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Student-Facilitators as University Tutors: An Effective Approach to Sustainability Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2013

Thomas Sloan ,
Federico Davila  and
Eleanor Malbon
Thomas Sloan*
Affiliation:
Fenner School of Environment and Society, the Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Federico Davila
Affiliation:
Fenner School of Environment and Society, the Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Eleanor Malbon
Affiliation:
Fenner School of Environment and Society, the Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Mr Thomas Sloan, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU, Building 141, Linnaeus Way, Canberra, ACT 0200. Email: thomas.sloan@anu.edu.au
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Abstract

Higher education institutions are considered by many to be pivotal in shaping the next generation of thinkers and practitioners required to further work towards addressing the sustainability challenges faced by contemporary societies. The extent to which higher education has embraced this responsibility is debateable. Notwithstanding, this article reports upon our experience as three students employed as tutors in teaching sustainability to our undergraduate counterparts. Drawing upon our collective experience as both students and tutors within The Fenner School of Environment and Society of the Australian National University, we explore what makes student-facilitators part of an effective approach for sustainability education. Through this process, we describe some key practices that student-facilitators apply and which contribute to students’ understandings of sustainability. These key practices are: conceptualising what a tutorial should be; taking the position as a facilitator of discussion; using game-based activities; and the role that student-facilitators play in a community of social learning at the Fenner School. We conclude that the incorporation of student-facilitators in the teaching and learning of sustainability play a unique and significant role that should be valued, fostered and supported in higher education.

Keywords

sustainability educationstudent-facilitatorstransformative learninghigher education
Type
Feature Articles
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 29 , Issue 1: Creating our next courageous steps , July 2013 , pp. 80 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013 

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