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PhD in Architecture, lecturer, researcher Natalia Shesterneva
St. Petersburg State University of
Architecture and Civil Engineering, Russia
Popularization of environmental politics in the
system of secondary and higher professional education
The cities being created and developed today are intended for those who
are now just children. Therefore it is of great it is critically important to
study specific features of popularization of sustainable development ideas on
all levels of education system, to find methodological tools that will help the
students of today to receive not only necessary environmental knowledge, but
also a specific way of thinking, means of self-identification in the society,
that would not conflict with interests of environmental politics.
Presented article deals with intermediate results of a long-term
research project carried out by St. Petersburg State University of Architecture
and Civil Engineering together with a children Studio of architectural
modeling, with the support of the Ministry of Education of the Russian
Federation. The project engages, on the one hand — students from 4 to 22 years
of age (students of Architectural studio and Architectural University), on the
other — education specialists from both institutions and experts in the area of
urban planning and environment. The aim of the project was to define specific
features and structure of qualities, demanded in present-day urban planning
specialists (engineers, planners, architects) and identify relevant teaching
instruments that help form and develop these qualities in children.
For this purpose the following methods
were used:
· Study of urban planning services market; identification of most demanded
professional qualities from the point of view of employer and public
perspective; analysis of graduates market, identifying discrepancies between
the two markets;
· Analysis of educational services market, identification of main
limitations of existing educational programs, study of the possibilities for
modernization of educational programs;
· Study of teaching of various engineering courses in the context of
popularization of sustainable development and ecologically-sound urban planning
concepts;
· Creation of new educational strategies and trajectories for providing
the students with all required skills.
In the course of the project there were identified a number of specific
requirements put forward by modern cities towards specialists providing
services for them. Among those are ability to make independent and complex
evaluations of the environment, research skills enabling to process large
volumes of information, understanding of a complex interaction «man —
environment — city». These qualities are demanded for various specializations,
and their presence is a crucial element for correct self-identification of man
in the modern urban space. Understanding such themes as «sustainable urban
development» or «environmentally-sound development» is somewhat beyond the
limits of professional competencies and becomes part of required personal
competencies. Yet, in educational institutions teaching of courses related to
mentioned themes is quite often organized only for particular specialties. Even
in that case it is highly improbable that during 1 or 2 semesters the teachers
manage to develop in their students a special way of thinking or research
skills — only knowledge transfer can take place.
Therefore, the project
developed in three following directions:
-
(conceptual) identification of
specific features of «modern urban planning» and «environmentally-sound
development» courses; understanding of principle approaches to teaching of
these courses to students of different age groups, including those who do not
plan to continue their education in engineering sphere;
-
(methodological) identification of
means to develop required qualities for students of different age groups; writing
of educational programs, updating of existing curricula;
-
(experimental and educational)
evaluation of results, obtaining and processing of data on effectiveness of
chosen teaching strategies.
Intermediate «conceptual» results of the project are as follows:
· Popularization of sustainable development ideas suggests that the
students have specific qualities — research abilities, capacity for complex and
three-dimensional thinking, skills in solving multicomponent tasks, high level
of social activity. These qualities should be developed in parallel with
transfer of knowledge on particular environmental problems. This is a short
list of competencies required for acquisition of relevant knowledge.
· In order to form these competencies and thinking pattern which help to
understand key ideas of sustainable development, a long period of time is
required. It is impossible to develop the necessary qualities only during the
period of university studies, it is necessary to include secondary and
additional education into this trajectory.
· Outlined educational techniques can and should be developed for
children, who do not necessary plan to become engineers. There is a need to
update educational programs for kindergartens, schools and other educational
institutions in order to develop skills of understanding the problems of
environment in parallel to developing other required minimum competencies.
«Methodological» results of the project are a number of university
courses, adjusted to create a common educational trajectory «school —
additional education — university». According to these new trajectories, a
theoretical model for adjustment of educational programs was developed, as well
as an original university lecture course on the principles of urban planning,
adapted for children of 4 — 12 years of age. It is quite difficult to make
definite comments on experimental results, due to long time required for
implementing adjusted programs in the course of study. Yet, after 5-6 years of
work with adjusted programs it is possible to conclude, that the level of
mastering the material by children who studied according to adapted course is
much higher than of its peers. Also it promotes children's socialization, makes
their attitude to problems of the outside world more active. Even when studying
other disciplines or learning in other studios, the children who studied
according to the adapted course demonstrate more active participation in social
life and feel related to a large number of social issues, relevant to their
age.
Commenting on results, it is possible to make general conclusions that popularization of
ideas of sustainable development of territories and environmental politics in
general requires revision of certain approaches to educating children of
various age groups. For example, it is necessary to pay more attention to
developing abilities, necessary for acquiring up-to-date knowledge on
environment. This poses new questions to the system of education and the system
of knowledge in general. It is necessary remove subjects “sustainable
development” or “rational use of natural resources” from the list of “required
information/knowledge” and transfer them to the list of “required
competencies/skills”. Without solving these issues it is not possible to ensure
that our children have true understanding of all complex interactions in the
world around them.