Education for sustainable development in Africa: The search for pedagogical logic

The United Nation's Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) is past its halfway milestone; yet, its overall impact on educational thinking and practice remains unclear in most places and regions of the world. While several efforts and programs are currently in place to promote and affirm the role of education in the global quest for sustainable development, most of these efforts remain largely unknown and invisible in most communities around the world. The Decade and ESD, arguably, are neither seen nor heard of in most of Africa. Most institutions, including schools, governments, businesses, civil society and individuals are yet to know and understand the role of education in the quest for sustainable development. The paper argues that in spite of the Decade and all the attention it is getting in some circles, the subject is muted in most educational policies and practices in Africa. In calling for more focused commitment to the roles of education in sustainable development in Africa, the paper also calls for a reconsideration of what sustainable development means, or might mean for Africans in their different places and cultures and to use that as a starting point for the exploration of more meaningful educational philosophies and pedagogies that responds to Africa's unique challenges.     

Education and language: A human right for sustainable development in Africa

Pre-colonial Africa was neither an educationally nor a technologically unsophisticated continent. While education was an integral part of the culture, issues of language identification and standardisation which are subject to contentious debate today were insignificant. Children learned community knowledge and history by asking questions instead of being taught in a hegemonic alien language. This article argues that education and development should take place in a broader context of human rights, and explores the links between three areas often dealt with separately, namely: language, education and development. The authors of this paper demonstrate that changing the face of the multi-dimensionalities of poverty within societies is possible only when education is constructed in a rights perspective over the favoured colonial languages, which are not an integral part of the culture and resources of a community. The authors make a distinction between the right to education and rights in education, the latter of which are found to be more significant for the challenges Africa faces. It is argued here that the elements of Amartya Sen’s “threshold” conditions for inclusion in human rights and self-development in education are essential, and that a more promising architecture of education would include what the authors term meta-narrative frameworks, i.e. interrelated policies. The authors contend that the neoliberal commodification of the knowledge sector has only exacerbated human rights and capabilities deprivation – which encompasses both human and income poverty.     

Producing knowledge for sustainable development in Africa: Implications for higher education

This article complements the critique of thedevelopment policies and practices implementedin Africa's local communities by Africangovernments and international developmentagencies by linking them to a specifichegemonic form of knowledge and knowledgeproduction which largely structures the way inwhich Africans, including African scholars,know development, Africa and the world. Theyoften exclude, marginalize and inferiorizeAfrican traditions, knowledges and ways ofknowing. With food policy making in Africa as acase, I examine how higher education isimplicated in the process by which developmentknowledges are generated and become dominant inAfrica as well as its consequences. Borrowingfrom critical theory I raise questions aboutwhich knowledges are promoted, privileged andbecome dominant and how. I argue that highereducation in Africa should be rethought andrestructured to better reflect the actual livedexperiences of the vast majority of Africans.This requires that local communities, includingtheir various segments, participatemeaningfully in the generation of knowledgeabout their development to ensure the relevanceand acceptance by the people of the policiesand programs that these knowledges engender.Institutions of higher learning and researchcan do this by becoming true centres ofcritical inquiry into knowledges and ways ofknowing, including non-hegemonic knowledges andways of knowing in the West. They canfacilitate this by creating spaces for theexpropriation of what is suitable in modernscience and technology and theirre-articulation with elements of Africa'straditions, values, practices and relationshipwith nature in order to pursue developmentpolicies that are African-centred andsustainable.     

Education for the Environment: a critique

This paper acknowledges that, in many contexts, the term ‘education for the environment’ has generated powerful images which have resonated with educators seeking empowerment for themselves and their students. We also acknowledge that it has enabled inquiry into socio‐political dimensions of environmental issues. However, we propose that this term has become a slogan and, as such, its use has been insufficiently problematised. We identify anomalies and inconsistencies associated with the use of ‘education for the environment.’ Further, we argue that the term is conceptually and linguistically flawed and that we may not need, or want, the structures that it imposes. In challenging, rather than casually accepting, this terminology, we seek to regenerate a fundamental dimension of the discourse within environmental education.     

Local-language literacy and sustainable development in Africa

In discussions of Africa in the global North, the term ‘development’ is one of the most often used—though its meaning can be remarkably difficult to pin down. The sustainability of development processes and outcomes is also of current concern in development discourse. If sustainable development can be described in terms of ongoing, enhanced human well-being as well as continued national economic growth, then it requires the full participation of the target community. Development that is ‘done to’ people has little chance of sustainability.     

Delivering lifelong learning for sustainable development in Southern Africa: problems and prospects

Southern African Development Community (SADC) nations in principle endorse lifelong learning (LLL) as a useful framework for sustainable development. However, in spite of the rhetoric, only a few member states such as South Africa, Botswana and Namibia have officially endorsed LLL in their educational policies. The sub-region is plagued by social atrocities such as HIV/AIDS, capacity poverty, low quality education, global marginalization, ineffective pedagogical and civil society agencies. The paper argues that since 1994, SADC has transited from being preoccupied with fighting Apartheid to focus on regional development, it experienced structural adjustment policies and is currently playing a critical role in pursuit of African renaissance. The region faces challenges such as centralization of educational planning, lack of a concerted culture of democratic participation, failure to recognize cultural diversity, and poor civil society engagement. The paper contends that LLL would help SADC countries to decentralize educational decision-making, engage communities in democratic discourses, train facilitators to reflective practitioners and engage the civil society in facilitating the attainment of regional sustainable development agenda.     

Education for sustainable development in early childhood education: a review of the research literature

The aim of the study is to describe and analyse research articles relating to the subject of education for sustainable development (ESD) for early childhood education (ECE), published during the years 1996–2013. This is done by answering three specific questions: (1) How is ESD defined by researchers in ECE? (2) What are the major research inquiries and results? (3) What does the research say about young children acting for change in relation to sustainability? Our analysis identified two different definitions of ESD: first, as a threefold approach to education based on questions concerning education about, in and for the environment; and, second, as an approach to education that includes three interrelated dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Two major research areas are identified in this study. The first area relates to how teachers understand ESD, while the second area focuses on how ESD can be implemented in educational practice. During the period studied, the research has evolved from teaching children facts about the environment and sustainability issues to educating children to act for change. This new approach reveals a more competent child who can think for him- or herself and make well-considered decisions. The decisions are made by investigating and participating in critical discussions about alternative ways of acting for change.     

区域教育可持续发展系统论

本研究在教育地理学、系统科学、可持续发展理论等所提供的理论基础上 ,对区域教育可持续发展问题进行系统研究。从区域教育可持续发展的必要性、区域教育可持续发展的目标、原则、机制、模式以及发展策略等方面 ,构建一个较为完备的区域教育可持续发展理论体系     

Education for sustainable development in initial teacher training: issues for interdisciplinary collaboration

This article considers interdisciplinary approaches to education for sustainable development (ESD) in initial teacher training (ITT) partnerships in the light of recent national policy initiatives. In identifying challenges for interdisciplinary innovation, it brings to bear research evidence from three sources: questionnaires sent to ITT partnership schools; questionnaire surveys of geography and science graduate student teachers; and questionnaire surveys of their school mentors. Key findings are that: schools are not yet well developed as sites for student teacher learning in the domain; student teachers generally have greater understanding of sustainable development than their mentors; geography mentors perceive themselves to be better prepared for mentoring in this area than their science counterparts (who feel ill‐prepared); for both students and mentors, there are significant gaps in understanding of ESD compared with representations found in the literature. Some implications and possible ways forward for interdisciplinary ESD in teacher education partnerships are discussed.     

Education for sustainable development: A Sino-English comparative study in environmental education

In the People’s Republic of China and England, the Government has devoted much attention in recent years to environmental education. the approaches taken in both countries differ, however. The paper looks at some of the similarities and differences that exist and the reasons for them. In particular the paper looks at policy issues as well as practical aspects of environmental education. The idea of Education for Sustainable Development, which is referred to more in England than in China, is critically examined. Project(D09702) supported by the State Education Ministry for the “Ninth Five-Year” Plan.     

Experience in Adult Education: a post-modern critique

ABSTRACT The concepts of experience and experiential learning are of critical significance in both the study and practice of adult education. Adults are seen as uniquely characterised by their experience, experiential learning an alternative to didactic and knowledge-based modes of education. In this paper a critique is presented of the powerful discourse of the autonomous subject based on humanistic psychology which, it is argued, has shaped adult education in a misleading, inappropriate and unhelpful way. A postmodern perspective drawing on Continental philosophy is utilised. The 'situated' subject provides a conception of subjectivity and experience which preserves a needed dimension of agency whilst avoiding psychologism and individualism.     

Education,development and poverty reduction: A literature critique

The concept of development has evolved from an exclusive focus on economic growth towards an interrelated, even integrated approach involving progress across a range of disciplines such as health, education, economics and agriculture. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are rooted in this evolved conception of development. A concerted global effort embracing multiple disciplines in the formal and informal sectors is now essential for their achievement. This paper traces the changing meaning of development, while at the same time tracing the benefits of investing in education for poverty reduction, and the conditions that facilitate and/or hamper education's contribution to poverty reduction.     

Education and Italian regional development

In this paper, we study the connection between growth and human capital in a convergence regression for the panel of Italian regions. We include measures of average primary, secondary and tertiary education. We find that increased education seems to contribute to growth only in the South. Decomposing total schooling into its three constituent parts, we find that only primary education in the South seems to be important, while tertiary education seems to have a negative impact on regional growth. Our main results are robust to the inclusion of additional variables in the regression analysis and the use of an IV estimator. Overall, this study suggests that Italian growth benefited from the elimination of illiteracy in the South, mainly in the 60s. It also suggests a possible relationship between the level of development of an economy and returns to different levels of education, with Italian regions still far from being able to capture the positive returns from higher levels of education.     

整体推进教育信息化 促进区域教育可持续发展

郴州地处湖南省南部,辖八县二区一市,是典型的山区农业市,区域内城乡之间、县（区）际之间,学校之间教育的发展很不平衡。如何缩小区域问差距,实现区域内义务教育基本均衡,教育信息化承担着重要的责任。近年来,我们坚持以科学发展观为指导,通过教育信息化基础建设、队伍培训、规范管理、科学使用,系统研究了影响教育信息化健康、稳步、