Students, Teachers, and Mayors: The Question of Power over the Community-based Environmental and Sustainability Education Projects

ČINČERA, Jan. Students, Teachers, and Mayors: The Question of Power over the Community-based Environmental and Sustainability Education Projects. In DGfE-BNE-Kommissionstagung 2023 – "Kontroversen und Debatten im Kontext von Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung", University of Education, Heidelberg. 2023.

Basic information

• Original name: Students, Teachers, and Mayors: The Question of Power over the Community-based Environmental and Sustainability Education Projects
• Name (in English): Students, Teachers, and Mayors: The Question of Power over the Community-based Environmental and Sustainability Education Projects
• Authors: ČINČERA, Jan.
• Edition: DGfE-BNE-Kommissionstagung 2023 – "Kontroversen und Debatten im Kontext von Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung", University of Education, Heidelberg, 2023.

Other information

• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Keywords in English: environmental and sustainability education; distribution of power; community-based projects; participatory approach
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

Contemporary environmental and sustainability education (ESE) should be action-oriented, which assumes it should be participatory and motivate students to be involved in community-based projects (Sinakou et al., 2019). However, the need to negotiate the goals for such projects among students, teachers, and community representatives often starts a delicate process of distributing the power over the project and its implementation. In some cases, what students want to achieve to promote sustainability in their community differs from what the community representatives are willing to support. These differences often lead to clashes and may cause the failure of the project (Iversen & Jónsdóttir, 2018). In other cases, students are discouraged from their original ideas and led to adopt new goals, aligning with a community policy while not necessarily crucial for the local sustainability needs. While students may still be involved in a community-based project, they lose control over its aims and implementation. As a result, they also lose their motivation, and the experience may promote their frustration rather than empowerment (Činčera et al., 2019). The presentation focuses on the qualitative evaluation research of the program School for Sustainable Development, targeting young students from the Czech Republic. Specifically, it compares the stories of the three groups of students, describing various possible conclusions regarding the distribution of power among the students, teachers, and community in the community-based ESE.

Abstract (in English)

Contemporary environmental and sustainability education (ESE) should be action-oriented, which assumes it should be participatory and motivate students to be involved in community-based projects (Sinakou et al., 2019). However, the need to negotiate the goals for such projects among students, teachers, and community representatives often starts a delicate process of distributing the power over the project and its implementation. In some cases, what students want to achieve to promote sustainability in their community differs from what the community representatives are willing to support. These differences often lead to clashes and may cause the failure of the project (Iversen & Jónsdóttir, 2018). In other cases, students are discouraged from their original ideas and led to adopt new goals, aligning with a community policy while not necessarily crucial for the local sustainability needs. While students may still be involved in a community-based project, they lose control over its aims and implementation. As a result, they also lose their motivation, and the experience may promote their frustration rather than empowerment (Činčera et al., 2019). The presentation focuses on the qualitative evaluation research of the program School for Sustainable Development, targeting young students from the Czech Republic. Specifically, it compares the stories of the three groups of students, describing various possible conclusions regarding the distribution of power among the students, teachers, and community in the community-based ESE.

Links

• MUNI/A/1439/2022, interní kód MU: Name: Odolnost společnosti v dobách krizí

Investor: Masaryk University, Resilience of society in times of crisis