Summary of Tools for Public Participation

World Café -    Informal process involving participants sitting in groups discussing an issue of importance. Each group has a leader who is stationary, the rest of the group members move from group to group. Group discussions are built upon as each new group conversation is initiated. At the end, after three or so rounds, each group forms as a whole to discuss findings and emerging themes. (The Co-Intelligence Institute 2008 The World Café http://www.co-intelligence.org/P-worldcafe.html)

Participatory Rural Appraisal- PRA- PRA is a process in which communities help to make decisions on how to manage resources. It does not involve the use of high technology and allows the community to share their knowledge. It is a bottom-up process.

Open Space Technology – Conferences that allow for capacity building. Open Space Technology is initiated online. At the end of the conference a report is developed and is made available to the community. (Herman H 1998 What is Open Space Technology? Open Space World. http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/wiki.cgi?AboutOpenSpace)

Planning for real – Involves the community contributing to the needed changes in their area. A 3-D model is developed. This may be done by a local school. Community members are then asked to write or draw on a card what changes they wish to occur and place this on the model where they would like to see it occur. The process is anonymous and does not require literacy skills.

Citizen Juries- Involves the discussion of a randomly selected group of citizens about an issue regarding policy/planning. Citizen Juries sit for four days and are helped by a facilitator. Their conclusions are submitted to a commissioning body who choose to or choose not to implement recommendations. If they choose not to, they must explain why to the citizen jurors. (Carson L, Cole-Edelstein L and Hardy M 2000 Citizen Juries in Australia- A Discussion about Protocols  www.activedemocracy.net/articles/protocol.pdf)

Asset Based Community Development – Looks at the different skills embedded in a community and how these skills can be used to achieve a community goal.

A useful website for Asset Based Community Development http://www.abcdinstitute.org/

Reflection on the above Tools
The above tools were looked at in GSE 827, I have accessed information for some of the tools so I could further clarify my understanding.
At first I found it difficult to understand how the above tools are a form of learning. I assume this is to do with my background knowledge coming from a formal education context, where collaboration is important for learning but the result of collaboration is the development of deeper understandings and social skills, not a community decision.
I need to find out how the above tools are education and how they relate to Education for Sustainable Development.

The Earth Charter Principles in Action

Taken From http://milgistrust.wildlifedirect.org/category/samburu/

I believe this image and the episode from the BBC Series entitled Human Planet- Rivers, could be used to discuss the Earth Charter. This image and an excerpt from the Episode Rivers shows tribes men from Milgis Lugga waiting for elephants to dig up water from a dry river bed. Once the elephants have left, the tribes men dig the water into wells and drinking troughs for their animals. Once their animals and themselves have had their share of water, the men fill the troughs for the elephants and other wildlife. Truly inspiring. It shows how we as humans can work not only with but in harmony with our world instead of against it. Many lessons to be learnt about sustainable development through this image and the excerpt from the Human Planet series. Certainly shows the first principle of the Earth Charter.

Imagine all the People… Living life in Peace (John Lennon- Imagine) – Values Clarification and The Earth Charter – An achievable goal or are we dreamers?

I am attempting to answer my cognitive dilemma of which I mentioned in my blog on The Earth Charter. Following this dilemma of my cynicism towards the Earth Charter of it being too ‘idealistic’ I have read two articles: Earth Charter Education for Sustainable Ways of Living by Rick Clugston (2010) and The Way and What of ESD: A Rationale for Earth Charter Education (and Naming some of its difficulties) by Noel Preston (2010).

Through reading these articles I have not only come to question my assumptions about ‘idealism’ but have learnt much about the values clarification process.

To start I will first discuss what I have learnt from the values clarification process. Firstly, the values clarification process is a metacognitive process. Preston (2010) alludes to this notion when he mentions human’s ‘ability to think about thinking’ (p.188). Although I do not have a reference for the meaning of metacognition, from my learning to become a teacher in my undergraduate degree, this is what metacognition means.

It appears that it is our ability to be metacognitive that will allow us to clarify what our values are and question these values. It is only through the clarification of our values that we will come to see how they have become shaped and how they have an influence on the way we interact with our world. The Earth Charter is one way that we can learn to be metacognitive. Education has the ability to use The Earth Charter to teach values clarification (Preston 2010) and have individuals question the current world view.

To look at the notion of metacognition in another light, that of de Bono’s (1995) six thinking hats, it would require individuals to be wearing their Blue Hat.

Secondly, to be engaged in values clarification a learner is also engaged in systemic thinking. According to Clugston (2010) The Earth Charter ‘affirms the three pillars of sustainable development’ (p.160) and reveals how each one is interconnected. This is reaffirmed by Preston (2010) in quoting Martin Luther King Jr ‘We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garmet of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all’ (p.189). In other words, through clarifying our values through the Earth Charter we become aware of the interconnectedness of everything on earth.

Lastly, I have learnt that education is not, nor will it ever be value free. Therefore it is important to clarify one’s values. The Earth Charter gets individuals to question the notion of anthropocentrism and look at thinking about things through a notion of care for the ‘community of life’ (Clugston 2010)

I believe many would question this notion of caring for the ‘community of life’. The idea of clarifying ones values through a document that clearly has a hidden agenda. Yet if Preston (2010) is correct when he suggests that education is not value free, is it not a good thing to clarify ones values? And if we were to clarify our values, is it really that worrying to clarify them through a Charter that seeks to achieve a betterment of all Earth’s life?

In relation to questioning my assumptions about ‘idealism’ I have come to the conclusion that this notion of mine is not really my belief. It has been influenced through dialogue with others over the notion of sustainable development and their reactions to what it means. While I do believe the Earth Charter shows an ‘ideal’ world I do not think ‘ideal’ is such an unachievable goal. I have questioned myself of this notion through dialogue with others, but after reading these two articles I think we need some positive thinking. I am reminded of a quote that was used in a workshop I attended on Sustainability by Henry Ford ‘If you think you can you are probably right, if you think you can’t you are probably right too’. This notion of ‘idealism’ and it being unrealistic was revealed to me when Clugston (2010) quoted Rose Marie Inojosa  ‘The Earth Charter encourages everybody to search for a common ground in the midst of human diversity and to embrace a global ethic that is shared by an ever growing number of people throughout the world’ (p162). When I read this statement I was filled with the questions I had been asked about idealism by many when I talk about sustainable development and having a world of social, interspecies and intergenerational equity. Now I view this as too much of de Bono’s (1995) Black Hat thinking. If we all thought that it was too ideal we would never get anywhere.

I think people underestimate the power of one individual. I know through this notion of ‘idealism’ that many feel that they cannot make a difference. However, now I will ask those who question their ability to think in this way. ‘Imagine if everybody thought this way of thinking (The Earth Charter) was too idealistic, would we achieve sustainable development. Now, imagine everyone believed The Earth Charter could be achieved. What sort of world would it be?’

This power of the individual is supported by Fein (2003) in his article Learning to Care: Education and Compassion. He alludes to the fact that often environmental education forgets about personal change; that is the individual side of sustainable development. Perhaps we need more focus on the transformation of the individual not just governments and big industries.

Perhaps we can achieve a sustainable world, it just requires a different way of thinking.

Clugston R 2010 Earth Charter Education for Sustainable Ways of Living Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 4(2):157-166.

Fein J 2003 Learning to Care: Education and Compassion Australian Journal of Environmental Education 19: 1- 13.

Preston N 2010 The Why and What of ESD: A Rationale for Earth Charter Education (and Naming Some of it Difficulties) Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 4(2):187-192.

Some useful Resources for Values Clarification and the Earth Charter

We Value - This website provides an assessment framework to measure values. According to the website it makes values-based indicators easily accessible to as many organisations as possible. It may be possible to use this to assess the process of values clarification within education programs.
Guide for using Earth Charter in Education - Although the website would not let me download this file, it would be a useful tool in developing values clarification programs in education.
Earth Charter Virtual Library

The Earth Charter - A summary

According to The Earth Charter Initiative Website (n.d.) The Earth Charter is a document that sets out four ethical principles that set out to achieve a just, sustainable and peaceful world society. The main aim through these principles is to instill in all individuals a sense of shared responsibility for the well being of all human life, non-human life and future generations.

Listed below are the four principles and a summary of their outcomes and indicators.

Principle One – Respect and Care for the Community of Life-  This principle aims to achieve a care and compassion for that which is beyond the individual self. It seeks to achieve a sense of respect and responsibility for all life, non- human and human and to achieve this an awareness of how systems on earth are interrelated needs to be achieved. It seeks to build democratic, peaceful and just societies through the building of the notion of human rights and fundamental freedoms. It aims to that we need to recognise the actions we partake in today have the potential to affect future generations and the need to hand down our values and traditions to the generations to come.

Principle Two- Ecological Integrity – This principle sets out outcomes and indicators that look at protecting and conserving biological diversity. It seeks to instill the notion that we have a responsibility for the actions we take and the potential impact these will have on the environment. Similar to principle one, we are to be aware of the interrelatedness of all biological forms on this planet and the possible affect one action we make in one area could impact another area. Through this awareness we are to consciously seek to do no harm to the environment and its life giving resources. It also mentions the importance of transparency of scientific knowledge and the recognition of traditional cultural knowledge that contributes to protection and conservation.

Principle Three – Social and Economic Justice – Social and Economic Justice looks at the need to eradicate poverty, social inequities like gender inequality, discrimination, inability to access education, and the lack of distribution of wealth within and among nations. It seeks to achieve trade that supports sustainability and the rights of those individuals who are involved in the trading process. It aims to make multinational businesses accountable in their actions and to be transparent in their activities.

Principle Four – Democracy, Non-Violence, and Peace- This principle seeks democratic processes, the involvement of all stakeholders in decision making processes, the freedom of individual expression and opinions, to gather in peaceful assembly and the right to a fair justice system. It seeks to eliminate corruption and empower communities so they are able to care for their environment. It aims to achieve education for all children and youth that allows them to feel empowered to achieve sustainability and that recognises the importance of moral and spiritual education in achieving this goal. It seeks to prevent the unnecessary suffering of all animals, domesticated and wild, at the hands of humans and aims to eliminate the uninhibited taking of non-targeted species. Lastly, this principle seeks to achieve cooperation between nations and people, to prevent armed conflict, to seek military resources being converted to achieve peaceful purposes including aims to help restore environments. Overall, to recognise the need for peace and to achieve peace.

Personal Opinion of the Earth Charter

When I first read the Earth Charter my impression was that it is a very idealistic declaration. This cannot be achieved. Perhaps I need to question where this cynical assumption is coming from, what thinking am I using in coming to this conclusion or, is this thinking being influenced by others?

The Earth Charter Initiative: Values and Principles for a Sustainable Future n.d http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/pages/Read-the-Charter.html 21 Sep 2011.

With all your power. What would you do?(Flaming Lips- Yeah Yeah Yeah Song)

Power and Partnerships

Observation

In class, we talked about power and the ability of partnerships to disseminate power if partnerships are affective. Although we mostly looked at power and partnerships in relation to stakeholder engagement, I find this notion can cross over into the formal education setting. In particular, the power within the partnership between student and teacher.

After reading through an excerpt from Friere’s (1972, 2003) Pedagogy of the Oppressed and an article entitled The Real Challenge of ESD by M.G. Jackson (2011) it became apparent that educators and consequently education systems have the ability to ‘oppress’ or ‘liberate’ (Friere 2003) learners. I have come to the conclusion, after reading these two texts, that ‘oppression’ or ‘liberation’ is dependent upon the predominant world view that the educator is operating in as well the educator’s philosophy on learning.

To first discuss Friere’s (2003) Pedagogy of the oppressed, Friere (2003) talks about two philosophies of education, one is the ‘banking’ approach to learning and the other is ‘Problem Posing’ approach to learning. According to Friere (2003), educators who follow a ‘banking’ approach to learning see learners as merely empty vessels with no prior knowledge, whose sole purpose is to sit, listen and absorb information. This type of philosophy does not view learning in terms of systemic thinking or critical thinking. In fact, the ‘banking’ concept sets out to achieve conformity and acceptance of dominant world views (something Jackson discusses). He calls this view of learning necrophilic. Without directly alluding to the notion of unsustainability, necrophily creates an unsustainable society. This is revealed in Friere’s (2003) reference to Fromm’s explanation of necrophily. ‘The necrophilis person is driven by the desire to transform the organic into the inorganic….he loves control, and in the act of controlling he kills life.’ (p.61) This quote from Fromm reveals the power imbalance between educators who hold this philosophy and their learners and consequently between humans and the living planet. The ‘banking’ concept overpowers learners and moulds them into the educator’s view of the world, to control. For control is what the ‘banking’ concept sets out to achieve and in doing so creates learners who set out to achieve the same goal in their interactions with the world.

In contrast, Friere (2003) wishes for an education system that uses ‘problem-posing’, this concept seeks to change the imbalance of power between the educator and the learner. As he states ‘The teacher is no longer…the-one-who-teaches, but who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach’ (Friere 2003 p63). Unlike the ‘banking’ concept it seeks to create sustainability, ‘arguments based on ‘authority’ are no longer valid; in order to function, authority must be on the side of freedom, not against it’ (Friere 2003 p63). It fosters critical thinking and reflection on how we, as humans, interact with our world.

While Friere(2003) looked at the two different partnerships  between learners and educators, Jackson (2011) looks at how education systems are designed to perpetuate the dominant world view or unsustainability and offers a way to overcome this disempowerment of learners. He offers two steps to be taken. The first step he refers to as ‘transformative learning’ in which assumptions about how an individual views the world and how this relates to the dominant world view is questioned. New world views are visualised (similar to envisioning) and these new views are put into practice. The second step is developing new formal educational programs. According to Jackson (2011) ‘the purpose of formal education is to perpetuate an existing cultural model.’ (p.29) Jackson (2011) proposes new formal educational programs that are born from the development of alternative world views that come from the ‘transformative learning’ process. He suggests that they should encompass Sterling’s ‘third-order’ thinking in which learners question their current dominant social paradigm and develop new ways of viewing the world.

Jackson (2011) questions whether or not society would accept this transformation in education. I tend to agree with him as I find myself asking whether or not the power balance within his model of education is equal. Is there a hidden agenda from the educator? Then again, perhaps my questioning is influenced by the unconscious hold the dominant world view has over me?

Implication

There is a power issue in the partnerships between learner and educator and formal education and the dominant world view. The power can be balanced or tipping towards those with the control (educator and the dominant world view). Even I find I am influenced by the dominant world view that would suggest that there is nothing wrong with the current formal education system. Yet there is. When the power in partnerships is imbalanced like those between learner and educator or formal education system and the dominant world view, it creates unsustainable practices. Power has to be equal for Sustainable Development to succeed.

Action

I need to be more aware of how the dominant world view affects my thinking. I have to start thinking outside the box. I need to realise that our partnerships with each other and the environment is not equal. Power is imbalanced, this is evident in the social inequities present in society and our lack of regard for our species when it comes to meeting our own needs. I have to stop hesitating when thinking that perhaps there is nothing wrong with the current world view and that these new ways of thinking are too radical. Imbalances of power cannot be the right thing. Power needs to be equal in all partnerships, within formal education and outside. I need to bring this thinking to the table as an educator.

Friere P 2003 From Pedagogy of the Oppressed in A Darder M Baltodana and R D Torress eds The Critical Pedagogy Reader  Routledge, New York pp 57-68

Jackson M G 2011 The Real Challenge of ESD Journal of Sustainable Development 5(1): 27-31

Critical Thinking and Consumerism

We may be drawn to this ad through the empathy and compassion we feel for the polar bear and the loss of its habitat due to global warming, but is this ad really about helping the environment?
Using Tilbury and Wortman's (2004) Critical Thinking we could ask these questions to find out what this ad is really selling us:
What are your first impressions of this advertisement?
What things in this advertisement caused you to form these impressions?
What assumptions do you hold about sustainability that this ad was able to bring to the surface?
What do you think you are really being sold?
What do you think were the assumptions of the advertisers in relation to Sustainable Development and audience context when creating this advertisement?
These questions may draw about what is really being sold in the advertisement as well as the hidden assumptions that we may hold about sustainability as well as the assumptions of the advertisers.

In contrast we could compare this advertisement with the one shown above:

In comparing the two advertisements we could ask:
What are the assumptions of sustainability behind each advertisement ?
Does this advertisement change your perception of the previous advertisement? Why/Why not?
Which advertisement do you think is truly showing sustainability or are do they both have hidden agendas?

De- Bono's (1995) Six Thinking Hats could also be used to bring about how the learner might be thinking about these advertisements and what is influencing their type of thinking. It could also bring about questions in regards to whether or not changing the way we think changes our perception. For example: if you are operating under the Red Hat when looking at these advertisements, one might perceive them as being both good advertisers who are trying to do their bit on the quest for sustainability as the polar bear brings out an emotional response, particularly with the polar bear hugging the man in the first ad. However, if we change our view and look at them from Black Hat thinking one might become skeptical about the ads and wonder what really is the message behind the advertisements.