Plenary Session II - Reorienting Teacher Education for Sustainable Development
Holistic Learning for Sustainable Development
Prapapat Niyom, Associate Professor, Roong Aroon School, Thailand
Sustainable development is actually more than the technical management of resources and wastes or energy-saving programmes. In fact, the concept of sustainable development originated from a holistic worldview that encompasses our actions and responses to each other and the world. It reflects the recognition of one’s self, one’s wishes and one’s desires. It can be said that the less one is aware of one’s wishes and desires, the more one rapidly destroys the natural resources and environment through over-consumption. Therefore, the prerequisite for sustainable development is self-learning, self-awareness and concern of oneself as a part of Mother Earth.
During the second half of the last century, many modern methodologies emerged to help save the world from environmental crises. In addition, holistic (including self-) learning became an important approach for educating current and future generations of children, youth and adults. This holistic viewpoint, upheld and promoted by distinguished educators such as Montessori and Rudolf Steiner, has made in-roads into the school system to a certain extent. Much of the responsibility for the success of this development depends on the teachers – the “change agents” – who are able to understand and apply the concept of holistic learning.
Thus, to develop inspiring change agents for a new learning culture, the pedagogy for Teacher Education needs to be carefully designed to incorporate special curriculum and learning processes that may be different from conventional pedagogy.
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