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Act! Environmental education for political participation - EDU00120M

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  • Department: Education
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Lynda Dunlop
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
    • See module specification for other years: 2023-24

Module summary

There is a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future for life on Earth as we know it. Everyone has a role to play in working together to secure this future. How can and how should educators and communicators respond to global and local environmental challenges? How can we build a better future for everyone? This module exists to support the next generation of leaders in environmental sustainability education and communication by examining how values and worldviews influence education and communication for environmental sustainability. Through the module you will learn to lead change through participatory, inclusive and creative approaches to formal and non-formal education and will examine the role of different methods of political participation in the change process.

Related modules

n/a

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2024-25

Module aims

This module aims to prepare students to lead change through participatory, inclusive and creative approaches to formal and non-formal education. Students will examine how values and worldviews influence education and communication for environmental sustainability and develop skills to negotiate difference and disagreement in constructive ways. You will participate in and evaluate approaches to discussion, dialogue, and simulated political processes and gain experience of facilitation and writing for political participation.

Module learning outcomes

Through your work on the module, you will be able to:

· Demonstrate a systematic and critical understanding of the role of political participation in environmental education and communication.

· Critically reflect on the use of education and communication to interrogate values, include stakeholders, elicit different perspectives, and work across difference on environmental issues.

· Create and communicate meaningful and equitable solutions to complex, real-world educational scenarios to promote environmental sustainability.

· Take a whole systems approach to environmental sustainability education and imagine alternative educational futures.

· Use initiative and imagination to make decisions and take responsibility for informed social and political action.

· Make a positive contribution by assessing the environmental impact of education and communication actions, set targets for improvement and understand the implications of change.

Graduate skills:

Through your work on this module, you will develop

· Ability to communicate and work as a member of a team.

· Oral and written communication skills.

· Critical thinking, analysis and reflection skills

Ability to reflect on individual and group learning.

Module content

The module will use an experiential approach where students will participate in philosophical dialogue, futures techniques, and writing for policy. The following questions will form themes for the module:

· If everyone is an activist, what are you an activist for? Education, activism and politics in classroom settings.

· Are emotions more important than reason? Emotionally attentive education and communication.

· How do you challenge petro-pedagogies? Case studies on environmental education.

· What is the role of teachers and schools in climate crisis activism? Discussions on risk, safeguarding and intergenerational justice.

· Can education/communication spaces be democratic? Philosophical dialogue through a community of inquiry.

· What can we learn from simulations? Thought experiments as adventures in politics.

· What futures are desirable for people and the planet? Horizon scanning, actor and consequence mapping and axes of uncertainty.

· How do you write the future? Analysing authorship of policy documents and co-creating policy briefs.

· Is ‘new’ media good for political participation? Reading and writing mass communication.

· Can questions change the world? Facilitating dialogue on environmental priorities.

Students will be assessed through the production of an environmental policy brief and a facilitated dialogue they will lead during the course of the module.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay : Policy brief		 N/A 80
Oral presentation/seminar/exam
Aural / Listening : Facilitated discussion		 N/A 20

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

The policy brief will be marked using the rubric for MA programmes, with some elaboration on structure and style to reflect the genre.

The approach to assessing facilitated dialogue will be based on section 13 of the UoY guide to assessment and feedback. Two members of staff will be present and the facilitated dialogue will be recorded. Students will be graded on their use of questioning, managing contributions, and summary comments on the discussion.

The reassessment (analysis of a recording of a facilitated dialogue) is shorter than the facilitated dialogue to reflect that the recording will have only one person speaking.

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay : Policy brief		 N/A 80
Oral presentation/seminar/exam
Aural / Listening : Analysis of a recording of a facilitated dialogue		 N/A 20

Module feedback

Individual written feedback reports, with follow-up tutor meeting, if necessary. The feedback is returned to students in line with university policy. Please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

Indicative reading

Banaji, S. (2008) The trouble with civic: A snapshot of young people's civic and political engagements in twenty-first-century democracies, Journal of Youth Studies, 11(5), 543– 560.

Barrett, M., & Pachi, D. (2019). Youth civic and political engagement. London:Routledge.

Ekman, J., & Amna, E. (2009). Political Participation and Civic Activism: Towards a New Typology. Youth and Society working paper (2), 2, 29.

Hay, C. (2007). Why we hate politics. Cambridge: Polity.

Hess, D. E., & McAvoy, P. (2014). The political classroom: evidence and ethics in democratic education. Routledge.

Hurlbert, M., & Gupta, J. (2015). The split ladder of participation: A diagnostic, strategic, and evaluation tool to assess when participation is necessary. Environmental Science & Policy, 50, 100–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2015.01.011

O'Brien, K., Selboe, E. & Hayward, B. (2018) Exploring youth activism on climate change: Dutiful, disruptive, and dangerous dissent, Ecology and Society, 23(3), 42.

Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures (2022). Pedagogical experiments. https://decolonialfutures.net/

Pickard, S. (2019). Politics, Protest and Young People: Political Participation and Dissent in 21st Century Britain / Sarah Pickard. (1st ed. 2019.). London: Palgrave Macmillan.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.