EDM211: Education for Social Sustainability

Module code: EDM211

Module provider: Institute of Education

Credits: 20

Level: 7

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Geoff Taggart , email: g.taggart@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 11 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

In this module, students investigate a new approach to environmental and sustainability education, that of rethinking the Western way of knowing and being and engendering a frank discussion about the societal elements that are generating climate, environmental, economic, and social concerns. Highlighting the importance of Indigenous and premodern cultures, the module envisages educational practices as central to social sustainability. The module therefore puts a strong emphasis on inclusion, particularly in relation to race and disability, and draws on the pedagogic tradition of transformative learning. The module also considers whether digital technologies and artificial intelligence may facilitate or impede sustainability.

The module aims to support students:

• develop a critical understanding of fundamental educational issues as they relate to social sustainability by exploring evidence- based research and theoretically informed practice
• reflect critically on the specifically modern educational context in which students work and/or the philosophical, social, cultural and broad political context which has guided that educational provision
• compare and contrast educational contexts and teaching and learning practices experiences gained from critical professional experiences

The module will enable students to compare and contrast education systems of their respective countries, which will provide opportunities for discussion of global educational topics. Students will be also encouraged to consider a variety of settings where educational experiences can occur and reflect on skills, opportunities and possible challenges in introducing such wider approaches.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate understanding of social sustainability, equality, diversity and inclusion by presenting a rationale for adopting and/or a critique of a particular position towards educational provision, such as policy, curriculum, assessment, teaching approaches with
2. Enrich their skills as a professional and reflective educational observer by drawing reflectively and critically upon their own and their peers’ educational experiences and literature about the nature of education and educational provision
3. Develop further their understanding of effective learning environments by comparing and contrasting critically the educational provision from different contexts, particularly modernist, non-Western and indigenous cultures.
4. Demonstrate a critical perspective towards technology, particularly the development of artificial intelligence, and evaluate its usefulness as a tool for social sustainability

Module content

The session will focus on the following topics. The order of the sessions may change:

• Introduction to the module: What are key influences around values and attitudes in education
• What is education for in an ecological age?
• The curriculum we now have- where has it come from, what is it, what is it for, who decides on it?
• Radical inclusion and sustainable learning cultures:  ‘nothing about us without us’
• The pedagogy of indigenous cultures and critical race theory
• Being human/”post-human”: digital technology and artificial intelligence in learning
• Paradigms in educational thought
• Transformative approaches to environmental education
• Linking theory and practice: How do we bring all these ideas together in o