The Role of Place-based Education in Developing Sustainability as a Frame of Mind

Abstract

As the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) draws to an end, one could pose the  question: what might education’s response be to a deepening environmental crisis as we move beyond the decade? Sustainability as a frame of mind presents a different perspective to that of sustainable development as a policy (the focus of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development) and therefore cultivating it through education might be a response that could take us forward. In this article we argue for an expanded notion of sustainability as a frame of mind, viewed through the lens of place-based/place-conscious education  and also informed by the metaphysics of ubuntu. The aim of the article is to introduce place-based education  and sustainability as a frame of mind as conceptual avenues for challenging educators to rethink  environmental  education as we enter an era beyond the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. We  do this by conceptually exploring the concepts of place-based and place-conscious education and how these  fairly new educational notions might assist in developing sustainability as a frame of mind. We also discuss the  educational implications of practising a pedagogy of place with specific reference to sustainability.