Short Course Description
Course description
The global environmental crisis, which impacts quality of life, human health and well-being and endangers earth's life-support systems on which humanity depends, raises crucial questions regarding current education. It is widely agreed that this ecological crisis is a symptom of a deeper social and ethical crisis. Re-orienting modern society to function within ecological limits requires a change in perceptions and values as the basis for behavioral changes. Achieving this transformation is one of the major challenges of education ? the challenge of developing environmental citizenship based on environmental literacy. Environmental and sustainability education (ESE) is an educational approach which can fulfill this challenge ? it aims to empower learners toward social and environmental change.
Course focus: This course will focus on ESE as a holistic educational approach, from a theoretical and practical perspective. The course will address the conceptual and philosophical foundations of ESE, its aims and characteristics, and practical issues regarding its implementation and achievements. Insights and challenges that emerge from research in this young field will provide triggers for critical discussion and demonstrate the diversity and complexity of this field.
Course goal: This course aims to enlighten the participants about theoretical and applied aspects of ESE as a field which developed from necessity and is often regarded as the necessary coordinating theme for contemporary education.
The course combines lectures (enriched with audio-visuals), discussions, reading requirements and active learning. Participants will contribute (through peer-teaching) examples/case studies of ESE interventions or ESE research from different countries and through this the contextual aspect of ESE will be demonstrated. A fieldtrip will be conducted to educational sites which represent different types of formal and non-formal ESE settings in Israel.
Full Syllabus
