ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. Arguing that a consideration of climate should form an integral part of any definition of quality and sustainability education and drawing on established models of global citizenship and emancipatory education, the book outlines what such a notion of quality in education implies for curriculum reform and for concepts of teaching and learning beyond the rationalist itinerary of late modernity. It considers the role and significance of language and discourse in sustainability education, pointing to aspects of language awareness and language use when it comes to learning a language and engaging with topics such as climate change. The book then reflects on the notion that literature has been proposed as a specific form of cultural energy in the larger ecologies of culture and discusses the “sustainable texts” with an eye on the often unacknowledged but nonetheless crucial question of value in literary education.
