Running Head: Kristy Snell SLEE405.

ASS1: Reflective discussion & analysis 1

Assessment 1: Reflective discussion and analysis Kristy Snell Swinburne University SLEE405: Sustainable Education and Perspective Kate Chinarova 5th August, 2013.

Running Head: Kristy Snell SLEE405. ASS1: Reflective discussion & analysis 2 Introduction Sustainability is the issues of our times; it seeks to reduce the social, environmental and economic imbalances of contemporary society ensuring the wellbeing of future generations. This poses numerous challenges involving the participation of individuals, organizations, governments and societies to learn new and sustainable ways of living without imposing harsh consequences on the future environment. Learning about sustainability through life experiences, education, mind shift and frameworks enables educators to teach and implement the skills needed to face these environmental issues. Reflection and Analysis Growing up in a big city, with an estimated population of over 181,000 people (Wikipedia, 2013.) scattered about industrialized, commercialized, modernized, ever growing city and rural communities shaped my attitude towards environmental sustainability in many ways. Living in a small house, a small backyard was an amazing wonderland of plants, grass, trees, insects, bugs and even a pond that housed my pet turtle. I found myself building small houses and obstacle courses for my turtle out of whatever recycled and natural materials I could get my hands on, such as toilet rolls, cardboard boxes, sticks, leaves, flowers and mud. I cared for his environment as if it were my own, ensuring he had plenty of room to move around within his natural space, making sure there was no rubbish and he had access to clean drinking water. I built a spout from the guttering system to flood into a big ceramic dish to fill his supply of fresh drinking water. Learning to care for an animal in a natural environment produced the foundations towards my attitude regarding environmental sustainability. Talking about my turtle and his

Running Head: Kristy Snell SLEE405. ASS1: Reflective discussion & analysis 3 habitat at school to my teacher and classmates was my moment of realization (Edwards & Buzzel, 2008). Collaboratively conversing about natural habitats led to larger more detailed discussions, questioning the way we live and our impact on sustainability involving our earths systems. The use of water bubblers in the school grounds- as a class we came up with the idea to remove the drainage pipe (for the excess water) and place a bucket under the opening. This enabled children and teachers to empty the bucket of water onto nearby garden beds; promoting water conservation through education and practice as education for sustainability is both present and future oriented. Learning to design and implement actions for the present, in the knowledge that the impact of these actions will be experience needed in the future (DEWHA, 2010). I believe that beyond sustainable there is a restorative factor enabling each and every one of us to put back more than we take from the environment. Learning a new way of living and that our actions have consequences, competently meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987). I now live in a small rural community in a farming district facing yet another year of drought. I water my lawns and plants using a hose connected to the washing machine, my small but significant step to water conservation. The community is struggling as a whole as irrigation and dry land crops are suffering from the effects of environmental change. If there is no water provided naturally or through government initiatives, farmers are unable to grow their crops. This could cause a wave of potential detrimental effects to the community, loss of income, price increase for water, urgent sale of livestock and regretful sale of land which could all lead to the potential loss of the community. Exposing people to the risks that our actions are causing is in fact detrimental to our future generations existence.

Running Head: Kristy Snell SLEE405. ASS1: Reflective discussion & analysis 4 My global mind shift changed as I began thinking and viewing the world from a bigger perspective involving social, economic and environmental perspectives. Bonnett (2002) states education can be a vehicle for actively promoting positive attitudes and behaviour that reflect the requirements of sustainable development. Documents such as the EYLF offer educators outcomes to incorporate in the education curriculum such as, Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world. Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment and show growing appreciation and care for natural environments. This can evolve from discussions about a drawing of a flower, researching and exploring where flowers come fromseeds, these seeds need water and sun to grow. By involving children in this experience, offering a hands on approach by constructing a garden in which to plant the seeds. Incorporating this care for the garden into the daily routine enables the childrens appreciation for the natural environment. Educating children, adults, states, countries and the globe on issues such as degradation of land and water ways, population growth, high energy consumption, ecological footprints, decline in biodiversity, incorporating transformation and change, participation and partnerships for change, lifelong learning and envisioning a better future are all critical factors in moving towards a sustainable future. We cannot turn to another culture that is more eco-sympathetic for answers and solutions as different community, cultural and epistemological contexts are evident. The African culture and traditional view is that humans are the weakest of Gods creatures (Mutwa, 1997). This can be argued in Edwards and Buzzels The Waking up Syndrome (2008), that anthropocentrism is the idea that humans must be the central concern, looked after and cared for above all other real or imaginary beings. If we use anthropocentrism as a global view this

Running Head: Kristy Snell SLEE405. ASS1: Reflective discussion & analysis 5 might in fact manifest the bio-centric, eco-centric and techno-centric views to become excuses and actions that humans see and practice their living for sustainable futures. Conclusion The stages of denial I dont believe it, Its not a problem, someone will fix it and Its useless (Edwards & Buzzell, 2008) are certainly not contributing to the development of environmental sustainability. Society as a whole need to recognize we are causing staggering amounts of damage to our environment, some irreparable. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect (Leopold, 1949). This mindset needs to change to a global mind shift, involving perspectives from many different views, not just what is affecting one particular society at any one time. Providing knowledge, skills, respect, varying contexts and implementation through education and practice is a holistic approach to developing environmental sustainability.

Running Head: Kristy Snell SLEE405. ASS1: Reflective discussion & analysis 6 References Bonnett, M. (2002). Education for sustainability as a frame of mind. Environmental Education Research, 8(1), pp. 9-20. DEWHA. (2010). Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Sustainability Curriculum Framework: A guide for curriculum developers and policy makers. Edwards, S., Buzzell, L. (2008). The Waking up Syndrome. Retrieved July 23, 2013 from: http://www.hopedance.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=413&Ite mid=32 EYLF. (2010). The Early Years Learning Framework in action: Educators stories and models for practice. Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the council of Australian Governments. Leopold, A. (1949).ASCA. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford University Press. Mutwa, C. (1997). Isilwane the animal takes and fables of Africa. In. Shallcross, T. (2010). Ideological and Pedagogical tensions in an environmental sustainable education project: A review of adult education practices around Lake Fundudzi, South Africa. International Journal of African Renaissance Studies. Vol.5 (2), pp. 290-302.

Running Head: Kristy Snell SLEE405. ASS1: Reflective discussion & analysis 7 WCED. (1987). World Commission on Environment and Development. Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future. Retrieved May 21 2013 from http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm Wikipedia (2013). Geelong population. Retrieved July 31, 2013 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geelong

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