Departamento de Desarrollo Económico, Sostenibilidad y Medio Ambiente

Environmental education - Technology and sustainability

Humans have always had the need to develop and create new things in order to live in a better world and, to an even greater extent, had the ability to do so. There have been numerous changes in many different areas since our grandparents' days.

Education is no exception. The Basque Government, for instance, started the Eskola 2.0 project in 2010 and, since then, new technology has been introduced into every classroom.

This has led to a small revolution because it has made many interesting resources available – a lot of them free – and it has made it possible to use new work methods.

The result of the introduction of these new methods has had a positive balance. But there are two factors which must be taken into account. Firstly, we run the risk of tablets, computers and mobile phones completely changing pupils' leisure activities; and, indeed, the whole of society's, if we look further afield.

Secondly, the harm which the process of manufacturing this new technology can cause the environment. Producers must take sustainability into account as much as they do quality, finance and productivity.

Professional Competences in Education for Sustainability

For decades Education for Sustainability (ES) has demanded an educational system for sustainable social transformation to stimulate critical reflection and clarify values, encourage an overall approach to questions and which is innovative and constructive, culturally appropriate and directed towards action.

In order to do this, all education professionals must be given conceptual and methodological tools to make it easier for ES to be part of diverse educational contexts.

A survey which has been answered by 32 3rd year primary education trainee teachers shows that future teachers emphasise the need to clarify values, the ability to take decisions, participate and act in order for this change to be effected.

On the contrary, they do not consider foreseeing future situations, critical thought, dialogue between different disciplines and the management of emotions and concerns to be essential professional competences for Education for Sustainability.

The competence of educating citizens to build a fairer, more equitable, more sustainable world implies combining practical skills, knowledge, motivation, ethical values, attitudes and emotions with other social and behavioural matters which act together in favour of sustainability in social, environmental and/or economic contexts, in a particular cultural context and in the educational environment.

These are the competences which should contribute to improving people's quality of life and building a more sustainable society and educational model through education.

We can complement this definition by saying that this is not a single competence but rather a constellation of them, all of them contributing to an improvement in quality of life.

While seeking to achieve a precise definition, a series of professional competences has been identified, all of which together make up the complete set of ES professional competences. These professional competences can be seen as the abilities which teachers must develop in their work in order to incorporate an ES dimension in the teaching-learning process.

The competence framework which we propose can be put into practice in four different fields of action: the educator as an individual; as a member of his/her educational institution; as a member of society; as a citizen of the world.

This framework is made up of the following features:

  • Examining future/alternative scenarios: The ability to help and encourage pupils to understand different possible futures and work with vision and different scenarios, looking for alternative routes and changes for the future.
  • Contextualising: The ability to work with pupils on the different dimensions of a problem or action, the spatial dimension (local-global) and the time dimension (past, present and future).
  • Working and living with complexity: The ability to identify and connect the various ecological, economic and social dimensions of a problem. Teachers and pupils accept uncertainty and create conditions for an overall approach in the school context. The ability to examine the multiple causes and effects when situations are explored and participated in is encouraged.
  • Thinking critically: Creating the conditions for critical thinking in the school context for questioning assumptions and recognising and respecting different tendencies in different situations. Encouraging pupils to reflect on the suppositions behind each criticism, opinion or way of seeing things.
  • Taking decisions, participating and acting in favour of change: Encouraging pupils to have the ability to react when becoming aware of an action, sharing responsibilities and getting involved in shared actions. Participation provides motivation for discussing, finding solutions and acting in a specific context.
  • Clarifying values: Teachers are able to encourage the clarification of values and behaviour for sustainability by reinforcing reflection, mutual respect and understanding pupils' various values.
  • Starting dialogue between disciplines: Developing teaching and learning based on dialogue between disciplines, offering an integrated, multidisciplinary approach.
  • Managing emotions: Encouraging pupils to be able to listen to their own emotions, concerns, worries and use them as a means for obtaining more in-depth knowledge of problems and situations, developing resilience.  
 

 

Gisela Cebrián, University of Southampton 

A Sustainable View of Technology

It is common to use lines to represent technological change. Texts about the history of technology usually put various “technological advances” on a line with regards to any matter under discussion (boats, the speed of chips, washing machines…) and how that matter is improved over time, progressing until the present, which is always the moment of maximum development and which will inevitably be surpassed in the near future: trains get faster, engines more efficient, screens have higher resolutions, arms become more destructive, medicines have fewer side effects… By concentrating on these lines showing improvement, we leave certain grey areas to one side: pollution, inequality, illnesses, the destruction of ecosystems, the loss of traditions…

The idea of sustainability was created in order to draw attention to these ignored consequences and to work towards technological progress not going beyond certain limits: those of the environment for absorbing waste materials and for giving us shelter and feeding us; our moral boundaries, which compel us to restrict the damage caused by technology. Establishing these limits often means standing up to those who try to make progress with their technological progress lines, and not always successfully.

However, there is another way of making technological things sustainable without slowing them down but, rather, changing perspective. Our point of view on technological matters tends to be abstract (concentrating on performance, ease of use, costs…) Strangely enough, it becomes much wider when you stop looking in terms of lines and look at specific points instead. The most influential research into science, technology and society has been that which focuses on specific cases. Examining real situations helps us to remember that there is no need for technology to be grandiloquent: the disposable nappy is as technological as the atom bomb, and they are both relevant to neighbourhoods, valleys, regions and the whole planet. Specific things do not have to be small and allow us to see the problems and advantages of particular technological options. Many characteristics – for example, those of a waste material incinerator – can be foreseen in the laboratory or on paper. But when the plant is built, unknown factors which cannot be seen in the model appear at full-scale: how local people react to it, how it affects agricultural production in the area, how it changes the area's image, how it affects nearby buildings… These are all questions which may bring to light the unsustainability of technology and this is why it is worth including in technology education, as many experts in the area now do.

In order to address sustainability, technological education must look at the specific and replace the image of lines of progress with that of a multitude of possible points of action. When it comes down to it, technology goes no further than where we take it to. Examining it from the specific, from a positioned perspective, helps to see all of its implications and, consequently, to distinguish clearly whether we really want it or not. And considering our real wishes may be more efficient in terms of developing sustainable technology than fear, confrontation or simple rhetoric.

 

Armando Menéndez Viso

University of Oviedo

 

 

Nowadays Play Station, Wii and other technological video games are what children like to play with most and, in spite of what many parents believe, these games do help children to develop their intelligence and take decisions under pressure.

However, spending too long in front of the screen can be harmful, meaning that children become more sedentary and, potentially, less skilful at having social relationships with other people.

So, for these reasons, encouraging playing other games, which increases children's socialisation with the family and other children around them, is a good idea.

Many things can be learned thanks to technology, but in terms of improving the learning process, the more different paths taken during it, the better. All children must have direct knowledge of the smell of flowers, animal fur and the texture of trees. And, later, they will be able to obtain more in-depth knowledge from the Internet.

We will now put forward several non-technological games which children can play with their families and friends.

Traditional games in nature

Playing i-spy or hide-and-seek can be exciting if the games are used to find out about nature at the same time; you can find wonderful spots and hiding places in nature which do not exist in cities: caves, trees, hidden paths…

In this way children will enjoy themselves and, at the same time, become aware of their responsibility to take care of nature.

Wild Children

According to psychologist Heike Freire, it is good for children to play in a wild way: getting their hands muddy, climbing trees, playing with animals… These are all helpful for children's development. In fact, parents should encourage their children to play these wild games, even if only occasionally.

IHITZA 46 Technology and sustainability