The Risk and Potentiality of Engaging with Sustainability Problems in Education—A Pragmatist Teaching Approach

Abstract

This article engages in the discussion about education's role in relation to sustainability problems, a debate characterised by a tension between two legitimate concerns: a concern about the instrumentalisation of education, and a concern for the urgent need of widespread engagement and mobilisation for coping with the consequences of severe socio-ecological problems. The authors argue for an approach that takes both concerns seriously. Drawing on transactional didactic theory—underpinned by a pragmatist perspective on the interplay of continuity and change through the phases of habit, crisis and creativity—they illustrate that engagement with real-world societal problems does not inevitably result in the instrumentalisation of education. It can, on the contrary, open up a space for newness, creativity, freedom and pluralism. Yet, realising this unique educative potential does not happen automatically. It requires specific didactical work, specific forms of teaching. Through a practical example, the authors illustrate how teachers can stage problematic situations and inquiries in such a way that sustainability problems are brought to the table, turned into a common matter of concern and made free by giving the students possibilities to renew the world. Thus, they turn the question whether or not to engage with real-world problems into the question how to do so.