Infusing Sustainability into the Curriculum

Transcription

1 Infusing Sustainability into the Curriculum A Concordia College Faculty Development Program Ken Foster Director, MACF Sustainability Grant Chair, President s Sustainability Council Objective To provide the support needed to enable faculty members to infuse sustainability-related content and assignments into one or more of their courses and/or into their teaching and mentoring more generally. In doing this, the aim is twofold: (1) to ensure that all students learn about sustainability issues throughout their years at Concordia; (2) to help enable the continuing professional development of faculty members who endeavor to prepare their students to understand and grapple with real-world problems. For the purposes of this faculty development program, infusing sustainability into the curriculum can be accomplished in a variety of ways. It can be done while continuing a strong disciplinary focus, or it can involve bringing more interdisciplinarity into a discipline-specific course. It might involve drawing out and highlighting sustainability-related content already in a course, it might call for adding content in innovative ways. In short, it is up to each faculty member to determine what works the best for them. Some common ways all equally good and valid of bringing sustainability education into one s teaching are listed here. Include in a course sustainability-related examples in lectures, discussions, and activities. Include in a course sustainability-related assignments or activities. Add to a course a section focusing on sustainability. Make use of key sustainability concepts in ways that enhance learning about course topics. Reframe a course around the issue of sustainability or an sustainability-informed framework. Develop a new course that has a central focus on a sustainability theme, issue, or problem. Use sustainability-related concepts and pedagogies to improve one s teaching. Question frameworks, concepts, and ideas in one s courses and discipline that seem to be schooling people in how to live unsustainably and promoting the acceptance of unsustainable ways of organizing and governing society. Other possibilities. As the later section on defining sustainability suggests, while the idea of sustainability as commonly used today does include a set of ideas, there is broad leeway in terms of how one chooses to define sustainability and in terms of what aspect(s) of sustainability one focuses. Funding A generous grant from the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation provides stipends for workshop leaders and participants. The grant also provides limited funding for food and resources. A Concordia College Strategic Initiative In 2011, President Craft established the President s Sustainability Council. Among the five charges given to it was to work with faculty, staff, and students in integrating learning about sustainability into our daily life, within the college curriculum and beyond it. Concordia College s Vision for Sustainability document (December 2012) called for Concordia to become a place where: o Conversations about sustainability are a regular part of community life;

2 o o Insights into the sustainability challenge and ideas about creating sustainable ways of living are constantly generated and explored; Students develop the perspectives and skills needed to work for sustainability in the wider world. The college s Strategic Plan set out sustainability as a key priority within the Whole World section: In accord with Concordia s identity as a global liberal arts college of the church, call students to practice thoughtful and informed stewardship of natural resources and to conserve earth s vitality and beauty. Accordingly, the proposal for a major grant from the MACF included as a primary objective the infusing of sustainability-related content into a total of at least 40 different courses. The envisioned outcome was that students in all departments and programs encounter sustainability concepts and discussions in their courses and have an understanding of the global and social justice dimensions of sustainability. The goal of infusing sustainability into the curriculum fits well with Concordia s current focus on making integrative learning a defining characteristic of a Concordia education. Sustainability issues call for people to grapple with complex problems that are inherently interdisciplinary in scope and type. Sustainability: the Concept, the Vision The concept sustainability is used in a wide variety of ways and given a variety of specific meanings. It is what is known as a contested concept. As with the concept of democracy, there will likely never be agreement on what exactly it is and how to define or measure it. Nevertheless, both concepts have grown to serve as touchstones in vitally important debates about how to organize and govern human activity and in conversations about the kind of society we hope to create. The concept of sustainability emerged our of a fear that human activities and human progress may turn out to be unsustainable due to the deleterious ecological consequences of prevailing modes of generating economic growth. Building on the environmental movement s call to safeguard the health of the earth s natural systems, advocates of the sustainability framework argued that we must place at the center of analysis the interrelationships among three pillars : society, ecology, and economy. In this framework, we can only thrive as human communities if we simultaneously pursue economic prosperity, ecological health, and social justice/inclusiveness, attaining a dynamic balance among the three areas. In a useful treatment of the subject, Leslie Paul Thiele has suggested that to practice sustainability is to manage change such that civilization does not undermine the conditions that allow it to flourish within a supportive web of life. He further says that sustainability is not an ideology It is more of an art that skillfully grounds moral commitments in, and adapts its practices to, the best available science. And he offers this definition: Sustainability is an adaptive art wedded to science in service to ethical vision. It entails satisfying current needs without sacrificing future well-being through the balanced pursuit of ecological health, economic welfare, social empowerment, and cultural creativity. 1 While noting the dynamic interdependence of the three pillars, many argue that the primary problem that the sustainability framework calls us to address is the declining health of the earth s natural systems and the uncontrolled depletion of the earth s resources. They argue that our current path is unsustainable because our economic and social systems are allowing/causing environmental degradation, in the process undermining the natural systems on which our economies and societies depend for their functioning. If this is the case, then the task we face is that of figuring out how to 1 Leslie Paul Thiele, Sustainability (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013),

3 pursue economic and social prosperity in ways that preserve and even enhance the vitality of the earth s natural systems and conserve resources needed by future generations. Concordia College s Vision for Sustainability sets out a Concordia-specific understanding of sustainability. This document can be found at As the above makes clear, there is considerable leeway for people to define and interpret sustainability in ways that make the most sense for them or in the context of what they wish to do. Any good program to infuse sustainability into the curriculum relies on faculty members to determine how they wish to define sustainability and how they might bring sustainability-related concepts, insights, tools, and content into their course(s). Designing the Program What kind of faculty development program, including what kinds of workshops and activities, would be best suited for Concordia College at this juncture in its history? Colleges and universities across the country have designed and run a wide variety of faculty development programs aimed at infusing sustainability into the curriculum. Rather than attempt to copy one of these, it was determined that the best course of action would be to investigate the various and then convene a group of faculty members to generate ideas and develop a plan for a Concordia-specific multi-year faculty development program. The effort to design this program proceeded in three steps. First, Ken Foster did research on what other places do and attended a day-long workshop at the 2014 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. He also attended several other sessions at the conference that dealt with curricular issues. Next, a group of faculty members were invited to take part in a semester-long workshop with two primary goals: (1) generate ideas about how best to engage faculty across campus in thinking about how sustainability can be infused into their courses; (2) develop a plan for how future rounds of the faculty development program can attract faculty and enable faculty to infuse sustainability into their courses. The group met four times during the Spring 2015 semester, for a total of 10 hours. Members of the group were Cory Aragon (philosophy), Ginny Connell (library), Nat Dickey (music), Ken Foster (political science), Joan Kopperud (English), Hilda Koster (religion), Susan Larson (psychology), Darrell Stolle (education), Andrea Van Winkle (economics), and Joe Whittaker (biology). At the same time, a separate grant-funded task force was meeting with the aim of developing recommendations on how Concordia can ensure that it has the programs, principles, and practices in place that enable a synergy between the promotion of study abroad and the promotion of environmental sustainability. Part of the charge given to the task force was to think about how to facilitate the integration of learning about sustainability into all study abroad programs. The insights and ideas generated by these two groups informed the development of the program presented on the following pages. Companion Initiatives Simultaneously with the development and implementation of this faculty development program, a number of other actions will be taken. 1. An inventory of what faculty are already doing will be taken. 2. Online resource for faculty will be created. This will include a database of examples and courses. 3

4 Infusing Sustainability into the Curriculum Faculty Development Program 2015 Fall Semester Workshops A series of workshops to give faculty opportunities to discover how they might bring sustainability into their courses, teaching, and mentoring. If you have an idea for a workshop that you would like to see or even lead, contact Ken Foster (foster@cord.edu). Note: The precise dates and times for the workshops will be determined in consultation with the faculty who sign up to participate. #1 Faculty Learning Communities -- How Might Sustainability Themes, Concepts, and Ideas Help Us to Achieve Curricular Goals? Faculty are invited to participate in multidisciplinary Faculty Learning Communities of 4-7 people. While each learning community will explore in some fashion how sustainability themes, concepts, and ideas can be used to enrich and enhance existing courses, participants will be free to determine the precise focus and agenda (theme/topic) for their learning community. Each learning community will be provided with some initial readings about sustainability (including a book) as well as curricular development resources. Additional readings and activities will be determined by participants. Each learning community will aim to achieve the following outcomes: 1) each participant will determine specific and practical ways in which they can enhance teaching and learning through engagement with sustainability-related themes, concepts, and exercises; 2) each participant will provide a brief written report of how they benefited from participation in the learning community; 3) the learning community will provide a brief summary of the insights and findings generated over the life of the learning community, including readings that might be helpful to others. Participants in each learning community will meet at their discretion, but should meet at least six times for a total of approximately 12 hours between September 21, 2015 and April 30, Faculty may seek to be part of a learning community in two ways: (1) a group of 3-7 faculty members may propose to form a learning community; (2) an individual faculty member may express interest in being a part of a learning community and list topics/themes of interest (individuals who express interest will be connected up to form a learning community). Meeting plan will be determined by the members of the Learning Community Stipend of $500 A book and other reading materials provided Coordinator of the learning communities: Ken Foster #2 Teaching About Climate Change: Insights from the Recent Book How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate The problem of unusually rapid climate change driven largely by human activities has emerged as one of the defining issues of our time. For a variety of reasons, effectively bringing the issue of climate change into the classroom is difficult. While some sort of consideration of climate change would be relevant and useful in a wide variety of courses in a wide variety of disciplines, faculty are often unsure of the best way to do this and feel inadequately prepared to address student questions and criticisms. Participants in this workshop will read the important and concise recent book by Andrew J. Hoffman, How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate and use it as a springboard into practical discussions about 4

5 how bringing climate change into the classroom can potentially enhance one s teaching as well as student learning in multiple disciplines. One 3-hour session, including dinner, and a 1.5 hour follow-up session Stipend of $200 A book and other reading materials provided Facilitator: Ken Foster #3 Sustainability and Study Abroad In these workshops, faculty will consider the question of how we can promote and carry out May study abroad programs, which are generally carbon-intensive, while also pursuing commitments to educate for sustainability and reduce the negative environmental impact of human activities. Participants will be provided with information and resources concerning the relationship between study abroad and sustainability. The heart of the workshop will be the opportunity to discuss the issues with colleagues with the aim of generating useful ideas. Faculty will be equipped with the knowledge and tools needed to determine how they might infuse sustainability education into their May abroad courses and deal with the apparent contradiction between long-distance travel and the goal of reducing one s ecological (including carbon) footprint. Stipend of $250 Reading materials provided Facilitator: Stephen Grollman #4 Using the Campus Organic Garden in Courses The goal of this workshop is to give faculty the opportunity to explore how they might use the campus garden to enrich their courses and promote student learning. Participants will learn about the campus garden s new high tunnel and solar thermal/electric systems and be given examples of how faculty in a variety of disciplines, at Concordia and elsewhere, have made use of campus gardens in their teaching. The workshop will include a tour of the new high tunnel/solar energy systems and time for sharing ideas. Stipend of $250 Reading materials provided Facilitators: Ken Foster, Gretchen Harvey, and two students #5 Using the Physical Campus as a Tool for Teaching and Learning Concordia s physical campus potentially provides numerous opportunities for enhancing classroom learning through student engagement with the physical infrastructure of the campus. This workshop will enable faculty to learn about the various aspects of the campus heating and cooling systems, recycling, landscaping, and so on so that they might identify ways in which the physical campus could be useful to them in enhancing learning in their courses. The first session will include briefings by Facilities Management staff and a tour of campus. The second session will involve discussion and work on how to use the physical campus as a tool for teaching and learning. 5

6 Stipend of $250 Reading materials provided Facilitator: Samantha Hill (Sustainability Coordinator) #6 The Long Lake Research Station: An Experiential Learning Site for the Entire Campus The Long Lake Research Station, located near Detroit Lakes, includes lakeshore, wetlands, restored prairie, and a building suitable for class use. A boiler was recently installed in the building, equipping it for 4-season use. Professors in biology, religion, and other fields have already made use of this site to enrich their courses. The purpose of this workshop is to give faculty an in-depth and up-close look at the site and all that it has to offer. Discussion will generate ideas as to how the site could be useful in enhancing teaching and student learning. 4-hour visit to the research station (inclusive of travel time) (Friday afternoon or Saturday, depending on preferences) Stipend of $150 Facilitator: Bryan Bishop #7 Connecting with Sustainability Work in the Fargo-Moorhead Area Making integrative learning a hallmark of a Concordia education will require the development of more, and more robust, connections with our local community. This workshop will introduce participants to a variety of organizations (both government and private) working on various aspects of sustainability in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Each session will include guest speakers and discussion Stipend of $250 A book and other reading materials provided Facilitator: Stephanie Ahlfeldt 6