Emergent pedagogy of sustainability

This presentation relates to the overall theme of the conference by highlighting societal and pedagogic deficits to face the challenges from sustainability crisis that is considered as a question of the ability of society to renew its natural and societal living conditions (Sachs 1999, Shiva 2005). The study presents pedagogical perspectives and challenges that originates from pedagogues in day care centers and teachers at University College when participating in an action research project to explore, elaborate and develop new pedagogic actions and perspectives related to future relationships between human beings and our common nature environment.The study pursues findings of a previous qualitative study of how pedagogues understand meaning and objectives of learning processes related to nature. The overall objective of the curriculum theme related to nature was set forth to address learning processes related to future ability to interact respectfully and responsibly with nature and our shared resources. However, the study showed some incoherence and blurriness with regards to how nature related activities at day care centers stimulate emergent capabilities to ensure or address future sustainability (Husted & Frøkjær 2014). Existing activities generally present nature, animals and plants in line with the idea of one original Nature that can be rationally explored and explained (Taylor 2013). The complex ways that humans are entangled in regulations of their living environments and the difficulties to see through sustainable answers to modern industrial regulations of nature and living are rarely echoed in the activities. As a result we invited five day care centers to take part in ‘Nature and sustainability’. ‘Nature and Sustainability’ holds long-term open-ended learning processes and experiments to explore if pedagogical activities can be developed to touch upon interactions between humans, nature(s) and environments. In line with deliberative orientations within action research (Lewin 1948, Greenwood & Levin 1998, Hansen et al 2016), we place the inner relation between a democratic culture and knowledge production in the very center of how day care centers can help children get their bearings when facing future challenges from sustainability crisis.Preliminary experiments developed and carried out by about 18 pedagogues and 50 children are promising in the sense that developmental processes round sustainability seems to open up and qualify considerations of what kind of societal responsibility day care centers are supposed to hold? However, the pedagogues are also experiencing significant difficulties of how to stretch their nature activities to meet regulated nature as part of societal life. Most often, the experimental activities tends to favor learning about responsible behavior, but the intension was formation of critical curiosity. While the difficulties to find pedagogical forms to present sustainability frustrate the participating pedagogues, the teachers teaching student pedagogues at University College find the whole idea of presenting sustainability to toddlers disturbing as they stress inner relations between awareness of environmental crisis and anxiety. Both pedagogues and teachers reflections points out, that the development of pedagogics of emergent sustainability are itself emergent and needs both elaborations and serious efforts to get elsewhere in pedagogics round nature. Lit.Greenwood, D. & Levin, M. (1998). Introduction to Action Research. Social Research for Social Change. SageHusted, M. & Frøkjær, T. (2014). Nature in preschool. UCViden.dkHansen H.P., B.S. Nielsen, N. Sriskandarajah, & E. Gunnarsson (eds) (2016). Commons, Sustainability, Democratization: Action Research and the Basic Renewal of Society. New York. RoutledgeLewin, K. (1948). Resolving Social Conflicts. New York, Harper and RowSachs, W. (1999). Planet dialectics. Explorations in Environment and Development. London. Zed BooksShiva, V. (2005). Earth Democracy. South End Press, CambridgeTaylor, A. (2013). Reconfiguring the Natures of childhood. Routledge, New YorkIndication of session type (e.g. interactive discussion, roundtable paper presentation, workshop, themed panel, discussion forum):Individual paper presentationIndication of provisions for involving audience participation, and format (overhead, PowerPoint, etc.):PowerpointAbstract for inclusion in the conference program (100-word maximum):‘Nature and Sustainability’ seeks to renew pedagogical activities round interactions between humans, nature (s) and environments through learning processes and experiments. Nature activities in Danish day care centers generally present nature, animals and plants in line with the idea of one original Nature. The complex ways that humans are entangled in regulations of their living environments and the difficulties to see through sustainable answers to modern industrial regulations of nature and living are rarely echoed in the activities. This study place the inner relation between a democratic culture and knowledge production in the center of pedagogical developments of emergent sustainability.