he states that education can be seen as a top-down practice in order to sustain ideologies proscribing specific end objectives, the flip side of which is education through the democracy of sharing and critically evaluating opinions.

Rudsberg and Ohman conclude that if eduction could answer specifically, it would be detrimental to the development of democracy and suggest instead that education be the platform for diversity and conflict to reliably and critically examine the argument.  The authors propose that sustainable development with allied with holistic pluralism.  It is unreasonable to suggest that ESD is merely about environmental education as it relates to society and economic value as it provides an alternative perspective into the dimension of environmental development.

It was as the project developed that a specific interest in creating ways to enhance student capacity for analytical resolution emerged.  Teaching practice was adapted to include active participation through student-centred learning and collaboration in addressing problems.  Scientific investigation was needed to support empirical evidence (i.e. understanding why/how phenomena occurs).  Rudsberg and Ohman recorded teacher understandings of stimulating inclusive meaning-making in students on ESD for analysis.

Epistemological moves

Rudsberg and Ohman base their analysis on John Dewey's pragmatism and Ludwig Wittgenstein's view on language.  A similar study was undertaken by Ostman at the turn of the century.  Epistemological moves clarifies the means by which a teacher understands how students acquire knowledge, or "the procedures of meaning-making" (pg. 6).

In order to investigate actions, it was thought necessary to be aware of intention.  Framed by the concept is a hidden agenda presenting the notion that mind and reality are different.  Researchers involved in detailed interviews requires teachers to think rationally and plan the sequence of events.  Behaviour, and subsequently practice, is modified when conscious activity (i.e. strategy) is adapted to fit environment.

Dewey and Wittgenstein view the distinction of inner world and outer reality as the image individuals have of themselves from a third party perspective.  To replace this picture, both scholars impress upon the need for accurate recall to remember how meaning, thoughts and emotions (i.e. inner mind) were integrated with language and action (i.e. outer reality) to build meaningful insight as to our feelings, desires and thoughts expressed in first person perspective.

Wittegenstein associates meaning from the term 'language game' to represent the flexibility of words as they are used from context to context or setting to setting.  He proposes that thought or intention does not lie behind speech, but should be thought of as integrated or embedded in customs or rituals, and in context and situation.

From a first person perspective, intention can be interpreted as action.  Action that facilitates sense making is termed 'epistemological moves' (e.g. giving instruction, giving and receiving constructive feedback) and are seen as guidelines for directed thought in students.  Rudsberg and Ohman clearly categorise the use of the word function as it applies to activity and profession, and state that each action has a function as it relates to student sense-making.

Research design

Once the recordings of classroom activity had been captured, repeated analytical examination generated associations with context and relativity that stimulated specific focus or interest.  Transcripts were detailed, and included written forms of gestures and facial expressions significant in tracing changes in conversation and how teacher utterances were significantly linked.  Comparisons, coding and description identified modifications in behaviour and thus enabled the identification of epistemological moves.  Evaluative criteria were judged on internal homogeneity and external heterogeneity.

Results

Generalising and specifying are two such epistemological moves that involves the teacher building a focus point for students to engage with (e.g. starts an open-ended discussion on sustainable development).  Skillful maneuvering allow the teacher to retain control of the conversation by interjecting questions designed to give students direction to stay on topic.  Generalising raises the discussion from personal experience to another level through the use of more general terms.  Specifying requires the student to elaborate on opinions that were uttered at the beginning of the discussion.   In talking through concepts, students find coherence in knowledge.

Actions derived from evaluative function create new perspectives that generate an opportunity to think of alternative solutions.  Teachers encourage students to actively think by posing reflective questions.  Rudsberg and Ohman's analysis establishes two categories of moves that have evaluative functions.  Comparative and testing.  Comparative moves are the addition of reflective questions posed by the teacher resulting in 'compare and evaluate' processes. Opposing opinion may emerge from the same source.  Testing allows the teacher to depersonalise experience from student statements to fit a new situation.  Inquiry exchanges test the conclusion in its new circumstance to verify validity.

Conclusions

Rudsberg and Ohman have facilitated in the study of individual teaching styles, and in individual teaching styles related to student sense-making.  The authors  were able to categorise four epistemological moves - generalising, specifying, comparative and testing, that make up the attributes and function of interaction in classrooms.

Rudsberg and Ohman state that the terms generalising and specifying are not specifically viewed as pluralist practice.  However, by allowing students to revisit topics and explore opinion further, internal philosophy is developed providing a clearer idea of public shared view.

Pluralism is accounted for when generalising and specifying moves are combined with comparative and testing moves that serve as evaluative functions.  Student contribution can be nurtured and developed.  Diversity of opinion creates an awareness in the student that there is more than one perspective.  Internal evaluations occur.  Munby and Roberts identify this form of pedagogy as socialisation towards intellectual independence.  Stimulation comes from divergent standpoints where none is supreme.  Rudsberg and Ohman states that discussions are open-ended "even though it follows specific rules for the correct way of creating meaning, or, in other words, how to participate in a pluralistic act of communication about value-related sustainable issues" (pg. 13).  They reason that how we learn is also what we learn where process is part of content.  The authors proposed that educational practice has the potential for modelling a democratic way of living.

Ideologies of democracy are supported in communication and attitude through influence rather than through defensiveness of preconceived ideas.  Situations where new meanings emerge encourage pluralist practice and sustain democratic communication.  Delivery of education is important to sense-making as a constant restructuring of knowledge forms the context of democracy.  Communication is used as a tool to pull on deeper cognitive capacity that requires active participation.

Final remarks

Rudsberg and Ohman present their paper as an example of pragmatism that has been developed within Swedish research to highlight the pragmatic approach and methodology for epistemological moves.  The system of analysis portrays a future vision of pluralism in ESD as pluralist practice not only supports the principle policy, it is embedded within the tools used in teaching practice to stimulate specific focus sense-making.  Democracy is embedded in curricula as a means to adopt a wider view of environmental education, and build a more meaningful perspective of life without indoctrination.

Rudsberg and Ohman remind us that pluralism is also connected to enlightenment and the development of liberalism and the humanities.  ESD has developed in so many ways that are peculiar to the host through either cultural or historical events, that it would be unwise to suggest a specific form of pluralist practice.

Nomura, K. and Abe, O. (2009). The education for sustainable development movement in Japan: a political perspective

Nomura, K. and Abe, O. (2009).  The education for sustainable development movement in Japan: a political perspective.  Environmental Education Research, 15(4), pp. 483 - 496.  Retrieved September 18, 2010 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504620903056355


Introduction
This article is sourced from the Japanese governments strategy to open up political opportunities for non-governmental bodies and individuals to contribute to a policy on ESD prepared for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg 2002.  These political platforms were the beginning of the Japanese ESD movement, and alignment with UNESCO Decade of ESD (2005 - 2014).


Nomura and Abe recognise global trends driven by national governments to promote ESD, EfSF, EfS and DESD (origins in Japanese initiative) across education goals and subsequent methodology.  Economic growth and sustainable development are an integrated aspect of national government and industry.  The study is based on interviews conducted by the authors on key players in the ESD movement who reveal the sequence of events designed to build the Japanese DESD proposal.


Social movements, political opportunities and a corporatist approach
The pragmatic approach to implementing ESD in Japan was to overlay the breadth and depth of sustainable development with government policies.  Access to political inclusion is structured by membership to commerce, and government support culture and heritage by introducing formats that are in keeping with naturally occurring behaviour.  Nomura and Abe agree that Japan can be said to incorporate ecological modernisation through corporate systems.  National peak associations assume responsibilities for processing policies.  It represents a monopoly in respective categories.  Interest groups sustain activity and continuing effective implementation.  Subsequently, expert practitioners are free to exercise their knowledge and influence under government directives.  It is these nationwide networks that represent the majority of the ESD movement.


Nomura and Abe construct their argument using Political Opportunities Theory to understand how social movements develop.  Fundamentals of the system lie in:

1. the relative openness or closure of the institutionalised political system;
2. the presence or absence of elite allies;
3. the stability or instability of the broad set of elite alignments that typically undergird a policy; and
4. the state's capacity and propensity for repression.

The authors propose:

1. the formal institutional arrangements, or an increase in meaningful access points to decision-making; and
2. the changes in the informal structure of power relations, such as the appearance of influential government allies for collective action, in relation to the ESD movement in Japan.

1. Between the first and the second Prep-Coms
The establishment of the 'Japan Forum for Johannesburg' (JFJ)
Post summit, the Japanese government set up the groundwork to coordinate their NGOs.


The Ministry of Environment's Environmental Partnership Office (EPO) started opinion exchange forums (e.g. meetings) about the Summit in August 2001, facilitated by the director of EPO.  Enhancement of civic activity introduced participation at grass roots, leading to effective solutions for policy updates.


JFJ was established after three meetings, and a representative from OISCA (The Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement - International) was appointed secretary.  However, it did not achieve its full potential as difficulty in recruiting rational environmental activists capable of compromise resulted in a network of like-minded people.  Critics suggest that intervention came from the Ministry of Environments control over groups known for aggressive behaviour.  Others were suspicious of the close ties between OISCA and the government, and actively avoided the forums as was the case with bigger NGOs whose absence at the Summit was noted.


From Phnom Penh to Prep-Com 2
JFJ was registered with the UN to establish credentials.  Shortly after inception, a regional summit meeting in Phnom Penh revealed areas that required attention when the only document put forward was a recompilation of member views which was not lobbied.  It was seen as an ineffective measure of approaching high-level meetings.


Nomura and Abe draw attention to the contents of the document.  Emphasis was placed on environmental education and topics related to poverty, consumption patterns, and water, and "this document mentioned a Decade of Education for Environment and Development" (pg. 6).  The concept of the Decade was the brainchild of an established religious group that concurred with OISCA view.  Criticisms of the document were made personal to the Forum Secretary, who clearly stated that failure to include other parties was due a lack of time to prepare between inauguration and meeting.  Furthermore, OISCA had just celebrated 40 years by promoting EfSF and had nothing new to add.  Integration and cohesion between JFJ and OISCA in steering policy was still not apparent at the second Prep-Com held in New York, January 2002 as Japanese government policies only promoted environmental education.


2. The third and the fourth Prep-Coms
Towards the third prep-Com
Government involvement was more apparent during the third Prep-Com when it was proposed that JFJ would present the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.  The chair's final draft on proposed outcomes of the Summit as it correlated with Japanese policy, was open to public for one week.  It may not have been entirely coincidental that a suggestion to propose DESD was applauded at the next meeting.


However, the Forum Secretary recalled the EPO director proposing DESD came from JFJ prior to the document being released to the public.  The director, seconded to the UN from the Japanese Ministry of Environment, was often in contact with many kinds of UN decades initiated during that time recognising that efforts made would be sustained for at least ten years.  As education is of utmost significance internationally, it was deemed an appropriate topic to highlight.


The term ESD was adopted by a renowned professor who was brought in to JFJ by the EPO director.  He was known for his active participation with sub-committee members owing to the conflict that was generated by his tenacious use of the term ESD.  He was recruited for the post as his experience had been as "a high-ranking official at the UN, adept at international negotiation, and had fluent English, although he did not have nay expertise in environmental or sustainability education" (pg. 8).  His connections made him an influential and powerful man to have in steering policy.  The politics surrounding the term stemmed from the professor and the director wanting to use the same words that would be used to promote the World Summit on Sustainable Development.  They proposed that sustainable development as a title would be more attractive to developing countries, and more likely to garner support because their expectation was for Japan to increase its international aid.


The Ministry of Foreign Affairs were agreeable as it represented their position and the significance of assisting developing countries and relative to their proposals on poverty and involvement in Millennium Development Goals.  Thus marks the entry for a UN Decade for Sustainable Development in Japans proposal for the third Prep-Com.  It is suggested that the chair of the third Prep-Com may have found favour with the proposal after accepting an invitation to OISCAs 40th where the concept was discussed.


From the fourth Prep-Com to the Summit
The concept of the Decade was shared with high-ranking government officials, and spread through the network that supported the idea and received full backing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Both Councillor and a senior official from the Ministry, the professor and the director of EPO approached the Cabinet Office where they successfully proposed the inclusion of DESD in the Prime Ministers speech for the Summit.


While it was suggested that the JFJ did not have a major role in lobbying, it can be said that the professor, who was not qualified for the post, did his best to include JFJ in policy making.  However, it was noted that the professor attended the Summit as a special advisor to the government rather than as a JFJ representative.  NGOs recognised the opportunity to gain political support for their cause irrespective of top-down or bottom-up instigations.  It was proposed that the JFJ concentrate on effecting implementation of the Decade through its education sub-committee, without initiating further policy change.


Local and national governments funded a series of meetings held prior to and post Summit, hosted by JFJ and senior public officials to promote the Decade.  The government was also responsible for funding the attendance of their NGO representatives at the fourth Prep-Com through the Japan Fund for Global Environment.  This opportunity allowed the NGOs to prepare a subsidiary event on environmental education for the Summit.  Nomura and Abe wonder if the financial dependency of the NGOs influenced policy, but continue on to say it is clear that the JFJ was not completely controlled by government as they muse over voluntary efforts and financial contributions.  The majority of the JFJ were viewed as supportive of government initiatives, and looked upon their posting as a platform to further their cause.


3. After the Johannesburg Summit: the establishment of ESD-J
The government, in collaboration with JFJ, proposed DESD at the Summit 2002 and again at the fourth Prep-Com, and was included in the Summit's implementation plan which resulted in the UN General Assembly implementing the Decade at its 57th session later that year.  The EPO held open meetings to start discourse into promoting ESD in Japan and resulted in the Japan Council on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, otherwise known as ESD-J.  Establishing ESD-J rightfully terminated JFJ.


ESD-J and government ties remained strong through using JFJs corporate approach.  There is government involvement in how groups are organised, and in the selection of representatives to aid in policy-making.  As part of the governments' charter was to address the holistic integration of sustainable development into national policy, it was vital to establish ESD-J as its' counterpart.


That ESD-J is financially dependent on the government is obvious, Nomura and Abe state and continue on to say that while fewer than half of the applications to the Japan Fund for Global Environment are approved,  ESD-J are a consistent recipient of funds.  Recruitment for novices in ESD come from The Ministry of Environments financial support in recognition of advanced ESD domains.  Though government were seen to encourage active ESD models, conflict erupted when it appeared that labeling any model ESD would result in government funding.  Nomura and Abe reconcile this paradox by stating that although government influence sustains ESD, it is also the primary influence in developing ESD throughout Japan with a potential to regroup or restructure existing models.


Conclusion
A political opportunity perspective has offered clarity into the process and sequence of the emergence and development of ESD in Japan.  An open political system and the start up of the EPO became the platform for communication between NGOs and the government.  Elite allies were used during development, and one such key player was the director for EPO.  Under his guidance JFJ and ESD-J were founded, and DESD was proposed as a concept stemming from NGOs who received funds to attend the fourth Prep-Com and Summit.


Significantly, political opportunities were presented through corporate membership that emphasised political entry points for NGOs.  Strategic planning allowed the government to present a proposal for policy at the Summit, and to portray themselves as having collaborative relationships with NGOs.  Control was exerted when selecting representatives for policy-making, and care was taken when considering the breadth and depth of potential causes to back (e.g. to use the term ESD).  As the proposal was a joint collaboration and considered a civil society movement, government mobilisation of NGOs was the beginning of the movement for initiating the Decade in Japan.


A tight network of high-ranking officials, each with powerful network connections of their own, were able to drive the strategy to its objective.  Nomura and Abe indicate that these individuals may not have questioned the politics of the process while so heavily involved with supporting sustainable education.


After the UN took agency of the Decade, The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has initiated efforts to make sustainability in formal education mainstream.  The Ministry of Environment, instigators in proposing the Decade focus on ESD in the non-formal sector and in particular on community development.


NGOs are tasked with developing and implementing ESD activities to ratify civil society movement.  Nomura and Abe propose that they strengthen opportunity structure by increasing their elite allies which would be more to do with interaction than as a reaction to change.  What is required is an effective means of interpreting ESD in order to mobilise support, and the authors propose examining the issue through a framing perspective that places emphasis on the development of social movements.


Nomura and Abe state that substantiating civil society movement is significant to the development of ESD in Japan and the term ESD is more recently linked to discourse on the UN Decade for ESD.  The authors suggest political and historical investigation and analysis of international ESD movements as they compare with other social phenomena to explore the stability of policies and initiatives, and the capacity for constraint.