Advancing Assessment Thinking in Education for Sustainable Development with a Focus on Significant Learning Processes
- Shumba, Overson, Mandikonza, Caleb, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Authors: Shumba, Overson , Mandikonza, Caleb , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435209 , vital:73138 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This position paper is developed in the context of the Fundisa [Teaching] for Change teacher education programme (www.fundisaforchange.co.za), as well as the Sustainability Starts with Teachers programmes for teacher education (www. sustainabilityteachers.org/course). Fundisa for Change is a South African programme while Sustainability Starts with Teachers is a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) programme for teacher educators. Both these programmes seek to enhance transformative environments and sustainability education processes in teacher education. They have a strategic focus on situated and transformative learning approaches for learners to learn to ‘know the world’ and practice ‘being in the world’. The real world provides the context for learning and assessment for learning, but not enough is known about assessment of such learning.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Shumba, Overson , Mandikonza, Caleb , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435209 , vital:73138 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This position paper is developed in the context of the Fundisa [Teaching] for Change teacher education programme (www.fundisaforchange.co.za), as well as the Sustainability Starts with Teachers programmes for teacher education (www. sustainabilityteachers.org/course). Fundisa for Change is a South African programme while Sustainability Starts with Teachers is a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) programme for teacher educators. Both these programmes seek to enhance transformative environments and sustainability education processes in teacher education. They have a strategic focus on situated and transformative learning approaches for learners to learn to ‘know the world’ and practice ‘being in the world’. The real world provides the context for learning and assessment for learning, but not enough is known about assessment of such learning.
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Advancing urban ecology in the global south: emerging themes and future research directions
- du Toit, Marie J, Shackleton, Charlie M, Cilliers, Sarel S, Davoren, Elandre
- Authors: du Toit, Marie J , Shackleton, Charlie M , Cilliers, Sarel S , Davoren, Elandre
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433713 , vital:72996 , ISBN 978-3-030-67650-6 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67650-6_17
- Description: The rapid growth in urban ecological research and application has been led by countries of the Global North, particularly Europe and the USA, albeit not restricted to them. However, this belies that most urban growth is currently in the Global South, with the differential set to increase in the future. Thus, there is an imbalance between where the bulk of urban ecological research and framings are developed and where the majority of urban citizens globally live, work and seek to meet their aspirations. This chapter illustrates how this book addressed the identified research gaps in the Global South. We also highlight dominant recurring themes in Global South research discourse and importantly, where future research efforts over the next decade should be focussed. Eight themes are considered, namely: inequality; informality; urban–rural links; small and medium-sized towns and cities; urban green infrastructure, biodiversity and ecosystem services; understanding and accommodating multiple worldviews of urban nature; human health and urban nature; and specific research approaches.
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- Authors: du Toit, Marie J , Shackleton, Charlie M , Cilliers, Sarel S , Davoren, Elandre
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433713 , vital:72996 , ISBN 978-3-030-67650-6 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67650-6_17
- Description: The rapid growth in urban ecological research and application has been led by countries of the Global North, particularly Europe and the USA, albeit not restricted to them. However, this belies that most urban growth is currently in the Global South, with the differential set to increase in the future. Thus, there is an imbalance between where the bulk of urban ecological research and framings are developed and where the majority of urban citizens globally live, work and seek to meet their aspirations. This chapter illustrates how this book addressed the identified research gaps in the Global South. We also highlight dominant recurring themes in Global South research discourse and importantly, where future research efforts over the next decade should be focussed. Eight themes are considered, namely: inequality; informality; urban–rural links; small and medium-sized towns and cities; urban green infrastructure, biodiversity and ecosystem services; understanding and accommodating multiple worldviews of urban nature; human health and urban nature; and specific research approaches.
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An Examination of the Nexus between Environmental Knowledge and Environmental Learning Processes
- Chitsiga, Christina, Schudel, Ingrid J
- Authors: Chitsiga, Christina , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435086 , vital:73129 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: Previous chapters in this book have discussed the complexity of environmental content (see Schudel and Lotz-Sisitka, Chapter 2; Isaacs and Olvitt, Chapter 4) and Chapter 8 (Schudel) has highlighted the significance and key elements of active and critical approaches to learning. The primary purpose of this chapter is to draw these two approaches together; that is, to explore the nexus of environmental content and environmental learning processes.
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- Authors: Chitsiga, Christina , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435086 , vital:73129 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: Previous chapters in this book have discussed the complexity of environmental content (see Schudel and Lotz-Sisitka, Chapter 2; Isaacs and Olvitt, Chapter 4) and Chapter 8 (Schudel) has highlighted the significance and key elements of active and critical approaches to learning. The primary purpose of this chapter is to draw these two approaches together; that is, to explore the nexus of environmental content and environmental learning processes.
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An Exploration of what Grade 7 Natural Sciences Teachers Know, Believe and Say about Biodiversity and the Teaching of Biodiversity
- Isaacs, Dorelle, Olvitt, Lausanne L
- Authors: Isaacs, Dorelle , Olvitt, Lausanne L
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435153 , vital:73134 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This chapter shares the findings of a small-scale qualitative research project that investigated what three Grade 7 Natural Sciences teachers know, believe and say about biodiversity (Isaacs 2016). The study was sparked by the researcher’s interest in environmental learning and the importance of school curricula in preparing children to take care of their local and global environments. Biodiversity refers to Earth’s rich variety of plants and animals. It has been described as ‘the complex web of life’that includes diversity at genetic, species and ecosystem levels (Gurr et al. 2012: 4). The concept came to prominence in 1992 when the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity defined biological diversity as ‘the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems’(United Nations 1992: Article 2).
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- Authors: Isaacs, Dorelle , Olvitt, Lausanne L
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435153 , vital:73134 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This chapter shares the findings of a small-scale qualitative research project that investigated what three Grade 7 Natural Sciences teachers know, believe and say about biodiversity (Isaacs 2016). The study was sparked by the researcher’s interest in environmental learning and the importance of school curricula in preparing children to take care of their local and global environments. Biodiversity refers to Earth’s rich variety of plants and animals. It has been described as ‘the complex web of life’that includes diversity at genetic, species and ecosystem levels (Gurr et al. 2012: 4). The concept came to prominence in 1992 when the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity defined biological diversity as ‘the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems’(United Nations 1992: Article 2).
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Assisting Learners to Take Up Agency in Problem-Solving Activities
- Lambrechts, Therese, O’Donoghue, Rob B, Schudel, Ingrid J
- Authors: Lambrechts, Therese , O’Donoghue, Rob B , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435099 , vital:73130 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: The study was informed by an expansion of the ‘design research’ reported by McKenny and Reeves (2012) and it developed as a collaborative design process similar to that described by Voogt, Laferriere, Breuleux, Itow, Hickey and McKenny (2015). Voogt et al. approached design research as a successive and developing process of formative work by participants working together to design and assess a learning programme. In our case the design work was undertaken within a course-supported process of ESD design innovation among participating teachers and subject advisors.
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- Authors: Lambrechts, Therese , O’Donoghue, Rob B , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435099 , vital:73130 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: The study was informed by an expansion of the ‘design research’ reported by McKenny and Reeves (2012) and it developed as a collaborative design process similar to that described by Voogt, Laferriere, Breuleux, Itow, Hickey and McKenny (2015). Voogt et al. approached design research as a successive and developing process of formative work by participants working together to design and assess a learning programme. In our case the design work was undertaken within a course-supported process of ESD design innovation among participating teachers and subject advisors.
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Developing Teacher Capabilities and Valued Functionings in Professional Learning Communities: Focus on Environmental Content Knowledge in Natural Sciences
- Thomas, Kgomotso, Songqwaru, Zintle
- Authors: Thomas, Kgomotso , Songqwaru, Zintle
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435234 , vital:73140 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This study explored how professional learning communities can contribute to the development of teachers’ capabilities and the achievement of their valued functionings related to teaching environmental content knowledge in the ‘Life and Living’ strand of Grade 8 Natural Sciences (NS). This is in the context of the Natural Sciences Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) which is strongly content-referenced and is committed to learning approaches that are active and critical, and to environment and sustainability content knowledge (Lotz-Sisitka 2011). The integration of environmental education in the school’s curriculum is of significance as it addresses global and local environmental issues by preparing and actively involving learners in the planning, improvement and protection of the environment for the future (Unesco 2012). The successful implementation of CAPS requires that teachers attain necessary subject content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for the integration of environment and sustainability concerns into the South African National Curriculum (Lotz-Sisitka 2011). Teachers are also required to have the requisite skills to implement pedagogical approaches that support environmental education.
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- Authors: Thomas, Kgomotso , Songqwaru, Zintle
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435234 , vital:73140 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This study explored how professional learning communities can contribute to the development of teachers’ capabilities and the achievement of their valued functionings related to teaching environmental content knowledge in the ‘Life and Living’ strand of Grade 8 Natural Sciences (NS). This is in the context of the Natural Sciences Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) which is strongly content-referenced and is committed to learning approaches that are active and critical, and to environment and sustainability content knowledge (Lotz-Sisitka 2011). The integration of environmental education in the school’s curriculum is of significance as it addresses global and local environmental issues by preparing and actively involving learners in the planning, improvement and protection of the environment for the future (Unesco 2012). The successful implementation of CAPS requires that teachers attain necessary subject content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for the integration of environment and sustainability concerns into the South African National Curriculum (Lotz-Sisitka 2011). Teachers are also required to have the requisite skills to implement pedagogical approaches that support environmental education.
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Development and education that sustain: Expanding value chains in agriculture, mining and higher education in southern Africa
- Rosenberg, Eureta, Shumba, Overson, Ngoma, Justine, Cobban, Leigh
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Shumba, Overson , Ngoma, Justine , Cobban, Leigh
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435811 , vital:73203 , ISBN 978-3-030-74693-3 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74693-3_16
- Description: Deep sustainability, as defined in this chapter, requires a rad-ical conceptual shift, and aligned practical strategies for cre-ating livelihoods and value in new ways. This chapter ex-plores an expanded value chain approach through which in-dustries, communities and higher education institutions in Af-rica can transition towards development that sustains eco-systems and society. An analysis is presented, based on ex-amples from agriculture and mining, two of the most signifi-cant industries on the continent, as well as higher education. The analysis is done by applying key concepts to existing case studies from Zambia and South Africa, and then explor-ing implications for higher education institutions. The chapter concludes that possibilities for more sustainable and shared value creation are already evident in the selected industries, but achieving the shifts required is challenging. Higher edu-cation emerges as having a very significant role to play, through new curriculum and research directions, with greater local relevance, to enable graduates and industries to critical-ly and creatively engage with the challenges on the road to greater sustainability. In this way, higher education institu-tions would become partners in expanded, shared value cre-ation towards deep sustainability.
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- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Shumba, Overson , Ngoma, Justine , Cobban, Leigh
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435811 , vital:73203 , ISBN 978-3-030-74693-3 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74693-3_16
- Description: Deep sustainability, as defined in this chapter, requires a rad-ical conceptual shift, and aligned practical strategies for cre-ating livelihoods and value in new ways. This chapter ex-plores an expanded value chain approach through which in-dustries, communities and higher education institutions in Af-rica can transition towards development that sustains eco-systems and society. An analysis is presented, based on ex-amples from agriculture and mining, two of the most signifi-cant industries on the continent, as well as higher education. The analysis is done by applying key concepts to existing case studies from Zambia and South Africa, and then explor-ing implications for higher education institutions. The chapter concludes that possibilities for more sustainable and shared value creation are already evident in the selected industries, but achieving the shifts required is challenging. Higher edu-cation emerges as having a very significant role to play, through new curriculum and research directions, with greater local relevance, to enable graduates and industries to critical-ly and creatively engage with the challenges on the road to greater sustainability. In this way, higher education institu-tions would become partners in expanded, shared value cre-ation towards deep sustainability.
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Ecosystem provisioning services in Global South cities
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433764 , vital:72999 , ISBN 978-3-030-67650-6 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67650-6_8
- Description: All of humankind, urban and rural, rich and poor and whether living in the Global South or the Global North rely to some degree on provisioning ecosystem services such as food, water, timber, fibre and medicinal products. However, in contrast to the Global North the contextual forces shaping many urban livelihoods in the Global South necessitate that many people access the needed provisioning services themselves by directly harvesting or collecting from the immediate, local urban and peri-urban environments, or purchasing them from those who do. Thus, the need for and local availability of provisioning services has profound implications for not only the quality of urban livelihoods, but also the urban ecology in relation to extent and use of urban green infrastructure from where the provisioning services are sourced and the species within them. This chapter summarises compelling evidence from throughout the Global South regarding the extent of use of locally sourced provisioning services by urban communities. It shows that Global South contexts prompt the use of a diverse array of resource types and hundreds of different species in specific settings, much greater than found in Global North cities.
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- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433764 , vital:72999 , ISBN 978-3-030-67650-6 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67650-6_8
- Description: All of humankind, urban and rural, rich and poor and whether living in the Global South or the Global North rely to some degree on provisioning ecosystem services such as food, water, timber, fibre and medicinal products. However, in contrast to the Global North the contextual forces shaping many urban livelihoods in the Global South necessitate that many people access the needed provisioning services themselves by directly harvesting or collecting from the immediate, local urban and peri-urban environments, or purchasing them from those who do. Thus, the need for and local availability of provisioning services has profound implications for not only the quality of urban livelihoods, but also the urban ecology in relation to extent and use of urban green infrastructure from where the provisioning services are sourced and the species within them. This chapter summarises compelling evidence from throughout the Global South regarding the extent of use of locally sourced provisioning services by urban communities. It shows that Global South contexts prompt the use of a diverse array of resource types and hundreds of different species in specific settings, much greater than found in Global North cities.
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Emergent Curriculum and Sustainability Competencies in Environmental Learning
- Mkhabela, Antonia T, Schudel, Ingrid J
- Authors: Mkhabela, Antonia T , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435112 , vital:73131 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This study was influenced by the South African National Diagnostic Report on Learner Performance in the 2012 final examinations, which highlighted learner struggles with ‘higher order thinking skills such as application, problem solving, critical thinking, analysis and evaluation’ (South Africa DBE 2013: 16). These are skills typically associated with essay questions in examinations. Another issue reported in the abovementioned document was poorly answered essay questions on Environmental Studies, ‘giving the impression that this topic, which is scheduled towards the end of the year, was neglected by both teachers and learners’ (p. 121). The problem of weak higher order thinking skills, compounded by difficulty with Environmental Studies, informed part of the research interest for this study: namely, how higher order thinking is engaged when reflecting on environmental issues in Life Sciences classrooms (specifically required for the Environmental Studies topic of ‘human impact’).
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- Authors: Mkhabela, Antonia T , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435112 , vital:73131 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This study was influenced by the South African National Diagnostic Report on Learner Performance in the 2012 final examinations, which highlighted learner struggles with ‘higher order thinking skills such as application, problem solving, critical thinking, analysis and evaluation’ (South Africa DBE 2013: 16). These are skills typically associated with essay questions in examinations. Another issue reported in the abovementioned document was poorly answered essay questions on Environmental Studies, ‘giving the impression that this topic, which is scheduled towards the end of the year, was neglected by both teachers and learners’ (p. 121). The problem of weak higher order thinking skills, compounded by difficulty with Environmental Studies, informed part of the research interest for this study: namely, how higher order thinking is engaged when reflecting on environmental issues in Life Sciences classrooms (specifically required for the Environmental Studies topic of ‘human impact’).
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Engaging Education for Sustainable Development as Quality Education in the Fundisa for Change Programme
- Schudel, Ingrid J, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Songqwaru, Zintle, Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka
- Authors: Schudel, Ingrid J , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Songqwaru, Zintle , Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435031 , vital:73125 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: Since the Industrial Revolution began in the late 18th century, development has provided humankind with numerous benefits, such as modern medicine, housing, transport and communication systems. However, progress and the contemporary model of development has also brought its problems, as non-renewable resources have been overextracted, and large volumes of waste created, resulting in pollution that has impacted on the health of people and the environment. Most people are now aware that human actions are changing the climate in unpredictable ways. Massive over-consumption of resources and continued environmental degradation are undermining the natural systems we depend on, impacting most severely on the poor and marginalised people in our society. Societies around the world must adapt and change their practices for a low-carbon, more sustainable future.
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- Authors: Schudel, Ingrid J , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Songqwaru, Zintle , Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435031 , vital:73125 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: Since the Industrial Revolution began in the late 18th century, development has provided humankind with numerous benefits, such as modern medicine, housing, transport and communication systems. However, progress and the contemporary model of development has also brought its problems, as non-renewable resources have been overextracted, and large volumes of waste created, resulting in pollution that has impacted on the health of people and the environment. Most people are now aware that human actions are changing the climate in unpredictable ways. Massive over-consumption of resources and continued environmental degradation are undermining the natural systems we depend on, impacting most severely on the poor and marginalised people in our society. Societies around the world must adapt and change their practices for a low-carbon, more sustainable future.
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Enhancing Capabilities of Life Sciences Teachers: Professional Development, Conversion Factors and Functionings in Teachers’ Professional Learning Communities
- Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Authors: Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435220 , vital:73139 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: South Africa is rich in biodiversity and is home to about 95 000 known species (South Africa DEA 2014; SANBI 2019). Yet, compared to other southern African countries, the country has a high number of threatened species (Driver et al. 2012). Approximately 12 million South Africans depend on the natural environment to meet their needs. Among other factors, overharvesting of biological resources is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss in the country (South Africa DEA 2014; SANBI 2019). In line with assessment of biodiversity reports, Unesco (2018) notes that biodiversity loss is a global phenomenon. Emphasis in these reports is that over 7 billion people in the world rely on biodiversity to maintain and enhance their well-being. The realisation of biodiversity conservation as a global concern has resulted in various international conventions, policies, legislation and educational programmes that foreground biodiversity (Shava and Schudel 2013). Aligned with international trends, South Africa also has national policies and legislation aimed at protecting biodiversity. Among these is the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act which introduces a legal framework for governing sustainable development in the country, and includes a clause for all training and education programmes to integrate education for sustainable development (RSA 1998). Thus, like many other countries in the world, South Africa has incorporated biodiversity components in its ongoing curriculum reforms including in the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435220 , vital:73139 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: South Africa is rich in biodiversity and is home to about 95 000 known species (South Africa DEA 2014; SANBI 2019). Yet, compared to other southern African countries, the country has a high number of threatened species (Driver et al. 2012). Approximately 12 million South Africans depend on the natural environment to meet their needs. Among other factors, overharvesting of biological resources is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss in the country (South Africa DEA 2014; SANBI 2019). In line with assessment of biodiversity reports, Unesco (2018) notes that biodiversity loss is a global phenomenon. Emphasis in these reports is that over 7 billion people in the world rely on biodiversity to maintain and enhance their well-being. The realisation of biodiversity conservation as a global concern has resulted in various international conventions, policies, legislation and educational programmes that foreground biodiversity (Shava and Schudel 2013). Aligned with international trends, South Africa also has national policies and legislation aimed at protecting biodiversity. Among these is the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act which introduces a legal framework for governing sustainable development in the country, and includes a clause for all training and education programmes to integrate education for sustainable development (RSA 1998). Thus, like many other countries in the world, South Africa has incorporated biodiversity components in its ongoing curriculum reforms including in the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).
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Environmental ethics: A sourcebook for educators
- Jickling, Bob, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Olvitt, Lausanne L, O’Donoghue, Rob B, Schudel, Ingrid J, McGarry, Dylan K, Niblett, Blair
- Authors: Jickling, Bob , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Olvitt, Lausanne L , O’Donoghue, Rob B , Schudel, Ingrid J , McGarry, Dylan K , Niblett, Blair
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435834 , vital:73205 , ISBN 978-1991201287 , https://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Ethics-Sourcebook-Bob-Jickling/dp/1991201281
- Description: This well-constructed, and highly original, sourcebook inte-grates educational materials for teaching environmental eth-ics with theoretical reflections. The book is set to contribute immensely to its aim of taking ethics out of philosophy de-partments and putting it into the streets, into villages, and on the Earth—to make ethics an everyday activity, not some-thing left to experts and specialists. Context-based activities are presented in almost every chapter. While it acknowledg-es foundational theories in environmental ethics, and the work that they continue to do, it wholeheartedly embraces a growing body of literature that emphasises contextual, pro-cess-oriented, and place-based approaches to ethical reflec-tion, deliberation, and action. It walks on the ground and isn’t afraid to get a little dirty or to seek joy in earthly relationships. And it ultimately breaks with much Western academic tradi-tion by framing “ethics in a storied world”, thus making room to move beyond Euro-American perspectives in environmen-tal issues. This work will be of interest to school teachers and other non-formal and informal educators, teacher educators, college instructors, university professors, and other profes-sionals who wish to bring environmental ethics to the fore-front of their pedagogical practices.
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- Authors: Jickling, Bob , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Olvitt, Lausanne L , O’Donoghue, Rob B , Schudel, Ingrid J , McGarry, Dylan K , Niblett, Blair
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435834 , vital:73205 , ISBN 978-1991201287 , https://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Ethics-Sourcebook-Bob-Jickling/dp/1991201281
- Description: This well-constructed, and highly original, sourcebook inte-grates educational materials for teaching environmental eth-ics with theoretical reflections. The book is set to contribute immensely to its aim of taking ethics out of philosophy de-partments and putting it into the streets, into villages, and on the Earth—to make ethics an everyday activity, not some-thing left to experts and specialists. Context-based activities are presented in almost every chapter. While it acknowledg-es foundational theories in environmental ethics, and the work that they continue to do, it wholeheartedly embraces a growing body of literature that emphasises contextual, pro-cess-oriented, and place-based approaches to ethical reflec-tion, deliberation, and action. It walks on the ground and isn’t afraid to get a little dirty or to seek joy in earthly relationships. And it ultimately breaks with much Western academic tradi-tion by framing “ethics in a storied world”, thus making room to move beyond Euro-American perspectives in environmen-tal issues. This work will be of interest to school teachers and other non-formal and informal educators, teacher educators, college instructors, university professors, and other profes-sionals who wish to bring environmental ethics to the fore-front of their pedagogical practices.
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Formative Assessment for Quality Environmental Learning in Natural Sciences Classrooms
- Mgoqi, Nomvuyo, Schudel, Ingrid J
- Authors: Mgoqi, Nomvuyo , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435127 , vital:73132 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: The study that informs this chapter aimed at exploring how teachers used formative assessment strategies to support higher order thinking in environmental topics taught in Natural Sciences classrooms (Mgoqi 2019). Higher order thinking is used widely by educational curriculum developers and assessment experts to design test items that measure a variety of thinking skills (Haladyna 2004). For example, the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) Natural Sciences developers have framed low, middle and high order cognitive levels for guiding classroom assessment (South Africa DBE 2011). These levels describe the way in which learners are expected to work with knowledge as follows: knowing (low order); understanding and applying (medium order); and evaluating, analysing and synthesising (high order). These cognitive levels are closely linked to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning which Zohar and Dori (2003) used to describe higher order thinking as analysing, evaluating and creating. These latter three levels build on the lower order thinking levels of remembering, understanding and applying. These higher order thinking skills are important for environmental learning which promotes ‘critical thinking, understanding complex systems, imagining future scenarios, and making decisions in a participatory and collaborative way’ (Unesco 2014: 33). In this chapter, a revised Bloom’s Taxonomy as proposed by Krathwohl (2002) is discussed and used as a lens to review the cognitive levels evident in the activities planned and implemented by teachers.
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- Authors: Mgoqi, Nomvuyo , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435127 , vital:73132 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: The study that informs this chapter aimed at exploring how teachers used formative assessment strategies to support higher order thinking in environmental topics taught in Natural Sciences classrooms (Mgoqi 2019). Higher order thinking is used widely by educational curriculum developers and assessment experts to design test items that measure a variety of thinking skills (Haladyna 2004). For example, the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) Natural Sciences developers have framed low, middle and high order cognitive levels for guiding classroom assessment (South Africa DBE 2011). These levels describe the way in which learners are expected to work with knowledge as follows: knowing (low order); understanding and applying (medium order); and evaluating, analysing and synthesising (high order). These cognitive levels are closely linked to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning which Zohar and Dori (2003) used to describe higher order thinking as analysing, evaluating and creating. These latter three levels build on the lower order thinking levels of remembering, understanding and applying. These higher order thinking skills are important for environmental learning which promotes ‘critical thinking, understanding complex systems, imagining future scenarios, and making decisions in a participatory and collaborative way’ (Unesco 2014: 33). In this chapter, a revised Bloom’s Taxonomy as proposed by Krathwohl (2002) is discussed and used as a lens to review the cognitive levels evident in the activities planned and implemented by teachers.
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Futures analysis
- Hichert, Tanya, Biggs, Reinette, de Vos, Alta
- Authors: Hichert, Tanya , Biggs, Reinette , de Vos, Alta
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433871 , vital:73006 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
- Description: Futures analysis methods can help people to think constructively and systematically about the future and advance our understanding of change and uncertainty in complex social-ecological systems (SES). This is important because there is not one single predictable future but multiple ones, depending on the complex, unpredictable interplays and interactions of actors, institutions, ecological processes and other elements of the system and its dynamics. Actively developing ideas, images and/or stories about different futures can enable us to make different choices and take different actions in the present in relation to, for example, risk mitigation, adaptation, resource allocation and strategy development, which can help build more sustainable and just futures.
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- Authors: Hichert, Tanya , Biggs, Reinette , de Vos, Alta
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433871 , vital:73006 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
- Description: Futures analysis methods can help people to think constructively and systematically about the future and advance our understanding of change and uncertainty in complex social-ecological systems (SES). This is important because there is not one single predictable future but multiple ones, depending on the complex, unpredictable interplays and interactions of actors, institutions, ecological processes and other elements of the system and its dynamics. Actively developing ideas, images and/or stories about different futures can enable us to make different choices and take different actions in the present in relation to, for example, risk mitigation, adaptation, resource allocation and strategy development, which can help build more sustainable and just futures.
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Inclusion as social justice: Nancy Fraser’s theory in the South African context
- Musara, Ellison, Grant, Carolyn, Vorster, Jo-Anne E
- Authors: Musara, Ellison , Grant, Carolyn , Vorster, Jo-Anne E
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/453493 , vital:75258 , ISBN 978-3-030-35858-7 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35858-7_107
- Description: Current research suggests that the meaning of inclusion and social justice is still widely contested despite the seeming global acceptance of these educational reforms in most nations. While inclusion and social justice policies are now prevalent in many countries, these concepts bear discussion because they remain elusive and thus subject to numerous interpretations. This chapter reports on conceptualizations of inclusion and social justice in the South African context by authors who live and work in South Africa. They critically examine the concept of inclusion using American critical theorist-feminist Nancy Fraser’s social justice framework. The authors demonstrate how this substantive theory of justice usefully provides conceptual tools for understanding inequalities and inequities in education. An analysis is presented of inclusion as social justice and demonstrates what it looks like in the real-life practice of a South African case. Educators will find conceptual tools aimed at creating meaningful interventions in the areas of inclusion, equity, and social justice that support diverse learners with wide-ranging needs.
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- Authors: Musara, Ellison , Grant, Carolyn , Vorster, Jo-Anne E
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/453493 , vital:75258 , ISBN 978-3-030-35858-7 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35858-7_107
- Description: Current research suggests that the meaning of inclusion and social justice is still widely contested despite the seeming global acceptance of these educational reforms in most nations. While inclusion and social justice policies are now prevalent in many countries, these concepts bear discussion because they remain elusive and thus subject to numerous interpretations. This chapter reports on conceptualizations of inclusion and social justice in the South African context by authors who live and work in South Africa. They critically examine the concept of inclusion using American critical theorist-feminist Nancy Fraser’s social justice framework. The authors demonstrate how this substantive theory of justice usefully provides conceptual tools for understanding inequalities and inequities in education. An analysis is presented of inclusion as social justice and demonstrates what it looks like in the real-life practice of a South African case. Educators will find conceptual tools aimed at creating meaningful interventions in the areas of inclusion, equity, and social justice that support diverse learners with wide-ranging needs.
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Interviews and surveys
- Shackleton, Sheona E, Bezerra, Joana C, Cockburn, Jessica J, Reed, Maureen G, Abu, Razak
- Authors: Shackleton, Sheona E , Bezerra, Joana C , Cockburn, Jessica J , Reed, Maureen G , Abu, Razak
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433914 , vital:73009 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
- Description: This chapter is closely related to the following approaches and methods in this handbook: systems scoping (Chapter 5), participatory data collection (Chapter 8), facilitated dialogues (Chapter 9), futures analysis (Chapter 10), qualitative content analysis (Chapter 19), comparative case study analysis (Chapter 20), institutional analysis (Chapter 22), network analysis (Chapter 23), spatial mapping and analysis (Chapter 24), historical assessment (Chapter 25), and livelihood and vulnerability analysis (Chapter 32).
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- Authors: Shackleton, Sheona E , Bezerra, Joana C , Cockburn, Jessica J , Reed, Maureen G , Abu, Razak
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433914 , vital:73009 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
- Description: This chapter is closely related to the following approaches and methods in this handbook: systems scoping (Chapter 5), participatory data collection (Chapter 8), facilitated dialogues (Chapter 9), futures analysis (Chapter 10), qualitative content analysis (Chapter 19), comparative case study analysis (Chapter 20), institutional analysis (Chapter 22), network analysis (Chapter 23), spatial mapping and analysis (Chapter 24), historical assessment (Chapter 25), and livelihood and vulnerability analysis (Chapter 32).
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Investigating the Nature of Biodiversity Knowledge in Natural Sciences Curriculum and Textbooks
- Mmekwa, Makwena, Schudel, Ingrid J
- Authors: Mmekwa, Makwena , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435060 , vital:73127 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: In 1992, the international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) emphasised biodiversity as a measure for sustainabil-ity and recognised communication, education and public awareness as important for the successful implementation of the Convention’s aims (CBD 1992). In 2002, the United Na-tions Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014) included biodiversity as one of its key priorities (Unesco 2005). Later, Unesco’s (2014) Global Action Plan on Education for Sustainable Development highlighted biodiver-sity as ‘critical content’, to be included in national curricula for holistic and transformational education. In 2015, the United Nations included a concern for biodiversity in the Sustainable Development Goals, making a commitment that: We recog-nise that social and economic development depends on the sustainable management of our planet’s natural resources. We are therefore determined to conserve and sustainably use oceans and seas, freshwater resources, as well as for-ests, mountains and dry lands and to protect biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife. (United Nations 2015: 13).
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- Authors: Mmekwa, Makwena , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435060 , vital:73127 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: In 1992, the international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) emphasised biodiversity as a measure for sustainabil-ity and recognised communication, education and public awareness as important for the successful implementation of the Convention’s aims (CBD 1992). In 2002, the United Na-tions Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014) included biodiversity as one of its key priorities (Unesco 2005). Later, Unesco’s (2014) Global Action Plan on Education for Sustainable Development highlighted biodiver-sity as ‘critical content’, to be included in national curricula for holistic and transformational education. In 2015, the United Nations included a concern for biodiversity in the Sustainable Development Goals, making a commitment that: We recog-nise that social and economic development depends on the sustainable management of our planet’s natural resources. We are therefore determined to conserve and sustainably use oceans and seas, freshwater resources, as well as for-ests, mountains and dry lands and to protect biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife. (United Nations 2015: 13).
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Livelihood and vulnerability analysis
- Shackleton, Charlie M, Schreckenberg, Kate, Shackleton, Sheona E, Luckert, Marty
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Schreckenberg, Kate , Shackleton, Sheona E , Luckert, Marty
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433811 , vital:73002 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
- Description: Livelihood analysis and vulnerability analysis are integrative approaches and consequently draw on a variety of methods to collect and analyse primary and secondary data covered in other chapters. Core ones include systems scoping (Chapter 5), ecological field data collection (Chapter 6), interviews and surveys (Chapter 7), participatory data collection (Chapter 8), action research (Chapter 15), statistical analysis (Chapter 18), qualitative content analysis (Chapter 19), comparative case study analysis (Chapter 20), institutional analysis (Chapter 22) and spatial mapping and analysis (Chapter 24).
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- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Schreckenberg, Kate , Shackleton, Sheona E , Luckert, Marty
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433811 , vital:73002 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
- Description: Livelihood analysis and vulnerability analysis are integrative approaches and consequently draw on a variety of methods to collect and analyse primary and secondary data covered in other chapters. Core ones include systems scoping (Chapter 5), ecological field data collection (Chapter 6), interviews and surveys (Chapter 7), participatory data collection (Chapter 8), action research (Chapter 15), statistical analysis (Chapter 18), qualitative content analysis (Chapter 19), comparative case study analysis (Chapter 20), institutional analysis (Chapter 22) and spatial mapping and analysis (Chapter 24).
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Making sense of climate change in a national curriculum
- Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Mandikonza, Caleb, Misser, Shanu, Thomas, Kgomotso
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Mandikonza, Caleb , Misser, Shanu , Thomas, Kgomotso
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435193 , vital:73137 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This chapter draws on three recent South African reviews of climate change education that have been undertaken by the authors: one in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in 2016 which produced a national case study on Climate Change Education in South Africa (Lotz-Sisitka and Mandikonza 2016); another that was undertaken for the Department of Environmental Affairs in 2018 for the Third National Communication on Climate Change for the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (Lotz-Sisitka et al. 2018); 1 and a more recent review undertaken in the context of a research seminar series hosted by Rhodes University focusing on climate change education in South Africa (Lotz-Sisitka 2021). The chapter also draws on perspectives being developed in the Fundisa for Change Keep it Cool Project (VVOB/GreenMatter 2021) and from wider studies being undertaken for the international Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Change Education programme (McKenzie 2020).
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- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Mandikonza, Caleb , Misser, Shanu , Thomas, Kgomotso
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435193 , vital:73137 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This chapter draws on three recent South African reviews of climate change education that have been undertaken by the authors: one in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in 2016 which produced a national case study on Climate Change Education in South Africa (Lotz-Sisitka and Mandikonza 2016); another that was undertaken for the Department of Environmental Affairs in 2018 for the Third National Communication on Climate Change for the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (Lotz-Sisitka et al. 2018); 1 and a more recent review undertaken in the context of a research seminar series hosted by Rhodes University focusing on climate change education in South Africa (Lotz-Sisitka 2021). The chapter also draws on perspectives being developed in the Fundisa for Change Keep it Cool Project (VVOB/GreenMatter 2021) and from wider studies being undertaken for the international Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Change Education programme (McKenzie 2020).
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No size fits all: Design considerations for networked professional development in higher education
- Pallitt, Nicola, Gachago, Daniela, Bali, Maha
- Authors: Pallitt, Nicola , Gachago, Daniela , Bali, Maha
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/453520 , vital:75260 , ISBN 978-3-030-85241-2 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85241-2_4
- Description: This chapter develops a framework for design considerations that can be used to analyze, contrast, and design networked professional development (NPD) in higher education (HE) contexts. The framework was developed after reflecting on three professional development (PD) courses, each with facilitators who are academic developers across the African continent. Using a Collaborative Autoethnographic methodology, the three authors reflect on design considerations for different forms of blended and online PD courses, based on their experiences of designing and/or facilitating these interventions and with PD more broadly. We argue that course designs can be positioned along a range of dimensions, namely open/closed, structured/unstructured, facilitated/unfacilitated, certified/uncertified, with/without date commitments, homogenous versus autonomous learning path, content vs. process centric, serious vs. playful, and individual vs. collaborative. We discuss relationships between dimensions and learning theories (the more open dimensions speak to connectivist, while more structured courses follow social constructivist approaches). We also identify various tensions that arise in the design of NPD, such as between academic developers’ pedagogical advocacy vs. usefulness, need to maintain volunteerism without exploitation of affective labour, and struggle to create spaces for agency within institutional constraints.
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- Authors: Pallitt, Nicola , Gachago, Daniela , Bali, Maha
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/453520 , vital:75260 , ISBN 978-3-030-85241-2 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85241-2_4
- Description: This chapter develops a framework for design considerations that can be used to analyze, contrast, and design networked professional development (NPD) in higher education (HE) contexts. The framework was developed after reflecting on three professional development (PD) courses, each with facilitators who are academic developers across the African continent. Using a Collaborative Autoethnographic methodology, the three authors reflect on design considerations for different forms of blended and online PD courses, based on their experiences of designing and/or facilitating these interventions and with PD more broadly. We argue that course designs can be positioned along a range of dimensions, namely open/closed, structured/unstructured, facilitated/unfacilitated, certified/uncertified, with/without date commitments, homogenous versus autonomous learning path, content vs. process centric, serious vs. playful, and individual vs. collaborative. We discuss relationships between dimensions and learning theories (the more open dimensions speak to connectivist, while more structured courses follow social constructivist approaches). We also identify various tensions that arise in the design of NPD, such as between academic developers’ pedagogical advocacy vs. usefulness, need to maintain volunteerism without exploitation of affective labour, and struggle to create spaces for agency within institutional constraints.
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