Volume: 14  Number: 3  Page: 173–186

Not Yet Learning for Sustainability: The Challenge of Environmental Education in a University

Stuart Pearson1, Steven Honeywood1 and Mitch O’Toole2 1Faculty of Science and Information Technology, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia and 2Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia

The pathway for achieving sustainability outcomes in environmental education is littered with difficulty. The experience in this particular case study provides insight into the difficulties of sustainability education and the need for effective formal and informal delivery at various places in the society. Schools and universities are key components of the formal delivery of environmental education yet they do not always provide effective environmental and sustainability learning. An overview of the secondary school curriculum in New South Wales and a detailed case study from the University of Newcastle show that the main problems are an overloaded school curriculum and an inability to develop transdisciplinary learning at that university. The current formal teaching of sustainability leads to variable school outcomes. Of more concern, the university sector lags the rapidly advancing sustainability values of business, community and government. Universities may act as impediments on the pathway to sustainability. Reinvigoration of environmental and sustainability learning requires major structural changes that foster transdisciplinary curriculum development, using fieldwork and real environmental problems to realign delivery to a focus on students, and realigning organisations to promote diversity.

Keywords: education, environmental, sustainability, disciplines, university

© 2005 S. Pearsonet al.

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