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No-self, natural sustainability and education for sustainable development

Education based on natural sustainability highlights the non-dual relation between the self and the rest of the natural world

This conceptual article examines several controversies related to sustainability and education for sustainable development (ESD). The concept of “no-self” is offered as a sustainable approach for living in nature and as a therapy for moving beyond an egocentric way of relating to the outside world. “No-self” thinking is consistent with the Buddhist principle of non-dualism, where no distinction is made between humans and nature based on the idea that all things are interdependent.

Current thinking about sustainability and ESD is rooted in anthropocentrism – a view that places humans at the center of the universe. The current approach to ESD is also based on a scientific understanding of the world and the expectation that science can effectively address the negative effects of environmental damage facing humans. This approach to ESD reflects a narrow view of sustainability and does not give learners an authentic understanding of nature. Natural sustainability is offered as an alternative.

While the current approach to ESD includes a concern for social justice and is oriented toward the cultivation of ecologically responsible citizens, it’s based on a narrow view of sustainability. When viewed broadly, ESD requires more than a concern about how we live; it’s based on how we think. The current ESD approach allows for dualistic thinking where one side is viewed as being in competition with the other, such as ecology vs economics, nature vs people, and values vs facts. Natural sustainability, in contrast, views all things in relation, rather than in opposition, to each other.

Sustainable development goals tend to be instrumental and anthropocentric. Sustainability from this perspective focuses on “sustaining” or conserving resources required to meet human purposes. Natural sustainability, on the other hand, includes a spiritual component. In an educational context, the focus of ESD when oriented toward natural sustainability enhances a “spiritual awareness that opens students’ sensibility towards nature.” This educational approach requires more than abstract and intellectual models of sustainability. It requires opportunities for students to experience elements of the natural world and to become emotionally engaged with nature. This engagement allows students to discover that self and the natural world can never be dichotomized, as both are merged into a natural oneness. The “no-self” that emerges doesn’t deny the existence of “I.” What gets lost, or left behind, is the preoccupation of the self.

The “no-self” concept can be applied to ESD, as no-self thinking recognizes our interdependence with the rest of the natural world and calls for living in harmony with nature. Ecological interdependence (with humans included) is a natural phenomenon and should be presented as such in ESD.

Citation

Wang, D-L., (2017). No-self, natural sustainability and education for sustainable development. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(5), 550-561.

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2016.1217189

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