Education for Sustainable Development in the Postcolonial World


Book Description

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) lies at the heart of global, regional and national policy agendas, with the goal of achieving socially and environmentally just development through the provision of inclusive, equitable quality education for all. Realising this potential on the African continent, however, calls for radical transformation of policy and practice. Developing a transformative agenda requires taking account of the ‘learning crisis’ in schools, the inequitable access to a good quality education, the historical role of education and training in supporting unsustainable development, and the enormous challenges involved in complex system change. In the African continent, sustainable development entails eradicating poverty and inequality, supporting economically sustainable livelihoods within planetary boundaries, and averting environmental catastrophe, as well as dealing with health pandemics and security threats. In addressing these challenges, the book: explores the meaning of ESD for Africa in the context of the ‘postcolonial condition’ critically discusses the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as regional development agendas draws on a wealth of research evidence and examples from across the continent engages with contemporary debates about the skills, competencies and capabilities required for sustainable development, including decolonising the curriculum and transforming teaching and learning relationships sets out a transformative agenda for policy-makers, practitioners, NGOs, social movements and other stakeholders based on principles of social and environmental justice. Education for Sustainable Development in the Postcolonial World is an essential read for anyone with an interest in education and socially and environmentally just development in Africa.




COVID-19 and the (Broken) Promise of Education for Sustainable Development


Book Description

The book charts the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact that it has had on the lives of young people and their communities, education systems, the teaching profession, governments and NGOs in postcolonial Pakistan. Drawing on the extensive knowledge and experience that the authors bring to these challenges – this case study of the ‘broken promise’ of education for sustainable development will have significant impact in post COVID-19 Pakistan, South Asia more broadly, and in other postcolonial development contexts around the world.




Education for Sustainable Development in an Unequal World


Book Description

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is recurrently depicted as an enterprise that unites humanity in a common pursuit of a more just and sustainable world. But how is this enterprise pursued on a planet that is enormously unequal? Drawing on biopolitical theory and rich empirical data from different contexts around the world, this book explores how ESD is unpacked depending on whether people are rich or poor. The book demonstrates how ESD is adapted to the lifestyles and living conditions of different populations. The implication of this depoliticized sensitivity to local ‘realities’, the book argues, is that inequality becomes accommodated and that different responsibilities are assigned to rich and poor. Ultimately, the book considers alternatives to this biopolitical divide.




The Elgar Companion to Migration and the Sustainable Development Goals


Book Description

This dynamic Companion explores the connections - and disconnections - between migration and sustainable development as articulated by the UN’s Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Providing a critical appraisal of Agenda 2030, it examines the extent to which the SDGs encompass migration and migrant-related experiences within the context of the pledge to ‘leave no-one behind’.




The Routledge International Handbook of the Place of Religion in Early Childhood Education and Care


Book Description

Understanding the place of religion in Early Childhood Education and Care is of critical importance for the development of cultural literacy and plays a key role in societal coherence and inclusion. This international handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the place of religion in the societal educational arenas of the very youngest children across the globe. Drawing together contributions from leading international experts across disciplinary backgrounds, it offers a critical view of how to approach the complexities around the place of religion in Early Childhood Education and Care. Through its four parts, the book examines the theoretical, methodological, policy and practice perspectives and explores the complex intersections of transmission of "cultural heritage" and "national values" with the diverse, changing societal contexts. Each chapter contributes to an increased understanding of how the place of religion in Early Childhood Education and Care can be understood across continents, countries and educational systems. The Routledge International Handbook of the Place of Religion in Early Childhood Education and Care is an essential resource for academics, researchers, students and practitioners working in Early Childhood Education, Sociology of Childhood, Religious Education and other related fields




Sustainability in Public Procurement, Corporate Law and Higher Education


Book Description

Contemporary changes in law and policy at the global level to efficiently answer to environmental and social issues correspond to the traditional approach of limiting the regulatory and policy changes to a singular field or discipline: tackling the inherent unsustainability of corporate laws or incentivising the offering of sustainable finance to stimulate the transition towards sustainable practices. This book provides a new viewpoint and approach of simultaneously regulating seemingly non-connected fields in order to provide a fertile ground for a truly organic change towards sustainable outcomes. It addresses diverse questions of sustainable transition of the three specific fields to support sustainable practices in public procurement, private market transaction, and in educating future business leaders and legal experts by incorporating sustainable concerns as the underlying guiding principles of their conduct. It translates scientific findings into a practical format that can be used by diverse stakeholders searching for information and solutions in their respective professional fields. The underlying assumption is that a simultaneous action in the three respective fields of public procurement, corporate law, and higher education brings about more coherent and interconnected results that incentivise further action and changes towards sustainable practices. The book furthers the idea of policy coherence by building upon the findings in the field of public procurement, corporate law, and practice and higher education curricula. By identifying the barriers in the three respective fields for sustainable action and proposing solutions for either eliminating or minimising those barriers at the EU level, the book calls for further changes in the respective fields as well as for considering the spillover effects of these policies on other fields.




Educating for Sustainability in a Small Island Nation


Book Description

This volume problematizes the intentions of early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) from two new perspectives – the context of small island states and the bi-directional, intergenerational learning about the environment and sustainability that takes place in a variety of contexts, including the family home and school. It questions how belonging to a small island and the children’s home influence learning in the early years of life. In doing so, this book offers new insights and new theoretical perspectives into intergenerational environmental learning in the school, family and beyond. Informed by consideration of the most recent literature in early childhood education and sustainability, this volume also looks at how these informal learning spaces provide young children with the opportunities to enhance further learning in the field, thus portraying the fluidity of intergenerational learning from different theoretical standpoints. It provides a deep insight into ECEfS and intergenerational learning about the environment and environmental issues in early childhood education from a perspective of a small island state by adopting a children’s rights perspective. It additionally explores the relationship between early childhood theories, children’s rights and postcolonial theory.




Relational and Critical Perspectives on Education for Sustainable Development


Book Description

This volume focuses on the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), education, to look at sustainability from various angles with the purpose of challenging preconceptions about what sustainable education might entail and how it should be conducted. To this end, the book assembles scholars from various research fields and disciplines, who are willing to be at the cutting edge regarding sustainability and education on all levels with students in the ages of 6-15. Through this approach, the text points towards a “wild pedagogy” in line with post-sustainable thinking. This involves agency and the role of nature itself as a co-educator, and promotes cultural changes, and explorative processes of finding “the wild” – the unknown, and complexity in nature – and thus of challenging the human need for control. This approach is also, in line with the 2030 Agenda, an attempt to move from advocating predetermined behavioural change to embracing a pluralistic perspective on sustainability, based on holistic views on education. Such views include curiosity, wonderment, compassion and agency as guiding lights. The book is structured into three sections, based on three interrelated strands. These strands are, in various ways, dependent on one another and further engaged with bringing education theory and practice together. These strands are 1) Belonging and sensing, 2) Critical thinking, social justice and action competence, and 3) Creating hope in a vanishing world. These strands aim to increase our access to and understanding of the ways in which sustainability can be integrated into education and why. The purpose of the text is to encourage educators of all kinds and levels, as well as scholars in different fields, to explore new perspectives on education for sustainable development. The book examines probes in diverse academic fields and focuses on how to combine different approaches and content, and therefore everyone interested in interdisciplinary and cross-curricular teaching and learning should find this work enlightening.




Education and International Development


Book Description

Education and International Development provides an introduction to the debates on education and international development, giving an overview of the history, influential theories, key concepts, areas of achievement and emerging trends in policy and practice. Written by leading academics from Canada, India, Netherlands, South Africa, UK, USA, and New Zealand, this second edition has been fully updated in light of recent changes in the field, such as the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals and the increased focus on environmental sustainability and equality. The book includes three new chapters on private providers, decolonisation and learning outcomes as well as a range of pedagogical features including key concept boxes, biographies of influential thinkers and practitioners, further reading lists, questions for reflection and debate, and case studies from around the developing world.




Children and Sustainable Development


Book Description

This book addresses the changes in education practices, especially basic education, necessitated by the global challenges of climate change and sustainable development and in a context characterized by increasing poverty and inequality, migration and refugees. Written by a range of international scholars, scientists and grassroots practitioners from Africa, Latin America, Asia (India, China, Malaysia) and Europe, the individual contributions focus on education policies and child development in various social contexts. Case-based experiences from both developed and developing countries provide inspiration and shed new light on the fundamental changes needed to adapt existing school systems and teacher training to face the challenges of the future. In this regard, the need to empower children themselves is emphasized. All contributions are based on a Workshop hosted in November 2015 by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican entitled “Children and Sustainable Development: A Challenge for Education” and follow three other significant events on sustainable development in 2015, namely the publication of Laudato Si’, the Encyclical Letter from Pope Francis, the release of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and the COP21 Conference in Paris.