Scott, W. & Gough, S. (2004). Key Issues in
Sustainable Development and Learning: A Critical Review.
London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Pp. xiii + 254
$150 (Hardcover) ISBN 0-415-27649-7
Reviewed by Christopher Johnstone
University of Minnesota
November 4, 2005
William Scott and Stephen Gough’s edited volume of
readings and vignettes entitled Key Issues in Sustainable
Development and Learning is a compendium of seemingly every
major essay written on the topic of sustainable development,
including references to, or direct reproductions of, United
Nations documents related to the topic. Most of the essays and
vignettes deal with solely the topic of sustainable development,
and leave the reader wondering why the phrase
“learning” was included in the title. Several
vignettes and a few essays, however, describe how learning for
and about sustainable development might take place within the
context of formalized schooling, lifelong learning, and
organizational development.
Chapter 1’s readings revolve around Reading
1.1 authors Shwarz and Thompson’s “myths of
nature” which describe how humans typically organize their
thinking patterns about nature and ecosystems. Shwarz and
Thompson’s “myths” describe nature as either:
capricious, perverse/tolerant, benign, or ephemeral. Authors in
this chapter each explain the tenuous balance of each of the
“myths,” describing how notions of sustainable
development fit into each. Ardent environmentalists, for example,
would claim that nature is ephemeral, and that even the smallest
amount of human development can endanger life on Earth’s
delicate balance. Business interests, on the other hand, may
claim that nature is benign, and largely forgiving of most human
activity. Consensus in Chapter 1 appeared to favor the argument
that nature is perverse/tolerant, i.e., that it is somewhat
forgiving and tolerant, but pushing nature’s limits too far
may cause serious disaster, hence the argument for
sustainable development.
Chapter 2 discussed the policy context for
sustainable development, and began with a United Nations document
(The Declaration and Recommendations of the Tbilisi
Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education)
which clearly called for education as a means for encouraging
sustainable development. The Tbilisi document encouraged a wide
variety of approaches, from informal education like training, to
formal environmental education curricula in schools. The
document’s authors solicited funding from the international
community in order to meet goals, and creative solutions such as
education for debt swaps were encouraged for developing
nations.
The chapter’s second reading, the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s
(OECD) Lifelong Learning for All called for lifelong
learning for all in OECD countries, and placed responsibility
upon schools to facilitate such a change. Vignette 2.2’s
authors, Fien and Ospina, discuss some of the details of how
schools can become sites for lifelong learning. Unfortunately,
the authors’ claim that “[a] public well informed of
the need for sustainable development will insist that public
educational institutions include in their curricula the
interdisciplinary subject matter, values education, and the
skills of critical thinking and political literacy needed to
participate effectively in activities directed toward sustainable
development” implies that society is genuinely interested
in an education that favors social justice, democracy, and
environmental sustainability. While such values are ideal, a
cursory glance at contemporary education demonstrates that such
values are not as common as the authors might think, and further
information about how to cultivate such values would have been
helpful to readers.
Chapter 3 examined the values and meanings
associated with sustainable development and environmental
education. Stables, the author of Reading 3.1, challenges
curricula designed to promote sustainable development, positing
that “[e]ven ‘sustainable development might be
unbearable…because it might be achieved without any
consideration of other important value domains, such as the
aesthetic. Sachs, in Reading 3.2, criticizes the ersatz
environmentalism demonstrated by anti-poverty organizations like
the World Bank. Sachs noted that the annexation of the
environment by pro-development organizations could be a dangerous
signal for those concerned with sustainability. Sachs is by no
means anti-development, but prefers a hybrid approach between
environmentalism and development (a recurring theme among
sustainable development advocates). The final reading of the
chapter, Vignette 3.2, brought the sustainable development
discussion back to the field of education by describing
“contact zones” in environmental education which are
similar to critical literacy approaches found in reading
instruction. In these approaches, students critically examine
readings, current events, and scientific assumptions in an effort
to better understand and form opinions on issues of sustainable
development.
Chapter 4 returns to the notion of lifelong
learning, this time by discussing lifelong learning within the
context of organizational development. The chapter explored some
interesting dimensions of systems theory, but did not tie any of
the theory discussed to formal education until the end of the
chapter.
Chapter 5 examines humans’ relationship with
nature, discussing first a connection termed “Deep
Ecology.” In Deep Ecology, humans are deemed a part of
larger earth natural systems, in which our behavior has direct
effects on the rest of the ecosystem. This being said, some of
humanity’s more destructive behaviors may also be explained
by Deep Ecology, as we, like many creatures in nature often
attempt to ensure our own survival without seeing the
consequences of our actions. Chapter 5 had an interesting appeal
to the reader. Ross’ Reading 5.2 sometimes rambled for
paragraphs without making any particular point, but T.W. Luke,
author of Vignette 5.2 cleared up Ross’ confusing points
and was better able to express Ross’ thesis than even Ross
himself!
Chapter 6 returned to formal education and its
connection to sustainable development. Reading 6.1 outlined
differing characteristics of education for the environment,
including: economic production, distribution and redistribution,
power and decision making, social organization, and culture and
ideology. J. Fein, Reading 6.1’s author, points out the
possibility and challenges of education for the environment,
including attempts to educate students through the
environment (i.e., experiential education) that may fail to
demonstrate the materialist nature of our world. The remaining
vignettes and readings in Chapter 6 reflected upon Fein’s
arguments. Overall, this was one of the strongest chapters of the
book, and of most use to educators.
In Chapter 7, authors discussed curricular issues
related to sustainable development. Young, author of Reading 7.1,
was particularly concerned with the effects of “curriculum
as fact” pedagogy, i.e., pedagogy which sets of teachers as
generators of facts and students as neutral receptacles of such
facts. Young contends that such education does not allow students
to examine the complexities of nature and humans’
interaction with it. Quicke, author of Vignette 7.1 concurred,
stating that schools need to move away from static interactions
with students and become learning organizations, with students as
active participants in reading, research, and
learning.
Chapter 8 added continued discussion about
curriculum and sustainable development. In Reading 8.1, Jickling
argued against education for sustainable development, stating
that “[i]n a rapidly changing world, we must enable
students to debate, evaluate, and judge for themselves the
relative merits of contesting positions.” Hopkins,
Dalmanian, and Ospina concur in Reading 8.2, asking if educating
for anything is nothing more than indoctrination. Chapter
8 takes a critical view of assumptions shared by authors and
organizations in the rest of the book – that education for
sustainable development is inherently a worthwhile endeavor.
Authors in Chapter 8 do not dispute the merits of sustainable
development itself, but question the pedagogical practice of
conscientizing youth into ideas about sustainable
development.
Chapter 9 deals with the assessment of
environmental education. Not surprisingly, authors concurred that
environmental education is difficult to measure using traditional
tests. Likewise, authors note that lifelong learning about nature
and the environment is virtually impossible to quantify.
Nevertheless, various authors in Chapter 9 suggest
curriculum-based assessments and action research as means of
determining outcomes. In the most clarifying statement of the
chapter, Reid notes in Vignette 9.1 that environmental education
(which is typically school-based and required curriculum) should
not, for assessment or any other purpose, be confused with
lifelong learning. According to the author, lifelong learning
implies a commitment of individuals toward a goal of learning
throughout a lifetime, an aspiration that is different than
subject matter in a school.
Chapter 10 continues on the evaluation theme,
discussing evaluation of programs that attempt to promote
sustainable development through education. Stokking, van Aert,
Meijberg, and Kaskens provide an excellent outline for beginning
evaluators seeking to gather information on programs. Brous
concurs in Vignette 10.1, and makes one of the most powerful
statements in the book about the need for education for the
environment. Brous, a World Wildlife Fund Associate, notes that
policy is often effective for short-term change, but is equally
prone to political shocks. Education, on the other hand, can
produce change in the long-term which may be felt for 50-100
years, long after policies have been written, re-written, and
changed.
Chapter 11 steps back to view the larger
international movement toward sustainable development. The first
Reading is instructive on agency building and organizations who
have subscribed to the ideals of sustainable development. In
Vignette 11.2, however, Golder cautions against large-scale
capacity building at the organizational level as a final goal of
sustainably-minded people. Rather, Golder argues that a bottom-up
approach to development still has merit and historical evidence
of producing sustainability.
Chapter 12 is a series of readings which deal with
new economies in a postmodern era. Each of the readings call for
a more holistic approach to measuring economy and for planning
for growth. Authors challenge traditional models of agriculture
and industry and call for a new era dedicated to learning from
the past yet moving forward into an era where sound economic
practice can be profitable and effective at poverty reduction
than practices of the past two centuries.
Chapter 13 discusses globalization and its merits
and shortcomings. Reading 13.1’s authors (Brown and Lauder)
were very optimistic about the possibilities of emerging
knowledge economies and the emerging global community of
inventive scientists. Hutchinson (Reading 13.2’s author),
however, questioned the ability or desire of “capitalist
technoscience” to solve problems of sustainability. In an
interesting critique of Reading 13.1 and earlier assertions in
this book, Hutchinson further criticized systems thinking and
cybernetic thinking for their lack of edge and the overall lack
of research conducted in order to prove or disprove assertions of
the above. The interplay in Chapter 13 may be the next frontier
in sustainable development. As stated throughout early in the
Chapter, science and technology may play a greater role in
environmentally responsible development than we have ever seen
before. On the other hand, science and technology are not a
panacea, and according to Hutchinson, should be viewed with
healthy skepticism.
Chapter 14 was the final chapter of this book, and
consisted of key comments made at the Johannesburg Summit on the
environment in 2002. Among the highlights of the discussion are
time-frames for particular goals of the participant nations. Some
goals, such as all nations developing water efficiency programs
by 2005 appear to have gone unmet. Others (such as curbing
chemical use by 2020) seem to have outrageously long timeframes.
Overall, however, the framework outlines what sustainable
development is and how nations can achieve it in a succinct,
bulleted matter that is easily digestible for readers who may not
have technical science background.
Overall, this book appeared to highlight a
“who’s who” of researchers concerned with
sustainable development. To its credit, it also presented a
plethora of viewpoints for readers to digest. Like all edited
volumes, it was choppy at times, and difficult to follow the
theses of authors. In addition, the chapters seemed to bounce
back and forth between big ideas about development,
organizational development, education, and the economy. Had the
chapters been organized into sections, this book may have seemed
more like a succinct volume than a collection of readings.
Regardless, the editors made a good faith attempt to bridge the
gap between technical discussions on sustainable development and
education. In addition, readers looking to gain an overview about
practically any aspect of sustainable development can find
something of interest in this book. This book is packed with
information and is therefore an excellent resource for higher
education personnel teaching courses in sustainable development
and an idea resource for K-12 teachers looking to infuse
contemporary thinking about sustainable development into their
courses.
About the Reviewer
Christopher Johnstone, PhD
University of Minnesota
Christopher Johnstone is a Research Associate at the Institute
on Community Integration, a University Center of Excellence on
Developmental Disabilities. In this capacity, Dr. Johnstone
researches the role of persons with disabilities in international
development.
Copyright is retained by the first or sole author,
who grants right of first publication to the Education Review.