Understanding Student Conceptions of Sustainability

Nicola WalsheFaculty of Education, University of Cambridge

‘geography is a focus within the curriculum for understanding and resolving issues about the environment and sustainable development’

(DfEE/QCA, 1999)

‘The goal of sustainable development is to enable all people throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life, without

compromising the quality of life of future generations’(DfES, 2006)

Research Design• One class of 27 Year 8 students (case study)

• Methods:– Concept mapping (context: sustainable tourism)

– Interviews (semi-structured interviews with four pupils: Edward, Catherine, James and Lizzi)

– Written definitions

– Further interviews

• Data Analysis - open and a priori coding of content of concept maps and

interviews

- analysis of pattern of conceptual development of concept maps (after Kinchin et al., 2000)

James

Concept Maps: Example 1

Daniel

Concept Maps: Example 2

Donna

Concept Maps: Example 3

2

3

4

5

5

6

6

11

12

13

13

14

19

3

7

11

12

21

4

7

8

13

17

31

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Fauna

Energy

Other

Visual Pollution: Cleanliness

Climate

Water Use

Visual Pollution: Buildings

Noise Pollution

Water Pollution

Visual Pollution: Rubbish

Open Space

Transport

Air Pollution

Community

Health Care

Education

Crime

Culture

Longevity

Employment

Money

Tourist Facilities: Accommodation

Seasonality

Tourist Facilities: General

Frequency (number of mentions)

Economic = 77

Environmental = 113

Social = 54

Categories capturing features of sustainable tourism:• Environmental• Social• Economic

1

2

4

5

7

5

5

8

10

31

54

77

113

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Geographical Scale

Human Focus

Timescale: Future

Aesthetic

Timescale: Seasonality

Purpose: Self-Sufficiency

Purpose: Balance

Purpose: Improvement

Purpose: Conservation

Purpose: Preservation

Nature: Social

Nature: Economic

Nature: Environmental

Frequency (number of mentions)

Categories capturing features of sustainable tourism

Patterns of Content in Concept Maps

Socially-focused sustainability (Kerry)

4

1

1

2

4

Economically-focused sustainability(Cheyenne)

5

1

1

2

Environmentally-focused sustainability

(George)

1

5

Complex sustainability(Lizzi)

1

22

4

2

11

61

George (environmentally-focused)

Environmentally-focused sustainability

(George)

Kerry (socially-focused)

Socially-focused sustainability (Kerry)

Lizzi (complex)Complex sustainability

(Lizzi)

Interview Analysis (1)Defining Sustainable Development• ‘I think that it means that something can last’ (Catherine)• ‘where something that can stay the same for a long time and

never, like, deteriorate’ (James)• ‘I think it means something that can last quite a long time

without damaging people’s lifestyle, culture, or the environment around them’ (Lizzi)

• ‘you teach someone something, and then, what happens to the reason why you taught them, it happens again, then they can build a house again, because you taught them already’ (Edward).

Interview Analysis (2)• Students elaborate significantly on concepts they are

describing when in an interview situation, whereas their ideas are often poorly expressed and lacking detail when included in a concept map.

• For example: Edward

‘more cars more light so people can’t sleep’

‘it would be very crowded, and it would have a .... it would have an exceeded carrying capacity. So the people would be everywhere, there’d be no space anywhere. The cars and the local amenities would be just so packed in and overdone and over rushed and things.’

CONCEPT MAP INTERVIEW

Interview Analysis (3)• In the interviews, all four students discussed the ‘future’

(timescale); this is despite the fact that this concept was rarely mentioned in concept diagrams.

• For example: Lizzi

• Why?

‘Sustainable tourism is something that, well, that can last for a long time ... you’d also have maybe a small town that starts off thinking it’s going to start sustainable, then after a couple of years they realise that they can make more money, so they build higher skyscrapers, more hotels, and they just ruin the countryside around it, and take away all the culture.’

Where is TIME?• ‘I think [lasting a long time] would maybe fit under mostly all

of [the other categories] because they’re all about everything lasting longer in each category’ (Catherine)

• ‘[I would] most probably put it in economics in the way that I’d say that the money is spent on things that will last for a long time. And pollution I’d put about the rubbish and then social I’d put in about the carrying capacity of a place’ (Edward)

Implications for Practice

• Content: The three concepts of environmental, social and economic sustainability

• Purpose: What is the relevance of sustainability? “I think it’s good to be taught in the way that it will help you understand from situations, but maybe it needs to be taught in a kind of a different way, if it’s more to teach you about how to use it like later on in life, and stuff …… [We need] like steps [we] could try and use.”

James

• Methodological implications: Researching children’s understandings