Topic 3: Didactic approaches to ESD teaching and learning

Academics have a crucial role in building the future we need to see. According to the late English philosopher Roy Bhaskar (1944-2014), it is our responsibility to formulate practical utopias that can inspire and guide us on how to achieve them. The film and audiovisual industry is uniquely positioned to drive sustainable development initiatives through its mastery of storytelling. This industry holds immense potential to inspire positive change and promote sustainable practices. Thus, sustainable development (SD) is not just a significant aspect but a transformative element of higher education in this field. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) emphasises integrating principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, aiming to develop students' knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values necessary to shape our future and promoting competencies such as critical thinking, envisioning future scenarios, and collaborative decision-making. These competencies empower learners to transform themselves and society, focusing on far-reaching topics such as climate change, biodiversity, poverty reduction, and sustainable consumption. Determining the approach and method can be challenging. After much consideration, here is my conclusion.

Balancing facts, values and diverging views in our teaching

Balancing facts, values, and diverging views in teaching, particularly in the context of television leadership and production with an emphasis on Sustainable Development (SD), requires an innovative, competence-oriented approach that combines various teaching methods and practices.

Firstly, integrating learning activities that reflect real-world challenges can help to balance facts and values. By focusing on local sustainability issues, students can apply their knowledge and skills in a practical, meaningful way. Project-based learning, for example, allows students to produce television content that addresses these issues, thereby enriching their understanding and application of facts while also developing values such as responsibility and initiative.

Secondly, handling diverging views can be achieved through collaborative learning. This method promotes effective teamwork and encourages students to negotiate, communicate, and integrate diverse perspectives - essential skills for driving change within societies.

Furthermore, a competence-oriented education, as suggested by Wilhelm et al. (2019), aligns educational objectives with the competencies required for sustainable development. This can be facilitated through the reflective practitioner approach, which involves continuous reflection on teaching practices and students' learning experiences. Didactic planning tools, such as the tree of science model and constructive alignment, can then be used to design curricula that systematically integrate competencies for sustainable development.

The Tree of Science Model is a pedagogical tool used to visualise and structure knowledge. It's often used to illustrate the hierarchical structure of scientific knowledge, showing how general theories and principles (the trunk of the tree) give rise to more specific hypotheses, methods, and findings (the branches and leaves).

Constructive alignment is a principle used in course and lesson planning to ensure that learning outcomes, teaching methods, and assessment tasks are aligned to support student learning effectively. John Biggs introduced this concept, which suggests that what the student does is the most important factor in learning.

Constructive alignment is a strategic approach to teaching where:

- Learning outcomes clearly outline the skills students are expected to develop by course end.

- Teaching and learning activities are thoughtfully crafted to assist students in reaching these outcomes.

- Assessment tasks provide a chance for students to showcase their mastery of the learning outcomes.

By aligning the outcomes, activities, and assessments, educators can ensure a cohesive and effective learning experience.

Incorporating transformational learning techniques, such as the practical production of a talk show or a gameshow, can provide a platform for students to explore their values and engage with different perspectives. This process can be enriched by incorporating exercises that tap into students' emotional experiences and learning preferences, such as discussing the social games they played during childhood (Thisell, 2019).

In addition to the discussed teaching methods, dealing with wicked problems could provide a useful context for balancing facts, values and diverging views in our teaching.

Wicked problems, a term coined by Rittel and Webber (1973), are complex issues that are difficult to define and solve due to their interconnected nature and the fact that they involve multiple stakeholders with different perspectives. Examples of wicked problems include climate change, poverty, and sustainable development. In dealing with wicked problems, students must apply their knowledge and skills in a practical, meaningful way, much like in project-based learning. They will need to negotiate, communicate, and integrate diverse perspectives, as in collaborative learning. They will also need to reflect critically on their own values and the role of entertainment in promoting sustainable practices and consider how they can use their television program to nudge their audience towards sustainable practices.

Integrating wicked problems into our teaching, particularly in the context of television leadership and production, presents an opportunity to expose students to the complexities and ambiguities of real-world issues. Teaching wicked problems can be facilitated through the reflective practitioner approach and constructive alignment. Learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities, and assessment tasks can all be designed to align with the goal of developing students' competencies for understanding and addressing wicked problems.

Finally, critical reflection can be used to explore the role of entertainment in promoting the SDGs, and to question whether we should use entertainment to nudge our audience towards sustainable practices. This open exploration of different views can help to balance facts, values, and diverging views in teaching, contributing to a dynamic, participatory learning environment that reflects the complex interdependencies of our world today.

In conclusion, balancing facts, values, and diverging views in teaching requires a combination of innovative teaching methods, reflective practices, and a commitment to creating a participatory learning environment. ESD goes beyond being just a customary teaching method; it's a dedication to a sustainable future, which necessitates a change in our perspective towards education and learning. This approach not only equips students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and values to tackle the challenges of the 21st century, but also fosters a sense of agency and responsibility towards sustainable development.