Centre for Academic Practice, Trinity Teaching & Learning

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Pedagogical Approaches

In its work on ESD, UNESCO (2017, p.54) reminds us that “ESD is about empowering and motivating learners to become active sustainability citizens who are capable of critical thinking and able to participate in shaping a sustainable future”. They suggest that learner-centred, action-oriented, and transformative learning are three key pedagogical approaches that can be used to empower and motivate learners to become active sustainability citizens. These are briefly explained below:

  • Learner-centred approaches involve students taking an active role in constructing knowledge, enabling them to move beyond passive learning and towards greater autonomy.
  • Action Orientated Learning is where learners engage in action, such as projects and internships, and reflect on their experiences in terms of the intended learning outcomes and their own personal development.
  • Transformative learning occurs when the learner experiences a shift, or change, in the way they perceive or understand the world, often resulting in a change of values or belief systems.

Teaching & Learning Strategies

UNESCO (2017,p.55) outline several teaching and learning strategies that support these three pedagogical approaches;

  • Collaborative real-world projects, such as community-based learning projects linked with the SDGs;
  • Vision-building exercises such as future workshops and scenario analyses, utopian/dystopian storytelling, science-fiction thinking, forecasting, and backcasting;
  • Analyses of complex systems through case studies, stakeholder analysis, modelling, and systems games;
    • Example from Trinity.
    • Activity example from the Transition Makers toolbox: Mapping the Maze.
  • Critical and reflective thinking through fish-bowl discussions and reflective journals.

For more information on teaching strategies see the following webpage: Teaching Strategies.

And discipline specific strategies: Signature Pedagogies.

Assessment Strategies

It is recommended that the assessment of ESD related learning outcome achievement should reflect the desire to support assessment of, for, and as learning (UNESCO,2017, p.57).

A mix of traditional assessment methods along with reflective and performance-based assessments, such as required for real-world projects, should be used. These assessments should enable learners articulate critical insights into their understanding and engagement with societal issues and civic agency. In addition, learners should reflect with self, peers, and educators on their personal transformation and on developing their own learning.

Assessment methods that support this assessment strategy include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Performance based assessments.
  • Portfolios and ePortfolios.
  • Journals.
  • Debates.
  • Communication and Awareness campaigns.

For more information on assessment types see the webpage - Types of digital assessment.

It is in how these strategies are enacted, or built into the curriculum, that we can ensure the three pedagogical approaches are encompassed.

The following toolkit, adapted from CRAFTs, can be used to help you identify the current TLA strategies that you have in your programme or module:

You will then need to determine if these strategies support the development of ESD competencies. One way to determine this is to use the constructive alignment model. Within this model of curriculum design, TLA strategies are designed to ensure that the Learning Outcomes are achieved.

Thus, the first step is to check whether the TLA strategies support development of the ESD competencies as articulated in the learning outcomes. Starting with the assessments, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Which learning outcome(s) does each assessment assess?
  • How do the assessments reflect the level of proficiency required for the learning outcome(s)?
  • Do the assessments allow the students to demonstrate that they have achieved the learning outcomes?
  • Are you assessing students’ skills that are not part of the learning outcomes?

Reflect on the answers to these questions and adjust your assessments accordingly. See this webpage for more information - Designing & Delivering Digital Assessments.

You should then reflect on your teaching strategies and ask yourself the following questions:

  • How do your teaching and learning strategies support students in achieving the intended learning outcomes?
  • What scaffolding do you provide for students to engage successfully in the teaching and learning strategies?
  • How are students encouraged to take ownership of their learning?

Reflect on the answers to these questions and adjust your teaching and learning strategies accordingly. See this webpage for more information: Teaching Strategies.

Examples of how learning objectives for each of the three learning domains are supported with learning activities and appropriately assessed domains are available on this webpage:

Key Takeaways

• UNESCO (2017) have identified that learner centred, action orientated, and transformative pedagogical approaches are best suited to embedding ESD in the curriculum.

• Teaching, Learning, and Assessment strategies should be selected to align with the intended learning outcomes. When the LOs are written to address ESD competencies, a number of key teaching strategies have been identified and include (but are not limited to):

- Project based Learning
- Case Based Learning
- Role Plays
- Simulation
- Problem Based Learning