I am currently exploring ways and means to develop suitable stimulus materials for our APL candidates to reflect on what makes a sustainable practioner in their sepcific disciplines, occupationbs and professions. I'm pondering Sam Mann's (the green graduate. 2011. p38) statement: "Sustainability is about context and the big picture (systems thinking, ethics, evaluating change,scientific and creative paradigms) and a few methodologies.(eg. carbon footprinting,as appropriate). We can offer a bottom line foir each discipline. A sustainable practitionere will be succesful when they support people and nature in their actions by: a) enabling people to meet their own and future generations' needs in an equitable way; b) causing no harm to nature; c) consuming resources at a rate at which nature replaces them; d) ensuring nature is not subject to materials it cannot process. I'm hoping some folk will attempt to develop a statement about themselves as a sustainable practitioner in the (particular occupation or discipline) based on this bottom line. Currently I'm working with a number of Social Service candidates and am conscious that the School has chosen to highlight the social justice "equitable"sense of sustainability. Design has a much more obvious focus on consumables. I'm wondering what would make me (an educator) a sustainable practitioner?

My perspective on sustainability, sustainable development and education for sustainability is shifting with the valuable challenges from what I am reading and what others in the group have as exeprience, values and actions. I am ever up for such shifts and probably have deliberately exposed myself to many during my learning life. I find reassurance in Sam Mann's "The Green Graduate: Educating every student as a sustainable practitioner" 2011. Wellington:NCER. While his own passion and determination to make a change is very evident he acknowledges that the development towards truly sustainable practice is an ongoing and neverending journey. In terms of supporting students to be sustainable practitioners, he is in the classic change-agent territory,as he suggests that ecological literacy is in fact cultural literacy and quotes Polistina (2009) "reflection on our culture and other cultural systems can help reveal the complex social, environmental,and economic relationships that need to be changed to make a successful shift towards sustainability"(p121) I notice that we venture on a regular basis into the consideration of the cultural systems in our own institution. And of course, any change agent knows that simply preaching doesn't do it. there has to be a hook that catches the interest of the student.Usually it will be a personal one such as power relationships,depletion of a desired recource. I look forward to further refinements and actions.

sustainability in the international arena

since our discussion on Friday I have been mulling over the notion that is called Strong Sustainability in NZ and I think I have understood it. It is to do with equitable access to "needed" resources across members of any given society. This morning, Kim Hill interviewed ChandranNair who is the founder of the Global Institute for Tomorrow and proposes that the East will be the place that is able to reshape the rules of global capitalism. He sees the West as too well entrenched in the liberal rational decision making narrative to consider it. I wonder? He maintains that all people need somewhere safe to live, access to clean food and water, healthcare and education. Probably no arguments from anyione there, but how do you provide that when everyone in the population wants to drive a car everyday? or have the two or more bathrooms? In addition,if you look at how this practice has been maintained, it is one of privilege and in many cases has been supported by exploitation of other populations. When we sit ourselves in positions of relative privilege, what are we prepared to accept as strict limits imposed by others on our aquisition of material goods?Having had copmparative choice, it is difficult to reduce that,as in the process you reduce also someone's sense of freedom and power. Still more thinking to do I believe.

what really is "hard" susatainability?

today's gathering allowed my thoughts in four last posts to come together into something cohesive and congruent. Sustainability is indeed about the maintenance of resouces for human, social, economc, and built capital to be available to both us and those whi come after us. the "Hard or Strong" sustainalbilty notions fit well with this. all aspects of the universal system- are needed to be in some sort of alignment for our lives to continue. well if we can (and probably it is only the middle class who can) we could and should: 1)collect less "stuff"; 2) not look for Mansions with several bathrooms in posh suburbs; 3) add our political voice to causes (eg;MMp/Lignite mining); 4)foreshore and seabed; 5) south Dunedeih school amalgamation. I'm vbecoming transformed in my thinging andf beleieve that that is the opurpose of this course. What my actions are will be different possibly to my vlaues.

education for sustainability at Otago Polytechnic

all this interlocking view of life, both biological, spiritual, manufactured and economic, including issues of equity and ethical practice, is what our institution is trying to implement. It should be threaded through any qualification offered by us. At CAPABLENZ it should be threaded throughna ny qualification we award, so I need to come to grips with what it means.
To this end I'm looking at three major resources- the Education for Sustainability Blog that can be found in the links on the lefthand side of Insite- has some interesting contributions from school champions. I found the Vet Nursing discussion on uniforms (made in China) and Jenny Rudd's Mental Health Support threading of great interest. Also I have borrowed two books by Sam Mann- "Sustainable Lens" is to be recomended- it has a vast array of diagrams that attempt to depict sustainability in many forms, faced by a one page commentary by SWam who with his usual insight is always pushing me just a little beyond my comfort zone. His second publication "The Green Graduate" is an account of the process introducing Sustainable Ppractice into Otago Polytechnic qualifications- and again causes me to take time out to consider. (you could always listen to Sam's radio programme on Thursday nights as well).

Sustainability, that began for me on an environemntal level is becoming moral and ethical. A matter of values, equity, fairness and stewardship -kaitiaki- over both material and biological resources.

Fritjof Capra- easier link

the last link is a bit astray- I quite like its quirkiness, but here is a more obvious connection toCapra

great reading.

Orr's Six Myths about education

Orr quotes Elie Wiesel as saying Education "emphasised theories instead of values, cponcepts rather than human beings, abstraction rather than consciousness, answers instead of questions, ideology and efficiency rather than conscience". This is not a new criticism of an education system- it is rather one that challenges the Western rational approach to knowledge collection and use. Weisel and Orr with him are sitting on a rationale that would have education being about values and conscience. (not so different from the base and justification for many of our integrated private schools in New Zealand)
Having experienced the formal education system both as a receiver (what a passive word) and a giver (under a plethera of role titles)for more years than I can count on my fingers, I am very inclined to agree with critiques that give knowledge, its reception and use a priviliege for the rational and indeed support the false dualism of the intellect and the spirit. What you replace it with is the moot point. Clearly Orr wants to replace it with the notion that "all education is environmental education" and lists curriculum content that would provide that. This is a seductively partisan view and one which is quite cleverly argued. I'm in the process of exploring other readings (Design for Sustainability and FritjofCapra ) where an holistic and integrated world is pictured and ways to support that are explored.
I'll just keep on with it I think and I look forward to our next gathering.

fab resource

hi folks.
easter was an interesting time in a camping ground with very clear statements around environmental responsibility- "to ensure you enjoy being here until your old age and your grandchildren can also".

The neatest resource is to be found (as it often is) in material designed for further down the education chain.
http://seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz/social-sciences/Education-for-sustainability

"It can be helpful to think of sustainability in terms of maintaining the capital we need for our continued existance. There are four types od such capital:natural,human,social and built (includes both manufactured and financial). All four types are necessary if societies are to function".

definitions, teaching packs, assessment resources. a veritable feast and all for free!!!!!

sustainable practice- new learning? or refocussing on old?

I am fascinated by the trends in recipe books in New Zealand over the last 6 months.
Much of what we are going to now is "comfort food" food our grandmothers used to make- witness the Baking recipes, the home garden recipes, the eggless, butterless (from the days of rationing,)and the collections from fundraising publications. Further than that the grow your own gurus, (Linda Hallinan, Anabelle Langbein) are taking us into a former life. (Of course our cleaning with Wendyl Nissan could be going that way too. Baking soda and vinegar will get you to a clean heaven).
And bless us, the advice to those who seek well-being is taking the same pathway. Nigel Latta in both his magazine columns and his tv programme talks about "stuff" not making you happy,while Martin Seligman looks for a satisfying life that is as much about doing things for others as for the self.
It may be that in a time of recession we become nostalgic for what was and from a distance seems much better. (Have you seen "Midnight in Paris"? There anything 'before'has to be superior)It may be that such regression is actually progression towards more sustainable lifestyles that will make fewer demands on both our environment and our society.
I wonder what you think?

porgress up and down

I have recently been involved in a serious and important discussion around how to assess experiential learning and match it with taught stuff. It is like copmparing apples with oranges, BUT if you shift up a conceptual level they are "fruit".
SO how do we recognise Fruit? can we allow distinctive varietal differences? or do we have a must have and might have list?
are the critical definitions of fruit sufficient? or do we need a flavour of each specialty (major) fruit?
quite a challenge really, AND very important when prior/exepriential learning is presented to assess.
I'd love some comments on this from you all.

workbased learning

I wonder often if the world recognises some of the "hidden" aspects of learning at work. oh yes, there is the skill demonstration, and sometimes the "you would be wise to.." mentoring, but aside from that?
If all workers were required (under the most dictatorial regime you might imagine) to document thoughts/feelings/learnings what would aprear. I suspect that something we might see as Grounded Theory might emerge. then the challenge is to support the working learner to compare their groundedness with the formalities.
So how does the wolrd recognise the learning? maybe the world has to challenge its own assessment practices.

Today was Otago Polytechnic graduation. The section in which I work -CAPABLENZ -that works with experienced people to promote critical reflections of that experience towards a presentation to a panel of expert assessors, had 100 graduands. The qualifications included tertiary teaching; Apllied management; Youth Work; Business administration; Building surveying; Counselling;career practice; Construction management;Design (Fashion); Design (Product).

It is an affirmation of the value of experienced people and their timely links to reflection on their experience.
It is also an affirmation of the value of intentionally supportive practice for those who have not been part of the regular education system for some time.

This is what makes the work worth while.
AND the challenge is how to work well with distance people.

I wonder if what we see is what is there? I have brought many biases and interpretations to education and my work with learners that I'm sure have been slightly off-focus. It is in the listening to the learner that the lens is recalibrated.the mini conference topics will allow this focussing to happen I'm sure.

restraining (retraining) Tweets

I have had a Twitter account for a month now. In that time I have followed several people and learned some personal and some professional details of their lives. (I have also connected with a relative and that is a bonus.) the meeting I attended didn't do it for me, as my tweets got lost somewhere and so didn't gain traction.
I have decided that for the moment my on line personality and the platform that Twitter affords this is not of sufficient reward to continue.
I'm interested in the recent work on Web3 presence and wonder if we are simply working through a period of web2 stuff to get us all to be without a computer at all?

which system,which tool?

having experienced several platforms for connecting and found most of them rather frustrating, (including Boldchat that the NZ Career service uses), I'm wondering about the whole notion of having an e-learning prescence.
I find the cautions of Synapsis rather helpful. certainly Plan B is an omnipresent imperative.
alas, we don't always have one.
So we are left with the notion that the technology can (and often does) drive the pedagogy- a situation I find almost intolerable.

beaking out all over

and no it isn't only spring that has broken out.

the breakout time in Elluminate has shown our collective wish to have:
1)timers showing in all the rooms- well the wonderful Jo Hart says yes you choose the "seen by all" option and that will happen.

2) screens loaded in each room. again JoHart gives us plenty of answers and more besides. Thank goodness for such people, as the material from Elluminate itself is really only promotional- what you can do rather than how.

The other suggestions from Sarah around room leaders or what we had called guardians or kaitiaki in our planning, the summaries at the end etc are indeed all real group facilitator musts aren't they? I was so reminded that it is so easy to be tipped off a well balanced perch by technical malfunctions.
and yes it is Spring. so all those blossoms, tulips, dafodils, etc are showing purpose and hope in our gardens.
May you and yours be well tended at this time.

the microwave experience

well I think of todays time in Ellmunate as the "microwave" session.
Jane Scripps analgy for that new appliance in the kitchen is so apt.
This appliance,Elluminate and the possibilities inherent in the use of Breakout Rooms is very seductive and "now", but like all appliances it needs tinme to learn and test its subtleties and for all the contributors to be functiong.
We suffered in that Karen's connection from Canada was highly intermittent both visually and in sound.
In addition we had needed a sample group to try various ways of assigning spaces and the functioning of those spaces.
I think what we did have was a most interesting learning experience from a developmental trio who worked to keep interest and input alive.
Thanks to all those in the group for their careful and thoughtful contributions.

technology tools for sound pedagogy/development

In the last two weeks I have been excited by the Elluminate sessions with Nancy White and Greg Walker and also the blog notes of Jo harte's tips that I can see how this online tool of Elluminate can carry such sound pedagogical and developmental practice.
I am in awe of those who seem to be able to wear the four shoes of e-facilitation.
For me the technological shoe is the challenge and I guess it is much the same challenge as having legible and interesting whiteboard script. just different tools for the visuals.
I have been so heartened by the message that the pedagogy is the important thing and the tool simply supports that to happen. several of our network have reinforced that message.
The educational issues that Sarah finds are much the same as ours in NZ, so we are an internationalo netwrok of people trying top make sound eeucational and develo0pmental sens of the use of online techn ology.
Our endeavours in this course are very valuable. Rayna Dickson acknowledges the value, excitement and motivation of discovering online experiences.She sees the making of connections as a valuble activity and experience,and the "light bulb" happening when a door is opened through this.
I believe we are on the cusp of a new set of learnings and I look forward to those.

communities, networks, links,

An African proverb tells us, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Nancy White distinguishes between the network, a collection of people who link in meaningful ways, but retain a focus on the needs and benfit to the self, and the community where people surrender something of the self in order for the greater good to benefit.What sits between is always something of a dilemma. The identity issues around Social Networking sites and the theft of identities through unsafe levels of disclosure are probably where much of the tension in being involved with those sites will sit.

I have recently happened on Melinda Blau's blog in which she explores the idea that we live in a lonely society and we have encounters with people who seem incosequential to us, but for various sets of human social needs, are in practice consequential. Some of these will be strangers we pay for services (eg. massage therapists, clinical supervisors)others those that have regular role or proximity space in our lives. Further she suggests that we need to seek out these opeople and build ourself a cirlce of consequential strangers. I find her ideas compelling and think it helps explain the popularity of social networking sites.

online groupwork

this is a really delicious jigsaw of online groupwork processes. I'm really simply doing my technical practice and I can't get the insert image tool in the new post box to work at all, so have gone back to HTML and found this worked.
I find each of these components quite a challenge and can see why each might be needed.
Group work is possibly one of the most complex pieces of online work and I would love to know how others have managed it.

Willie