ABSTRACT
There is a huge call to (re-)create more sustainable ways of living, and education is identified as having a key role. UN have launched Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide and strengthen sustainability worldwide. In most universities, the inclusion of SDGs has only begun, and more systematic efforts are needed. There is a request for new ways of teaching in education for sustainability (ESD), where more holistic teaching approaches are needed. Arts-based teaching is increasingly recognized as significant in ESD. It is not only based on logic and rationality, but also based on knowing derived from the body and senses. Applied or educational drama is an arts-based form of teaching. Drama work is embodied, action oriented, and reflective, and addresses both affective and cognitive aspects of learning. How can drama contribute to ESD in higher education? What can be achieved with a single drama workshop on sustainability? The study is based on a questionnaire about university students’ experiences of a drama workshop on sustainability, given to 60 teacher students in Athens. The students’ responses clearly show they appreciated the drama work and learned about sustainability by interacting and sharing with their peers. The teacher students also made a lot of connections to their own future teaching. From the perspective of SDGs, the most promising outcome is teacher students who refer to their own teaching for sustainability in the future, with or without elements of drama, and reflections that indicate motivation and readiness to make changes for sustainability at a personal level. We don’t know if the positive impact of the intervention lasted over time, or led to changed behavior. Further research, especially longitudinal studies and follow-up studies, is much needed in the field of ESD.
