The following appeared in the February 2012 issue of Pro Tem. David V.J. Bell is Chair of Learning for a Sustainable Future (www.lsf-lst.ca) and is Professor Emeritus and Former Dean, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, as well as an IRIS Executive Board member, and the YCAS Director emeritus; BA’65 (York/UofT) AM ’67, PhD’69 (Harvard University) I’m honored to be invited to serve as co-editor for this issue of Pro Tem, a position I last held ...Read more
A Systems Approach to Sustainability
Mar. 30th, 2012
Response to “The Sustainability Mindset”
My comments on Michael Spence Sustainability Mindset David V. J. Bell Hi Mike – thanks for sending this along. It is beautifully written, and succinctly lands some very important points. Your emphasis on education and values is spot on – though I agree that they are necessary but not sufficient underpinnings of sustainability. I used precisely the same formulation in the conclusion to my book chapter (see p. 21ff.) entitled “Education for Sustainable Development: Cure or Placebo?”. Ultimately we require a global ...Read more
Feb. 17th, 2012
If the textbook is an Apple, don’t give it to the teacher… or the student
News reports recently left me a bit amused that the mighty Apple could get it so wrong. Apple has vowed that iBooks will reinvent school textbooks. My take is that this initiative is more about selling iPads than shaking up education. As noted by many, the textbook is a relic. It is all about transmitting knowledge or information on mass from an authority (a subject, a teacher, an institution) to the student. The textbook learning ...Read more
Oct. 21st, 2011
Belfountain Public School: a school on a professional inquiry path
I have had the pleasure of working with the staff of Belfountain Public School for several years. They stand out in terms of professional practice on a number of levels. The result is a school learning experience that is engaging learners and consistent with the growing body of knowledge that supports students learning in the context of their local communities, working on meaningful, real world projects and bringing social land environmental issues into focus in age-appropriate ways. It is worthwhile ...Read more
Nov. 5th, 2010
The Evolving Understanding of Education and Sustainability
We’re five years into the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and over that time the use of the term sustainability has mushroomed. There is widespread acknowledgement that on a global level, progress is leading us to disaster –every major ecosystem is in decline. The goal of sustainability has permeated many areas and its influence in education is beginning to be felt and acted upon in a number of ways. In the business context the realization that addressing sustainability ...Read more