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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: [email protected]
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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
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

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