Competencies and Pedagogies for Sustainability Education: A Roadmap for Sustainability Studies Program Development in Colleges and Universities
Colorado Mountain College, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601, USA
Sustainability 2019, 11(19), 5526; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195526
Received: 19 July 2019 / Revised: 28 September 2019 / Accepted: 1 October 2019 / Published: 7 October 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances and Innovations in Sustainability Education: Higher Education as an Avenue for Social Change)
Sustainability studies educators in colleges and universities must identify and teach the knowledge, skills, and abilities their graduates will most need to advance sustainability while confronting perhaps the most serious, sweeping, and integrated set of challenges humanity has ever known. Using a rigorous grounded theory and hermeneutics based analysis/synthesis of the relevant literature, this study articulates and describes in depth a set of five competencies for the sustainability field and suggests potentially effective pedagogies for teaching them. Findings in the areas of both competencies and pedagogies for sustainability education imply the benefits of integrative, active, collaborative, and applied approaches to curriculum development and teaching—approaches that directly involve students in learning and practicing transdisciplinary engagement in service to sustainability. The Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability Studies program at Colorado Mountain College serves as an example of how the articulated competency framework is being applied to evaluate and enhance curriculum and learning outcomes. The competency framework and pedagogical recommendations offered may also serve as roadmaps for educators at other institutions who prepare graduates to address the pressing challenges of sustainability evident in communities, nations, and the world.
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Keywords:
sustainability competencies; sustainability pedagogies; sustainability studies; sustainability studies program development; sustainability education; sustainability studies curriculum development; transdisciplinary education; sustainability learning outcomes
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MDPI and ACS Style
Evans, T.L. Competencies and Pedagogies for Sustainability Education: A Roadmap for Sustainability Studies Program Development in Colleges and Universities. Sustainability 2019, 11, 5526. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195526
AMA Style
Evans TL. Competencies and Pedagogies for Sustainability Education: A Roadmap for Sustainability Studies Program Development in Colleges and Universities. Sustainability. 2019; 11(19):5526. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195526
Chicago/Turabian StyleEvans, Tina L. 2019. "Competencies and Pedagogies for Sustainability Education: A Roadmap for Sustainability Studies Program Development in Colleges and Universities" Sustainability 11, no. 19: 5526. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195526
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