"Education is the key to a sustainable world"

You have been researching sustainability education inside and outside education for years. Why is social learning so important for making our world sustainable?

Arjen Wals: "Because it is only in that social interaction that you learn to adjust your own ideas. The condition, though, is that you step outside your own bubble. People like to be social with people they know well, who look like them, who they trust. But because you are rarely exposed to anything contrary to your expectations that way, you are also not triggered to question your own thinking. Social learning only really happens when there are enough differences within the group."

"In the classroom, you find those differences, and pupils are given the opportunity to discover other perspectives through social learning. On condition that social cohesion is sufficiently strong. Because only when pupils feel connected to classmates and value each other are they able to open up sincerely. Therein lies a clear task for the teacher: to seek that diversity within the class group and create social cohesion."

Easier said than done?

"You can start from very everyday things. In a super-diverse school in Rotterdam, children were instructed to bring a photo of their breakfast for a week. The teacher made a collage of it; the photos were displayed in the classroom. Some children ate very healthy, some did not eat breakfast at all. Or there were completely different products on their plates. In this way, children discovered similarities and differences right at the start of the day and learned to put themselves in the shoes of that classmate who never eats breakfast."

"In a second phase, the children made a balanced breakfast together and the school involved parents from diverse backgrounds. Awareness of differences, of inequality, of social capital: you make a lot of things discussable that way. You notice how diversity manifests itself in the classroom, and how around a topic like nutrition you can work on social cohesion."

Do these forms of social learning lead to a sustainable transition?

"Social learning changes you, it certainly does. You suddenly question the things you took for granted. Your thinking changes, the values you previously took for granted shift. You need this contrariness to break through fixed systems and patterns of thinking. To initiate change in society or at school."

"Which direction that change takes: you have to keep a critical eye on that. Do you aim for sustainability? Or do you deploy that creativity, that social learning and that contrariness for more growth, a bigger market share, a higher profit? Because that's how you end up in a new system that is unfortunately not necessarily more sustainable than the previous one. You have to define that moral position very consciously."

Is it the role of the school to impart such values? Or does that tend towards indoctrination?

"Doesn't education convey certain values today? Our society sees school as preparation for the labour market. A place where you acquire knowledge in order to earn money afterwards and spend it. You don't hear anyone complaining about that, but doesn't that also give you a certain world view?"

"That question mainly exposes the tension between an instrumental view of education on the one hand - the school as a means to teach certain behaviour - and the emancipatory nature of education on the other. In the latter view, school is a place where pupils discover who they are and what values they value by developing a critical eye."

"Some people believe that you should above all stand up for yourself and effortlessly shrug off our shared responsibility for the planet. Does that demonstrate critical awareness? Can you look critically at yourself and meanwhile put your own interest above that of another, above the well-being of our planet?"

Does social learning offer an answer to that conflict?

"I think so. Because in that confrontation with others, you become aware of your own glasses. Sometimes you can mirror others, sometimes it rubs you the wrong way. Call it reframing your own view, or creating a new view of the world together. A view that everyone can feel comfortable with, that gives everyone space to be themselves in mutual respect. For sustainability issues, that mindset is very important."

"Translated to the school context, we speak of a whole-school approach. The cleaning team, parents, teachers, pupils, the headmaster: everyone thinks along. On all kinds of social issues that affect the school, so also on sustainability issues. Should we install solar panels? How do we finance them? Where should they be located, do we want panels from Germany or from China? What are the advantages and disadvantages if we look at the whole life cycle?"

Does this strengthen pupil ownership?

So what does a learning environment that fosters social learning look like?

"It starts in your classroom. Does the design of your classroom encourage interaction or hierarchy? Can pupils feel at home there? What does the teacher exude? Do pupils get a chance to express themselves? Outside the classroom, of course: the daily bike ride to school is just as much a part of the learning environment. Have your pupils take a picture of all the plastic they encounter on their way to school. That way, you can map together where most litter turns up and draw conclusions. Where does that plastic come from, where does it go? Does the plastic soup start on our doorstep? How you act as a teacher, how you set up your classroom and how you use the school environment: that determines whether you promote social learning or just inhibit it."

Does our education pay enough attention to social learning?