Love and social justice in learning for sustainability

Learning for sustainability requires a social justice approach applicable to both humans and the more-than-human world

The authors of this theoretical essay address the question of how we as humans should live well in the world. Their view of “living well” is grounded in a social justice framework which applies to both human beings and the more-than-human world. The authors begin by referencing the UN Rio Declaration and the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005–2014 and calling attention to what appears in these documents as conceptual contradictions about ‘development and ‘nature.’ One concern deals with the question of whether it’s logically possible to work for both global justice and ecological sustainability. A related concern focuses on a lack of consensus on what ‘education for sustainable development’ entails. To adequately address these concerns, humans will need to communicate across languages and cultures. They may also need to understand what the more-than-human world is communicating about global well-being.

Living well in our world requires an approach that brings human flourishing and ecological concerns together as two parts of a single concern for social justice. Doing so is a matter for education, which in this context, is referred to as “learning to mind.” For students, learning to mind means developing the judgement and wisdom required for living well in a complex and challenging world. It means learning to be mindful about the good of others, which includes humans and different kinds of beings on the planet. Learning to mind in this way is where social justice begins.

Anthropocentricism — the view that humans are distinct from the rest of the world – is inconsistent with a “learning to mind” pedagogy. It is also inconsistent with a pedagogy for ethics and justice. “Learning to mind” requires students to pay whole-hearted attention to the world and to make engaged connections with it. In terms of pedagogy, this requires more than unstructured experience and play in nature. Students need opportunities to participate in re-making the world, based on the understanding that they are a part of (rather than separate from) that world. They need to understand that “we” – in addition to “I” – means not only other human beings but involves more-than-human relationships, as well.

The authors offer three examples of open-ended pedagogical strategies for learning to mind. The examples are drawn from different levels of education: early years, secondary schooling and higher education. In each case, students are introduced to new imaginative neighborhoods where social justice, love, and sustainable living are presented as possibilities.