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Sustainable development is not a novel concept. However, we continue with our unsustainable way of living. It is as though we cannot see our own part in the unsustainable system. Values, ethics and morals are connected to education and therefor education is in a key position to change the way we think and act for a sustainable future. Both education for sustainable development (ESD) and systems thinking are concepts connected to changes toward a sustainable future. However, they have proven to be conceptually problematic and are characterized by their complexity, making implementation more difficult. The purpose of this study is to discover whether it could be possible to interlace ESD and systems education to a strong and solid entirety in order to overcome the obstacles preventing the implementation of sustainability in education. This is done through a literature review in the fields of systems thinking and ESD. The literature review identifies two joint approaches that could be worth exploring more in order to develop an excellent instrument in the educational work toward sustainability.
Maria Hofman-Bergholm. Could Education for Sustainable Development Benefit from a Systems Thinking Approach? Systems 2018, 6, 43 .
AMA StyleMaria Hofman-Bergholm. Could Education for Sustainable Development Benefit from a Systems Thinking Approach? Systems. 2018; 6 (4):43.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaria Hofman-Bergholm. 2018. "Could Education for Sustainable Development Benefit from a Systems Thinking Approach?" Systems 6, no. 4: 43.
In numerous UN policy documents, a sustainable future through education is set in a key position; the UNESCO Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development (UNESCO, 2018) is no exception. Therefore, it is of great importance to examine and report how different UN member countries work towards the implementation of sustainability at all levels of education. This article is a review of recently published research in Finland, with a focus on sustainability in the educational system. Specifically, the article deals with teacher education, combined with theoretical research around sustainability and systems thinking, to find a pathway forward. The main finding is that higher education in Finland cannot guarantee that student teachers are prepared enough to teach about sustainability. This issue is discussed and addressed in the last part of the article.
Maria Hofman-Bergholm. Changes in Thoughts and Actions as Requirements for a Sustainable Future: A Review of Recent Research on the Finnish Educational System and Sustainable Development. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability 2018, 20, 19 -30.
AMA StyleMaria Hofman-Bergholm. Changes in Thoughts and Actions as Requirements for a Sustainable Future: A Review of Recent Research on the Finnish Educational System and Sustainable Development. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability. 2018; 20 (2):19-30.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaria Hofman-Bergholm. 2018. "Changes in Thoughts and Actions as Requirements for a Sustainable Future: A Review of Recent Research on the Finnish Educational System and Sustainable Development." Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability 20, no. 2: 19-30.
Sustainability is a complex concept including ecological, economic and social dimensions, which in turn involve several aspects that are interrelated in a complex way, such as cultural, health and political aspects. Systems thinking, which focuses on a system’s interrelated parts, could therefore help people understand the complexity of sustainability. The aim of this study is to analyse student teachers’ level of systems thinking regarding sustainability, especially the ecological dimension, and how they explain the relationship between species identification, biodiversity and sustainability. Nordic student teachers (N = 424) participated in a questionnaire and their open answers were content-analysed and categorised. The results indicate the student teachers’ low level of systems thinking regarding ecological sustainability. About a quarter of them (25.4%) had a basic level including interconnections (13.7%), additional feedback (8.9%) and also behavioural aspects (2.8%), but none of them reached an intermediate or advanced level. The low level of systems thinking could be explained by two main factors: (1) Systems thinking has not been used as an educational method of developing understanding of sustainability in teacher education programmes; and (2) systems thinking is also a result of life experiences; the older ones showing more systems thinking than the younger ones. Therefore, elementary forms of systems thinking should be an educational method already in primary education.
Irmeli Palmberg; Maria Hofman-Bergholm; Eila Jeronen; Eija Yli-Panula. Systems Thinking for Understanding Sustainability? Nordic Student Teachers’ Views on the Relationship between Species Identification, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development. Education Sciences 2017, 7, 72 .
AMA StyleIrmeli Palmberg, Maria Hofman-Bergholm, Eila Jeronen, Eija Yli-Panula. Systems Thinking for Understanding Sustainability? Nordic Student Teachers’ Views on the Relationship between Species Identification, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development. Education Sciences. 2017; 7 (3):72.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIrmeli Palmberg; Maria Hofman-Bergholm; Eila Jeronen; Eija Yli-Panula. 2017. "Systems Thinking for Understanding Sustainability? Nordic Student Teachers’ Views on the Relationship between Species Identification, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development." Education Sciences 7, no. 3: 72.
Sustainability is internationally often emphasized as an essential aim of higher education, but more as a principle than on the practical level. This is also obvious in the academic education of primary teachers in Finland. Therefore, it is a great challenge for Finnish teachers to include sustainability in their teaching and everyday life in schools. The aim of this article is to critically analyze why the implementation of sustainability in teacher education is so intricate and to discuss possible solutions with Finland—a country highly valued for its education—as an example. The article reports outcomes from educational policy documents and research on educational, philosophical, scientific and social aspects of sustainability, including evaluation of how sustainability has been implemented in schools and at universities, especially among teacher educators. In addition, the article builds on analyses of comprehensive university strategies and primary school teacher education programs. We found these reasons for the ignoring of sustainability in the Finnish teacher education: sustainability is in conflict with overall trends in society and politics, teacher education takes place at universities and is based on separate academic disciplines. Sustainability is also intricate because it is strongly connected to ecological literacy and it is value dependent. Universities need to overcome these obstacles and become forerunners in the sustainability process.
Lili-Ann Wolff; Pia Sjöblom; Maria Hofman-Bergholm; Irmeli Palmberg. High Performance Education Fails in Sustainability? —A Reflection on Finnish Primary Teacher Education. Education Sciences 2017, 7, 32 .
AMA StyleLili-Ann Wolff, Pia Sjöblom, Maria Hofman-Bergholm, Irmeli Palmberg. High Performance Education Fails in Sustainability? —A Reflection on Finnish Primary Teacher Education. Education Sciences. 2017; 7 (1):32.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLili-Ann Wolff; Pia Sjöblom; Maria Hofman-Bergholm; Irmeli Palmberg. 2017. "High Performance Education Fails in Sustainability? —A Reflection on Finnish Primary Teacher Education." Education Sciences 7, no. 1: 32.
This is a theoretical article to open the discussion of what an education for sustainable development is supposed to achieve and how teachers can help students to develop skills that might be needed in order to support a sustainable future. The focus in the article will be on education. As it is an article aiming to open this kind of discussion for further research, it summarizes a part of the research in the research area. This article presents the view that even as international organizations, states and governments advocate a change of the educational system to educate for sustainable development, researchers suspect that the change remains at a rhetorical level. If one wants to change the society and education, one of the cornerstones to start with is the education and training of already qualified teachers and teacher educators. This requires a change both in education and in teacher education.
Maria Hofman. What is an Education for Sustainable Development Supposed to Achieve— A Question of What, How and Why. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 2015, 9, 213 -228.
AMA StyleMaria Hofman. What is an Education for Sustainable Development Supposed to Achieve— A Question of What, How and Why. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development. 2015; 9 (2):213-228.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaria Hofman. 2015. "What is an Education for Sustainable Development Supposed to Achieve— A Question of What, How and Why." Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 9, no. 2: 213-228.