Vol. 21 No. 3 (2024): Sustainability in Learning and Teaching During and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

The marketisation of education, coupled with a globalised economy of provision, was supercharged by the adoption of learning technology following the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to changes which have increased the potential for

The marketisation of education, coupled with a globalised economy of provision, was supercharged by the adoption of learning technology following the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to changes which have increased the potential for students to have a choice in the pace and place of their learning. What has emerged is the possibility for a diverse, accessible, and economically attractive set of 'learning offers' for globalised students brought about by increased competition between providers with implications for sustainable education. In critique of this new landscape, the project on which this paper reports used Soft Systems Methodology to explore an identified 'problematical situation' of factors influencing student choice about HE in the future. Work included a systematic literature review, running focus groups with expert witnesses including undergraduate students, and practitioner analysis using the Theory of Disruptive Innovation. Applying the scenarios developed, this paper presents a proposed 'Higher Education System of Choice' as a provocation for discussion that identifies an emerging landscape of post-neoliberal, technocentric and socio-ecological conceptualisations of learning.

Social and ecological issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, sustainable development, inequality, and COVID-19 have changed and are changing the world. These realities have profoundly impacted peoples’ perspectives about the future

Social and ecological issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, sustainable development, inequality, and COVID-19 have changed and are changing the world. These realities have profoundly impacted peoples’ perspectives about the future and our human-nature relations. Adding to this mix of disruptions COVID-19 has changed student engagement with sustainability agendas. COVID-19 has increased sensitivity to borders, control, containment, personal health, and wellbeing. This shift in focus and attention to the individual moves against the sensibilities observed in sustainability education. It is at this juncture this paper offers reflections by three Australian sustainability educators who taught during COVID-19. We have come up with three provocations to think with disruption: phronesis, world views and entanglement. These themes, critical to the pedagogies of sustainability educators across the globe, allowed us to pivot around the implications and opportunities presented as we taught our way through this period.

During COVID-19, online collaboration became more accessible than before, enabling higher education students and teachers to organize virtual mobility experiments and run projects with stakeholders across cultures. In this paper, we focus

During COVID-19, online collaboration became more accessible than before, enabling higher education students and teachers to organize virtual mobility experiments and run projects with stakeholders across cultures. In this paper, we focus on three blended intensive programs, two in Finland and one in Hungary, to explore how the pedagogical approach of project-based digital storytelling combined with reflective writing contributed to students’ sustainability competence development during the pandemic and after. In these programs, multicultural teams of students worked on real-life digital storytelling projects aimed at driving sustainable changes in people’s thinking, behaviour, and lifestyles. Digital storytelling has proved effective in fostering students’ 21st century skills through engagement and co-creation with the wider world. Based on qualitative content analysis of 67 semi-structured learning journals, we explore students' developments in values-thinking, collaborative, and self-awareness competences during their digital storytelling projects. With insights from student reflections on their virtual, online, and blended learning, we discuss challenges and successes of project-based, collaborative, and reflective learning and propose best practices for using collaborative digital storytelling as a transformative method to foster sustainability competences across cultures.

The paper presents the analysis of the higher education modernisation for sustainable development in Ukraine regarding goals adopted on global and national levels, pre-pandemic trends and the challenges of 2020. The global experience

The paper presents the analysis of the higher education modernisation for sustainable development in Ukraine regarding goals adopted on global and national levels, pre-pandemic trends and the challenges of 2020. The global experience integrating sustainable development goals into higher education is also a background analysis. Taking into account the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015 and the national “Concept of environmental education in Ukraine”, adopted in 2001, the article investigates the current trends on macro (the country’s ESD policy), meso (HEIs), and micro (participants of educational process) levels. Particular attention is paid to embedding SDGs in university policy, curriculum, and pedagogy, primarily in training economists. Furthermore, the research focuses on the new challenges of 2020 – the COVID-19 pandemic and digitalization affecting higher education transformation. These drivers cause transformative sustainability teaching-learning practices and social and environmental impacts of digital technologies implementation in Ukraine’s higher teacher and economic education. The research reveals similar trends in higher education modernisation for sustainable development in the world and Ukraine. This theoretical and empirical research is based on the literature review, statistical data and surveys conducted at a national university in 2023. Finally, the research results in suggestions given by Humanities students and faculty members to foster higher education significance in developing environmental knowledge, awareness and culture among professionals and society in the future.

The current study analyzes the practices and strategies used by university instructors in Indonesia to deliver online music classes after the COVID-19 lockdown. Using a qualitative method based on semi-structured interviews, perspectives

The current study analyzes the practices and strategies used by university instructors in Indonesia to deliver online music classes after the COVID-19 lockdown. Using a qualitative method based on semi-structured interviews, perspectives from music professors were gathered to explore various aspects, including the support provided by universities, teaching practices adopted by instructors, students’ reactions, limitations, and advantages of online music learning. The data were analyzed with an inductive method based on grounded theory. Participants highlighted several strategies utilized during online learning, such as (a) the use of video recordings to focus on specific aspects of music performance; (b) the implementation of project-based assessments to address various learning outcomes in different classes; and (c) the development of teamwork for sharing the best teaching practices. Teachers reported being more responsive to the students, placing a greater emphasis on self-reflection and becoming more effective educators. While recognizing several limitations associated with online music learning, the participants believe that this will be the teaching approach of the future, attributing it to improvements in students' independence and self-assessment skills, teachers' self-reflexivity, and enhanced flexibility in scheduling. Implications for institutions and university professors regarding the development of policies and curricula for online music education are also discussed.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a profound effect on the delivery of teaching and learning. Recent studies indicate that Covid-19 interfered with years of educational gains and that university EFL instructors and students faced a variety of

The Covid-19 pandemic had a profound effect on the delivery of teaching and learning. Recent studies indicate that Covid-19 interfered with years of educational gains and that university EFL instructors and students faced a variety of problems as they sought to adjust to pandemic requirements. This study explored Iranian university EFL instructors’ and students’ attitudes towards on-line education. It also examined learning and teaching barriers and challenges they encountered during Covid-19. 60 university EFL instructors and 93 students completed two on-line questionnaires. Following, six university instructors and six students took part in interview sessions. The results showed that students favored various advantages that on-line education offered such as convenience, comfort, accessibility, flexibility, and suitability. Students further appreciated the potential of new technology and the opportunities that on-line education brought. However, they identified poor Internet access and excessive screen time as common barriers that could hinder the success and sustainability of high-quality on-line education. The results, moreover, demonstrated university EFL instructors recognized the multiple challenges associated with on-line education. They expressed difficulties in tracking attendance during on-line classes, monitoring students’ progress in on-line classes, as well as concerns about security issues and privacy regarding on-line classes. We believe that the experiences of both university instructors and students should be considered when designing new approaches to empower them.

For a 21st century facing cascading crises, including global pandemics, climate change, and social and economic disruption, education is more critical than ever. Universities, and consequently their curricula, have a responsibility to

For a 21st century facing cascading crises, including global pandemics, climate change, and social and economic disruption, education is more critical than ever. Universities, and consequently their curricula, have a responsibility to prepare all students and graduates to respond to and live within a disrupted, complex, and uncertain future. One way of preparing students to think and address complex global challenges is through international learning experiences. However, the global pandemic triggered an unforeseen disruption to student mobility and the acceleration of online learning environments, such as virtual mobility programs. To date there has been little exploration of how virtual mobility programs can be designed for science and their ability to foster sustainability capabilities within the discipline. This paper reports on the design (its curriculum and pedagogy) of an experiential virtual mobility program, designed and delivered during the pandemic. It illustrates an innovative, co-created, STEM-focused case study whereby learning focused on varied approaches to agricultural challenges and practices. Through the perspective of student participants, key education for sustainability capabilities of sustainability thinking, collaboration, affective learning, critical reflection, and interdisciplinary knowledge were analysed as themes and are discussed in relation to how these capabilities were shaped by the program design. We share this discussion to support and expand the use of further meaningful virtual experiences to foster sustainability capabilities in an international (online) setting by other University educators.

Informed by autoethnography, this scholarly personal narrative highlights my pedagogical practices and reflections from students during the 2020–2021 academic year amid the COVID-19 health and racial unjust pandemics. Specifically, by

Informed by autoethnography, this scholarly personal narrative highlights my pedagogical practices and reflections from students during the 2020–2021 academic year amid the COVID-19 health and racial unjust pandemics. Specifically, by employing a critical theory of love and social sustainability, I share how I engaged in love, care, humanizing, and culturally engaging and sustaining practices that positively affected class discourse and relationship-building among graduate students and myself. The findings highlight some of my personal reflections, thoughts, and feelings while teaching during the 2020–2021 academic year and some email communications received from graduate students that year, condensed into three identified themes: (1) moments of transparency and engaging in critical topics transparent and not asking the students to do anything I wouldn't personally do, (2) offering grace and being flexible, and (3) checking-in with students. Recommendations for instructors are offered to better support students in online formats.