ABSTRACT
This edited collection aims to provoke discussion around the most important question for contemporary higher education – what kind of education (in terms of purpose, pedagogy and policy) is needed to restore the health and wellbeing of the planet and ourselves now and for generations to come? The book contains contributions from colleagues at a single UK University, internationally recognised for its approach to sustainability education.
Introducing a conceptual framework called the ‘Paradox Model’, the book explores the tensions that underpin the challenge of developing sustainability in higher education in the 21st century. It asks probing questions about the purpose of higher education in the 21st century given growing concerns in relation to planetary safety and justice and calls for a rethinking of educational purpose. It draws upon the theory and practice of education and explores how these can develop an understanding of sustainability pedagogies in practice. Finally, it delivers thought-provoking discussion on what constitutes a ‘good’ higher education that meets the needs of a world in crisis. Drawing on a planetary health lens, the book concludes with a ‘manifesto’ that brings together the key insights from the contributing authors.
This will be an engaging volume for academics and educators from a wide range of disciplines in higher educational settings interested in translating sustainability theory into educational practice.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |63 pages
Roots
part 1|61 pages
Rethinking educational purpose
chapter 2|14 pages
‘Swallowing a world'
chapter 4|16 pages
Educating for the future in the humanities
chapter 5|16 pages
A fragile education for a good world
part |63 pages
Begins with a sigh
part 2|61 pages
Pedagogies of (re)connection
part |42 pages
The tangled bank
part 3|40 pages
(Higher) education as if the world mattered
part |1 pages
Kissing the earth