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Three Academics’ Narratives in Transforming Curriculum for Education for Sustainable Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2013

Fiona Wahr ,
Jenny Underwood ,
Luise Adams  and
Verity Prideaux
Fiona Wahr*
Affiliation:
School of Education, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Jenny Underwood
Affiliation:
School of Fashion & Textiles, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Luise Adams
Affiliation:
School of Fashion & Textiles, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Verity Prideaux
Affiliation:
School of Fashion & Textiles, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Fiona Wahr, School of Education, RMIT University, PO Box 71, Bundoora VIC 3083, Australia. Email: s9903771@student.rmit.edu.au
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Abstract

The expectation is that higher education curricula which purports to incorporate education for sustainable development (ESD) supports university graduates in becoming more sustainable. It would then follow that if academics are to offer such curricula they need to be adequately equipped with the motivations, knowledge and skills to teach it. However, the extent to which ESD has resulted in genuine higher education curriculum change, and academic readiness for it, is debatable. As such, this article presents the academic experiences of three of the authors involved in a curriculum change process to embed ESD within a Bachelor of Arts (Textile Design) degree program. Individual post-project narratives of our experiences are summarised and thematically analysed. The analysis reveals these experiences as disorienting, yet subsequently transformative. The findings suggest promoting academics’ transformative learning should be a focus of ESD curriculum change efforts. The findings support commitment to long-term, facilitated professional development to achieve transformative change; an often espoused, yet under-reported initiative.

Keywords

education for sustainable developmentsustainabilitytransformative learninghigher educationcurriculum changeprofessional developmentnarrative
Type
Feature Articles
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 29 , Issue 1: Creating our next courageous steps , July 2013 , pp. 97 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013 

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