Creativity in sustainability: A place-based and arts-based approach to professional development

• In Event: Sustainability Praxis: Teacher Innovations and Professional Development

Proposal

Despite ongoing endeavors to advance sustainability across different educational levels, prevailing approaches often uphold a singularly scientific approach to sustainability, ignoring the contributions of other ways of knowing. While research has recognized the potential benefits of integrating diverse knowledges and pedagogical approaches to foster sustainability action, practical implementation of sustainability education lacks context and remains focused on scientific content memorization (Velasquez et al., 2021). Therefore, there is a pressing need for educational approaches that mobilize local assets, foster creative problem-solving and promote engagement within local communities (Leavenworth & Manni, 2021). Unfortunately, educators report having limited training on effective pedagogies to teach the complex, interdisciplinary and dynamic sustainability topics (Plutzer et al., 2018).
Aiming at addressing this need, this presentation discusses the pedagogical strategies implemented in an online professional development workshop offered by the Walton Sustainability Teachers’ Academies at Arizona State University. The workshop explores different conceptualizations of sustainability, and how educators might assess and implement sustainability education. Additionally, educators are encouraged to create and implement a sustainability project relevant to their local context. The workshop is offered annually since 2017 and has recently implemented a place-based approach, where participants identify and address sustainability issues in their communities, as well as form a network of educators to learn and share experiences.

The workshop's pedagogical strategies involved reflective and creative activities that prompted participants to think, feel and act differently in regards to sustainability content and practice. These strategies included contemplative practices, reflective writing activities, and involvement in arts-based projects. Participants worked in small groups within each school, and were encouraged to reach out to community members to collaborate and implement their ideas.

Throughout the workshop, participants became increasingly engaged with the creative pedagogies. For example, participants described how a daily contemplative practice helped them feel open and focused on the work, as well as perceiving it as a useful technique to use in their own classrooms: “I enjoyed them (mindfulness activities) and saw how it could really impact the social emotional learning of my students.”. Similarly, being involved in an ongoing artistic installation moved educators to think about how to incorporate art in teaching sustainability: “The Art Installation was kind of intense and heartbreaking. And I am happy that our Biology team started integrating this topic into our lessons.” (Participant 2); and “As an educator, I feel it is important to help the younger generations feel empowered that they can be the change and speak out and be taken seriously” (Participant 6)

These practices affected participants in ways beyond knowledge accumulation, helping bring content to life and adding a socially engaged dimension to a global problem. Educators reported feeling more prepared and encouraged to incorporate those pedagogical strategies and to approach sustainability interdisciplinary. Additionally, teachers reported being motivated to be agents of change by bringing a more holistic approach to sustainability teaching into their classroom. Focusing on a place-based approach that included creative pedagogies, meant more engagement with place, more local creative action towards sustainability, and more confident effective educators.

Leavenworth, M. L., & Manni, A. (2021). Climate fiction and young learners’ thoughts-a dialogue between literature and education. Https://Doi.Org/10.1163/9789004430365_014, 27(5), 727–742. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004430365_014
Plutzer, E., & Hannah, A. L. (2018). Teaching climate change in middle schools and high schools: Investigating STEM education’s deficit model. Climatic change, 149(3), 305-317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-018-2253-8
Vásquez, C., García-Alonso, I., Seckel, M. J., & Alsina, Á. (2021). Education for sustainable development in primary education textbooks—an educational approach from statistical and probabilistic literacy. Sustainability, 13(6), 3115.

Author

• Esther Pretti, Arizona State University