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Active learning Event 3 – learning together for sustainability education

From 21 to 24 March, over 50 international student teachers, school teachers and teacher educators from 12 European countries came to TU Dresden, University of Technology to explore sustainability education through a wide range of interactive workshops, simulation games and discussions. The three-day face to face event was part of the hybrid course “Sustainable Futures Education: digitality, entrepreneurship, decolonisation and serious games at secondary level” which also included 3 webinars and self-study activities on the TAP-TS Moodle platform.

Pedagogical approaches included collaborative learning in virtual environments, entrepreneurial simulations, transformative learning through games and educational museum activities at extracurricular learning venues. Various aspects of sustainability and education were examined in working groups. The working group on entrepreneurship dealt with the positive mindset that goes hand in hand with the entrepreneurial spirit. "It enables young people to overcome disadvantages, mistakes and problems in life. They learn to overcome challenges, be decisive and take responsibility for their behaviour and activities," explains Dr. Eszter Csepe-Bannert from TAP-TS partner CorEdu. The Digitalisation working group looked at the fundamental environmental, social and economic changes brought about by advancing digitalisation, the Decolonisation working group explored the link between climate change and exploitative and capitalist/colonial ideologies from Europe. In the Games & Simulations working group, participants learnt about the potential of games as an educational tool for disaster prevention, resilience and skills development.

According to the evaluation team, the format was a success: "Participants felt the event was well balanced between theoretical & practical parts and the workshops were consistent without being too similar".  It was also praised that many of the activities were designed to allow participants to network and get to know each other. In their feedback, the guests particularly emphasised the high practical relevance of the activities and their added value for lively, motivating lessons.