Rethinking Transformative Education : Skills for a regenerative society
Kantonen, Eerika (2024-06-04)
Rethinking Transformative Education : Skills for a regenerative society
(04.06.2024)
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
avoin
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2024062457323
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2024062457323
Tiivistelmä
This research builds understanding on how education professionals envision a regenerative society in year 2050. It defines the necessary skills set for the regenerative society and demonstrates how current concepts of global and green competences in education match up with the needs of regenerative futures. It is a futures study conducted with participatory futures methods making use of expert knowledge and abilities to envision the futures and its needs.
The motivation for the research comes from raising criticism on the Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals- on their insufficiency and not being reachable by humanity. Simultaneously they are said to lack a holistic approach that would cover post-sustainability scenarios. It has been argued that a transformative change aiming on regeneration is needed.
The theoretical framework of this study is based on the concepts of regeneration and transformative education. It builds understanding on regenerative futures, its aims, the necessary worldviews, and paths to regeneration. Secondly it discusses the role of education in transformation and the concept of transformative education. It introduces concepts and competence frameworks that have gained interest on European and global levels: the green competence framework and the global competence framework. Furthermore, the theoretical framework emphasizes on innovative educational and pedagogical strategies recently developed to promote planetary wellbeing and regeneration.
To answer the research questions, four participatory futures workshops were held. These workshops used Mental time travel and Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) as methods. The results were gathered from 31 educational professionals and experts working in various development and directing roles in the educational sector in Europe and master’s and Doctoral students in the changing Education study program.
These workshops resulted in 18 individual future images that then were categorized into three future images that represent the image of a larger group of participants. This grouping was done based on what the image gave most emphasis on simplicity, technology or societal findings. These images are different possibilities within a regenerative society and are not contradictory to one another. At the core of a regenerative society are the respective values and worldview that secure regeneration to be an ongoing process. It is a society that everyone is valued and has value for regenerating wellbeing for all living forms This value base also affects on the necessary skills and competences.
The four workshops generated a total of over 200 skills, competences and changes in education needed in a regenerative society. They reflect the collective skillset envisioned as necessary for the described futures and reflect the holistic nature of a regenerative society, where transformation is constant and interactive adaptability needed.
The most often occurring skills were empathy, various collaboration and communication skills and critical thinking skills. But also, communal skills, respect and values were mentioned on several occasions and levels. Vast majority of the skills were related to personal ability (i.e., problem solving) rather than practical work (f.eg. cultivating). Also, observations on how education institutions and teachers should reposition were mentioned, pointing the necessity of reskilling and upskilling of the educational professionals.
Based on this study’s findings Global and the Green competence frameworks have recognized competences that are also necessary for a regenerative society, despite of being built on a mechanistic worldview and on a humancentric approach. Hence if the underlying values and worldviews are not transformed, the skills might have limited potential for continuous transformation necessary for regeneration. Furthermore, the research results also included tens of skills that could not be classified into these categories leading to the observation that alone and without revision they are not sufficient frameworks for regeneration. The novel practices and paradigms of planetary citizenship and planetary social pedagogy as well as regenerative learning and education theory have filled many of these gaps and could together with this research’s findings form a more comprehensive skills set for regeneration. Without understanding reality and nature and being able to evaluate facts based on evidence we have limited chances for taking use of the knowledge necessary for regeneration.
A regenerative society demands open discussion on the shared values, as the underlying worldview and values can hinder us from making the transformative change and look beyond it. Learning should support the hopeful vision for everyone and everything. The role of educator’s should keep on transforming from passing on knowledge to recognizing the potential of individuals and help develop to a person able to produce wellbeing in the community. Education is the driving force of this regenerative society.
The motivation for the research comes from raising criticism on the Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals- on their insufficiency and not being reachable by humanity. Simultaneously they are said to lack a holistic approach that would cover post-sustainability scenarios. It has been argued that a transformative change aiming on regeneration is needed.
The theoretical framework of this study is based on the concepts of regeneration and transformative education. It builds understanding on regenerative futures, its aims, the necessary worldviews, and paths to regeneration. Secondly it discusses the role of education in transformation and the concept of transformative education. It introduces concepts and competence frameworks that have gained interest on European and global levels: the green competence framework and the global competence framework. Furthermore, the theoretical framework emphasizes on innovative educational and pedagogical strategies recently developed to promote planetary wellbeing and regeneration.
To answer the research questions, four participatory futures workshops were held. These workshops used Mental time travel and Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) as methods. The results were gathered from 31 educational professionals and experts working in various development and directing roles in the educational sector in Europe and master’s and Doctoral students in the changing Education study program.
These workshops resulted in 18 individual future images that then were categorized into three future images that represent the image of a larger group of participants. This grouping was done based on what the image gave most emphasis on simplicity, technology or societal findings. These images are different possibilities within a regenerative society and are not contradictory to one another. At the core of a regenerative society are the respective values and worldview that secure regeneration to be an ongoing process. It is a society that everyone is valued and has value for regenerating wellbeing for all living forms This value base also affects on the necessary skills and competences.
The four workshops generated a total of over 200 skills, competences and changes in education needed in a regenerative society. They reflect the collective skillset envisioned as necessary for the described futures and reflect the holistic nature of a regenerative society, where transformation is constant and interactive adaptability needed.
The most often occurring skills were empathy, various collaboration and communication skills and critical thinking skills. But also, communal skills, respect and values were mentioned on several occasions and levels. Vast majority of the skills were related to personal ability (i.e., problem solving) rather than practical work (f.eg. cultivating). Also, observations on how education institutions and teachers should reposition were mentioned, pointing the necessity of reskilling and upskilling of the educational professionals.
Based on this study’s findings Global and the Green competence frameworks have recognized competences that are also necessary for a regenerative society, despite of being built on a mechanistic worldview and on a humancentric approach. Hence if the underlying values and worldviews are not transformed, the skills might have limited potential for continuous transformation necessary for regeneration. Furthermore, the research results also included tens of skills that could not be classified into these categories leading to the observation that alone and without revision they are not sufficient frameworks for regeneration. The novel practices and paradigms of planetary citizenship and planetary social pedagogy as well as regenerative learning and education theory have filled many of these gaps and could together with this research’s findings form a more comprehensive skills set for regeneration. Without understanding reality and nature and being able to evaluate facts based on evidence we have limited chances for taking use of the knowledge necessary for regeneration.
A regenerative society demands open discussion on the shared values, as the underlying worldview and values can hinder us from making the transformative change and look beyond it. Learning should support the hopeful vision for everyone and everything. The role of educator’s should keep on transforming from passing on knowledge to recognizing the potential of individuals and help develop to a person able to produce wellbeing in the community. Education is the driving force of this regenerative society.