BEYOND OUR LIMITS: CHALLENGES OF TEACHING SCIENCE IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABILITY

Successfully teaching sustainability requires attention to multiple dimensions, challenging earth-science faculty to stretch beyond conventional teaching approaches. As scientists, we must ensure that our students acquire not only basic scientific knowledge but also skills in careful observation of natural phenomena; hypothesis formation and testing; and evaluation of research results. However, we must also invite them thoughtfully into social contexts, including consideration of justice issues and reflections on meaning and motivation. Finally, faculty must consider how to engage students' questions of personal responsibility and lifestyle choices.

Finding an appropriately integrated approach to teaching sustainability that balances quantitative scientific analysis with social and philosophical assessment is highly challenging. Students are often eager to discuss and embrace simple concepts of living with environmental sensitivity (use less, don’t pollute), but are frequently less interested in developing the disciplined quantitative skills and thorough scientific knowledge that will enable them as citizens to effectively help move society toward sustainability. Related challenges for faculty include teaching beyond one’s area of expertise and balancing scientific content with other aspects of sustainability in a course for which students receive science credit.

An especially difficult set of challenges derives from the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability studies. The field is so complex that in many cases it is simply not possible to conduct--or, therefore, to model for students--a rigorous scientific analysis of problems and solutions. Additionally, a great proportion of societal steps needed to progress toward sustainability are political and psychological rather than primarily based on natural science.

Many of these difficulties mirror those of society in moving toward sustainability, and therefore the way we engage these challenges in science courses--with commitment, discipline, and humility--can prepare students to be active and effective citizens. I describe my experience in trying to reach such an integration in “Introduction to Geosystems,” my course on sustainability and natural resources at Seattle University.