Repositioning geography in education for sustainability: the South African higher education context

Abstract

The 21st century environmental crisis that humankind faces has resulted in a need to re-orientate ourselves towards environmental sustainability. Singular paradigmatic ways of knowing no longer deal with multiple interconnected realities and associated uncertainty, diversity and risk faced by humankind. Geography focusses on interactions between the ‘human’ and ‘natural’ world, and should play a leading role in Education for Sustainability (EfS). The multidimensional worldview of geographers together with their integrative skills, awareness of scale, place and space and holistic viewpoint positions the discispline in the forefront of sustainability related challenges. The extent of the contribution depends on the view of Geography and how it is transferred to graduates, during their undergraduate studies. In reality non-geographers view the discipline as suitable for EfS, with the Geography fraternity less enthusiastic. This thesis suggests that South African Geography (as is the case internationally) has limited success in making its instrumental value known through EfS. Using the integral perspective of epistemological pluralism, it is suggested that an obstacle is the fragmentation of undergraduate Geography between sub-fields and theoretical and practical/ analytical courses, with limited intra-discipline discourse. The identity of Geography appears to be locked into dualisms of society versus nature and theory versus technique. These dualisms create an obstacle for the reconfiguration in terms of mutual conceptualisation of society-nature interaction in a strong theoretical setting and with techniques in a supporting role. The multi-paradigmatic methodology used in this thesis includes an assessment of undergraduate curricula of 17 Departments of Geography at South African universities, a questionnaire on Geography and EfS sent to departments, focus groups at selected departments and interviews with a selection of South African geographers. Findings indicate that although sustainability features on the undergraduate level in all departments, it is not a cross-cutting theme. It is concluded that closer integration between the sub-fields and identities of Geography, regarding the diversity of Geography as an asset and the acceptance of multiple paradigms, is the only way through which Geography in South Africa will be able to strengthen its position in EfS, while ensuring a vibrant future for the discipline.