Pedagogical Laboratories: A Case Study of Transformative Sustainability Education in an Ecovillage Context
1
School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
2
Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85069, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2019, 11(14), 3880; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143880
Received: 30 May 2019 / Revised: 11 July 2019 / Accepted: 15 July 2019 / Published: 17 July 2019
(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Education and Approaches)
Students, practitioners, and scholars of sustainability education are increasingly calling for divergent curricula and novel pedagogical approaches that cultivate transformation and emancipation at both the individual and institutional levels. For decades, ecovillages around the globe have provided alternatives for sustainable living and many have also developed alternative educational approaches. For this reason, ecovillages can be important learning laboratories for experimenting with sustainability education curricula and pedagogies, allowing scholars to learn across disciplinary, cultural, and worldview boundaries. In the present study, we conducted a descriptive case study of Findhorn Foundation College’s 5-week Ecovillage Design Education course. By applying a narrative analysis of archives, field notes, surveys, and interviews, we arrived at 17 different categorical elements across six major themes. Using the field data, we linked these categorical elements to three consistent pedagogical elements: ritual pedagogies, pedagogies of story, and collaborative pedagogies. We conclude by highlighting several inductive themes present in participant data that indicated potential hindrances, constraints, and cautionary tales regarding implementation of these pedagogies in higher education contexts situated in the Global North.
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Keywords:
transformation; emancipation; ecovillage; pedagogy; sustainability education; higher education
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MDPI and ACS Style
Papenfuss, J.; Merritt, E. Pedagogical Laboratories: A Case Study of Transformative Sustainability Education in an Ecovillage Context. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3880. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143880
AMA Style
Papenfuss J, Merritt E. Pedagogical Laboratories: A Case Study of Transformative Sustainability Education in an Ecovillage Context. Sustainability. 2019; 11(14):3880. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143880
Chicago/Turabian StylePapenfuss, Jason, and Eileen Merritt. 2019. "Pedagogical Laboratories: A Case Study of Transformative Sustainability Education in an Ecovillage Context" Sustainability 11, no. 14: 3880. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143880
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