Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T03:29:58.917Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Simply Good Teaching: Supporting Transformation and Change Through Education for Sustainability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2016

Gitanjali Bedi  and
Susan Germein
Gitanjali Bedi*
Affiliation:
Department for Health, Science, Education and Social Services, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Susan Germein
Affiliation:
Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Gitanjali Bedi, Department for Health, Science, Education and Social Services, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Hawthorn VIC 3122Australia. Email: gbedi@swin.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article proposes that Education for Sustainability (EfS), with its focus on transformative and learner-centred approaches, and higher order thinking skills, enriches teaching and learning in Vocational Education and Training (VET), with implications for quality pedagogy more generally. EfS pedagogy has the potential to inform a new discourse on VET's role in citizenship and responsibility for the future, characterised by some as a shift from productivism to ecologism, and described by UNESCO/ILO as critical thinking towards sustainable development. After reviewing the literature on quality pedagogy in VET, as well as on EfS itself, this article evaluates the impact and effectiveness of a nationwide professional development program to upskill VET practitioners in EfS pedagogy. Early findings indicate personal transformations for participants both as individuals and VET professionals, with high levels of teaching practice enhancement generally through uptake of EfS principles and practice. Based on our findings, we draw conclusions and make recommendations for further research.

Keywords

education for sustainabilityvocational education and trainingVETpedagogytransformation and changewhole-of-systems thinkinglearner-centredcritical thinking
Type
Feature Articles
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 32 , Issue 1: 18th AAEE Biennial Conference - Sustainability, Smart Strategies for the 21st Century , March 2016 , pp. 124 - 133
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, D. (2003, April). Productivism, VET and ecological sustainability. Paper presented at The Changing Face of VET, 6th Annual Conference of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association, Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Anderson, D. (2009). Productivism and ecologism: Changing discourses in VET. In Fien, J., Maclean, R., & Park, M. (Eds.), Work, learning and sustainable development: Opportunities and challenges (pp. 35–57). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.Google Scholar
Arenas, A., & Londono, F. (2013). Connecting vocational and technical education with sustainability. In Stevenson, R., Brody, M., Dillon, J., & Wals, A. (Eds.), International Handbook of Research on Environmental Education ( pp. 163–170). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Baxter, B. (1999). Ecologism. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Chappell, C. (2004, March). Contemporary vocational learning — Changing pedagogy. Paper presented at the 7th Annual Conference of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association, Canberra, Australia.Google Scholar
Corbel, C. (2013). Introducing the specialised vocational pedagogy project. The Australian TAFE teacher, Autumn, 21–22.Google Scholar
Corben, H., & Thomson, K. (2001). What makes a great teacher? Attributes of excellence in VET. Paper presented at the TAFE Educational Services Research Conference, Sydney, Australia. Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A9716Google Scholar
Darwin, S. (2007). The changing contexts of vocational education: Implications for institutional vocational education. International Journal of Training Research, 5, 55–71.Google Scholar
Department of Education and Training. (2004). Theory and practice: TAFE NSW VET Teaching and Learning Project. Sydney, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. (2009). Living sustainably: The Australian Government's National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability. Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Faraday, S., Overton, C., & Cooper, S. (2011). Effective teaching and learning in vocational education. London: City and Guilds Centre for Skills Development/LSN Learning.Google Scholar
Gamble, J. (2013). Why improved formal teaching and learning are important in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). In UNESCO-UNEVOC (Ed.), Revisiting global trends in TVET: reflections on theory and practice (pp. 204–238). Bonn: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Goldney, D., Murphy, T., Fien, J., & Kent, J. (2007). Finding the common ground: Is there a place for sustainability education in VET? Adelaide, Australia: NCVER.Google Scholar
Hodge, S., (2011) Learning to manage: Transformative outcomes of competency-based training. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 51, 498–519.Google Scholar
Innovation & Business Skills Australia (IBSA). (2014). VET Practitioner Capability Framework. Retrieved January 10, 2014, from https://www.ibsa.org.au/vet-practitioner-capability-frameworkGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, J., Chappell, C., Bateman, A., & Roy, S. (2006). Quality is the key: critical issues in teaching, learning and assessment in vocational education and training. Adelaide: NCVER.Google Scholar
Pritchard, M. (2014). 2012–13 National VET Skills for Sustainability Professional Development Program Longitudinal Evaluation Report. Pacific Research & Evaluation Associates. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ncs/documents/swin-EfS-Champions-long-eval-2014.pdfGoogle Scholar
Robertson, I. (2008). VET teachers’ knowledge and expertise. International Journal of Training Research, 6, 1–22.Google Scholar
Smith, P., & Blake, D. (2005). Facilitating learning through effective teaching: At a glance. Melbourne, Australia: National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). Retrieved January 8, 2014, from http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1660.htmlGoogle Scholar
Sterling, S. (2012). The Future Fit Framework. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from http://www.griffith.edu.au/data/assets/pdf_file/0011/436655/The_Future_Fit_Framework.pdfGoogle Scholar
Tilbury, D., & Cooke, K. (2005). A National Review of Environmental Education and its Contribution to Sustainability in Australia: Frameworks for sustainability. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources and the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES).Google Scholar
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). (1992). Agenda 21. Rio de Janeiro: Author.Google Scholar
UNESCO & ILO. (2002). Technical and vocational education for the twenty-first century: UNESCO & ILO recommendations. Paris & Geneva: Author.Google Scholar
Wals, A. (2012). Shaping the education of tomorrow: 2012 full-length report of the UN decade of education for sustainable development. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Wheelahan, L., & Moodie, G. (2010). The quality of teaching in VET: Final report and recommendations. Melbourne, Australia: L.H. Martin Institute for Higher Education Leadership, University of Melbourne.Google Scholar