IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i14p3880-d249017.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pedagogical Laboratories: A Case Study of Transformative Sustainability Education in an Ecovillage Context

Author

Listed:
  • Jason Papenfuss

    (School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA)

  • Eileen Merritt

    (Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85069, USA)

Abstract

Students, practitioners, and scholars of sustainability education are increasingly calling for divergent curricula and novel pedagogical approaches that cultivate transformation and emancipation at both the individual and institutional levels. For decades, ecovillages around the globe have provided alternatives for sustainable living and many have also developed alternative educational approaches. For this reason, ecovillages can be important learning laboratories for experimenting with sustainability education curricula and pedagogies, allowing scholars to learn across disciplinary, cultural, and worldview boundaries. In the present study, we conducted a descriptive case study of Findhorn Foundation College’s 5-week Ecovillage Design Education course. By applying a narrative analysis of archives, field notes, surveys, and interviews, we arrived at 17 different categorical elements across six major themes. Using the field data, we linked these categorical elements to three consistent pedagogical elements: ritual pedagogies, pedagogies of story, and collaborative pedagogies. We conclude by highlighting several inductive themes present in participant data that indicated potential hindrances, constraints, and cautionary tales regarding implementation of these pedagogies in higher education contexts situated in the Global North.

Suggested Citation

  • Jason Papenfuss & Eileen Merritt, 2019. "Pedagogical Laboratories: A Case Study of Transformative Sustainability Education in an Ecovillage Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:14:p:3880-:d:249017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/14/3880/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/14/3880/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hong, Soonkwan & Vicdan, Handan, 2016. "Re-imagining the utopian: Transformation of a sustainable lifestyle in ecovillages," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 120-136.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Heather L. Stuckey & Mark Peyrot & Riana Conway & Edward W. Taylor, 2022. "A conceptual validation of transformative learning theory," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(6), pages 1459-1474, November.
    2. María Consuelo Sáiz-Manzanares & Sara Gutiérrez-González & Ángel Rodríguez & Lourdes Alameda Cuenca-Romero & Verónica Calderón & Miguel Ángel Queiruga-Dios, 2020. "Systematic Review on Inclusive Education, Sustainability in Engineering: An Analysis with Mixed Methods and Data Mining Techniques," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, August.
    3. Zach Rubin, 2019. "Ecovillagers’ Assessment of Sustainability: Differing Perceptions of Technology as a Differing Account of Modernism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-17, November.
    4. Benjamin Nölting & Heike Molitor & Julian Reimann & Jan-Hendrik Skroblin & Nadine Dembski, 2020. "Transfer for Sustainable Development at Higher Education Institutions—Untapped Potential for Education for Sustainable Development and for Societal Transformation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Uwe Demele & Benjamin Nölting & Wibke Crewett & Georgi Georgiev, 2021. "Sustainability Transfer as a Concept for Universities in Regional Transformation—A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-25, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Frederik Plewnia & Edeltraud Guenther, 2017. "Advancing a sustainable sharing economy with interdisciplinary research [Der Beitrag interdisziplinärer Forschung zu einer nachhaltigen Sharing Economy]," Sustainability Nexus Forum, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 117-124, June.
    2. Kozinets, Robert V., 2019. "YouTube utopianism: Social media profanation and the clicktivism of capitalist critique," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 65-81.
    3. Aleksandrina Atanasova, 2021. "Re-examining utopia in contemporary consumption: conceptualization and implications for marketing," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 11(1), pages 23-39, June.
    4. Kozinets, Robert V., 2021. "Reprint: YouTube utopianism: Social media profanation and the clicktivism of capitalist critique," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 349-365.
    5. Davlembayeva, Dinara & Papagiannidis, Savvas & Alamanos, Eleftherios, 2020. "Sharing economy: Studying the social and psychological factors and the outcomes of social exchange," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:14:p:3880-:d:249017. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.