COURSE INFORMATION:

Course dates: 17.3.-28.4.2022

Credits: 5 ECTS

Course type: Optional

Target group: Faculty of Education & Humanities students, Sustainable Development Minor Students

Course organisers: Maria Helena Saari & Anna Vladimirova

Language of instruction: English (Assignments can be completed in English and/or Finnish)

Objectives and outcomes:

Students will:

• Increase their understanding of the foundations and diverse approaches to environmental education.
• Understand and be able to apply key concepts to teaching practices, educational planning and/or research
• Be able to critically examine different educational approaches to environmental education and assess their efficacy to different teaching contexts and age groups
• Increase their understanding of the socio-political context and ethical issues related to sustainability
• Explore arts-based and creative pedagogies as a means of navigating eco-anxiety

Course content:

• Foundations of environmental education
• Ethical and socio-political issues related to climate crises and sustainability
• Policies related to sustainability and environmental education
• Exploring sustainability issues from the perspectives of various stakeholders
• Different approaches related to environmentally-oriented education, including education for sustainability, outdoor education, humane education
• Pedagogical models including project-based learning, service learning, place-based and place-responsive pedagogies
• Case studies of environmental education activities/projects
• Designing and evaluating environmental education lessons/projects/research

Assessment:

The 135h course consists of:

• 7 x 1,5h seminars (via Zoom)
• 121h independent and group work (assigned readings, Moodle exercises, final project)
• Participation in this course requires commitment and active participation in all tasks.
• Assessment: pass/fail