Vol. 8(18), pp. 1698-1708, 23 September, 2013
DOI: 10.5897/ERR2013.1545
ISSN 1990-3839 © 2013 Academic Journals
http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Educational Research and Reviews
Full Length Research Paper
The status of education for sustainable development in
the faculty of education, views from faculty members:
University of Botswana
Gabatshwane, T. Tsayang* and Kabita Bose
Faculty of Education, University of Botswana, Botswana.
Accepted 02 August, 2013
The paper is based on a study which sought the understanding and appreciation of, and activities on
issues of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) amongst the staff of the Faculty of Education,
University of Botswana (UB). A survey design was adopted with a questionnaire for collecting data from
academic staff members while Heads of Academic Departments (HoDs) were interviewed. The findings
show an agreement between academic staff and HoDs that ESD issues are inadequately addressed in
the Faculty of Education in UB and that ESD is confused with Environmental Education. Whilst staff
paints a rosy picture of ESD in teaching, assessment and curriculum, their responses with regard their
willingness to take part and their expertise in ESD issues as well involvement in ESD related research is
negative. This might imply that the alleged teaching, assessment curriculum development and
community engagement are not informed by research. Amongst the recommendations made are, that
there is need to sensitize and provide in-service training to the staff of the Faculty of Education on the
concept, activities and issues of ESD, so that they are able to engage in research to ensure informed
ESD related teaching, research and service to the community.
Key words: Education for sustainable development, natural resources, environmental education, community
engagement, higher education, Botswana.
INTRODUCTION
Education for sustainable development (ESD) is a vision
of education that seeks to balance human and economic
well-being with cultural traditions and respect for the
earth‟s natural resources (Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development, 2005 – 2014; UNESCO,
2005). The earth‟s climate has been warming and cooling
and continues doing so now in a life threatening way as it
affects for instance, rainfall, agriculture, health due to
high temperatures, tsunamis, and earthquakes. There‟s
no doubt that the climate continues growing warmer.
Indications of that change are all around us. Though
climate change is not new, the deliberate and conscious
efforts to address this phenomenon are fairly new to most
nations. Attempts to address issues of climate change
cannot be confined to any particular field of study as they
affect each and every sector of life. Therefore, they must
be addressed through all disciplines.
According to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), the average surface temperature of the
earth has increased during the twentieth century by about
±0.2 to 0.6°C. While temperature increase part of the
natural processes, human activities are also seen as
being a catalyst, primarily for instance, the burning of
fossil fuels, which has increased the greenhouse gas
content of the atmosphere. Whilst this may seem like a
small increase, it has a significant impact on global
general climate in that it is warmer today around the
world than at any time during the past 100 years (Global
*Corresponding author. E-mail: tsayangt@mopipi.ub.bw. Tel: +267 3552390. Fax: +267 71309568.
Gabatshwane and Kabita
Climate Change, 2002).
The current trends with regards to addressing issues of
climate change have to do with the ability for nations to
be able to utilize the natural resources, whist at the same
time ensuring long time maintenance of these for the
benefit of future generations. Whilst there are causes of
climate change which are mainly natural, a vast number
of other causes are due to human activities. There is,
therefore, a need for sustainable usage and management
of natural resources through human awareness,
sensitization and implementation of the best practices.
Higher Education has therefore a critical role to play in
this respect as it produces a key human resource for the
future of any country.
The International world is making efforts to address
environmental mismanagements to reduce unacceptable
toxic wastes. For instance conventions, agreements,
frameworks such as United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification (CCD), The Convention on
Wetlands of Importance as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar
Convention), The United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC), The Vienna Convention
for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, The Copenhagen
Accord of November, 29, 2009, The Convention
Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and
Natural Heritage, have been entered into and signed.
However, except for a few countries such as China and
Sweden who have made headway into implementing
environmental sustainability practices, most countries,
especially the developing ones have not come to terms
with the concept of environmental sustainability.
These conventions are intended to sensitize, alert and
educate everyone, young and old through various
governments subscribing to them. It is to be noted that
when it comes to addressing people who are already
mature and have already developed their negative
attitudes towards the environment, it is a difficult task to
change them away from these negative, hard and
engraved ways of thinking and dealing with the
environment in a positive and sustainable way. Besides
the negative attitudes towards the environment that
adults have, there are other factors which influence their
thinking, such as poverty and ignorance. For instance, in
the case of Botswana, cutting firewood without due care
for re-planting to replace the trees seem to be a thorny
practice fuelled by ignorance and short-sightedness. This
is so because whilst these adults cut trees they do not
realize that if they do not reforest, the future generations
may not be able to benefit from the very resources that
they themselves are benefiting from now in an attempt to
fight their own poverty. This is a pure question of lack of
education and entrenched negative attitudes towards the
natural resources. Thus, efforts need to be made to build
a positive attitude toward environmental sustainability so
that whilst the current generation benefits from it, the
same generation must also be aware of the future
consequences. Higher education should have a role to
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play in this respect.
Research focus
The United Nation‟s Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (UNDESD) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) emphasise on ESD. In order to
realise the UNDESD and the MDGs especially goal 7 of
„ensuring environmental sustainability‟, the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) Treaty: Article
5(1) stresses the importance of sustainable utilization of
natural resources and effective protection of the
environment, and above all, the promotion of sustainable
development. The Botswana‟s Vision 2016 emphasises
on environmental and sustainability issues while the
Botswana‟s Revised National Policy on Education
(RNPE) calls for Environmental Education across the
curriculum.
To realise the aspirations of ESD at global level
through UNDESD and MDGs, at the regional level
(SADC) through SADC REEP, and at National level
through RNPE and Botswana Vision 2016, the University
of Botswana (UB) through its vision of becoming a centre
of excellence in Africa and the World has as one of its
values as follows:
Ensuring “environmental sustainability by deepening
awareness and ensuring that environmental issues are
incorporated into student learning, teaching and research, the development of environmentally sustainable
campus and through contributing to the environmental
sustainability agenda in Botswana and beyond” (University of Botswana: Undergraduate Calendar, 2011:3).
Since it is through the various faculties and their programmes that the UB Vision can be realised, the paper
focuses on the Faculty of Education and intend to find out
the level of understanding and appreciation of issues of
Education for Sustainable Development amongst the staff
members. The focus is on staff members as they are the
machinery through which sustainability knowledge can be
dissemination through teaching; produced through
research and put to use through engagement with the
community. Therefore the extent to which these functions
of staff members of the Faculty of Education with regard
ESD knowledge was sought through this study.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
According to Cherry (2013), a survey is a data collection tool used
to gather factual information or self-report or opinion data from
research participants. The current research adopted a survey
design which allows for gathering large numbers of responses to a
set of questions. The survey was used to get information on
respondents‟ understanding of the ESD as a concept and the actual
activities that are performed to address ESD issues. The
instrumentation was basically a questionnaire for the Academic
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Educ. Res. Rev.
Staff of the Faculty of Education of the University of Botswana and
a face to face Interview with Heads of Academic Departments of the
Faculty using a semi-structured interview schedule.
The questionnaire was administered to all academic staff of the
Faculty of Education. The questionnaire focused on six areas of the
academic member‟s functions which are as follows: the curriculum;
teaching approach; research and scholarship activities; community
engagement; assessment; and staff expertise and willingness to
participate in ESD related matters.
The Faculty of Education, UB has seven academic departments.
All members (120) of the academic departments were requested to
fill in the questionnaire. Out of one hundred who received the questionnaire, a total number of Forty Three returned fully completed
questionnaires. It is to be appreciated that it was very difficult to get
questionnaires from members of staff despite continued persuasion
and follow-ups. Resentment by and reluctance of some staff
members to complete the questionnaire has therefore to be treated
as a limitation of this study.
All seven academic heads of department in faculty were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. The questions
consisted of items related to understanding of the concept of ESD
and sustainability, reflections of issues of ESD in Visions, Missions
and Values statements of various departments as well as infusion
of issues related to ESD in the existing courses.
The questionnaire data were analysed quantitatively and
qualitatively. The quantitative data was coded and presented with
the help of Tables and Graphs using SPSS Version 19 while the
qualitative data was presented using descriptives and verbatims.
explore the possibilities of inter-faculty curriculum in ESD
as appropriate Figure 1.
Teaching approach
The respondents were asked about the contributions that
the teaching approaches make to develop the capacity to
make informed decisions, critical thinking skills, a sense
of responsibility, respect for the opinions of others and
integrated problem solving skills in the students. Figure 2
indicates that majority (72 to 81%) of respondents felt
that adequate measures were taken while choosing a
teaching approach to instill in learners most of the skills
listed above which skills are critical in addressing ESD
issues by the students. The problem, however, lied with
the extent to which academic staff instills in learners their
capacity to make informed decisions. The number of staff
members who felt that adequate efforts were being made
to instill this skill was at par (49%) with the ones who felt
it to be inadequate (44%). This showed that students
need to be provided with information and encouraged to
research and learn more about various issues so as to be
able to confidently take decision regarding sustainable
development confidently Figure 2.
RESEARCH RESULTS
Research and scholarship activities
Academic staff members
To assess the realization for ESD in the curriculum,
teaching staff were asked a number of questions relating
to teaching approach, research and scholarship activities,
community engagement, examination processes, staff
expertise and willingness to participate in ESD related
activities.
Curriculum
Academic staff members were asked questions regarding
the curriculum offered in their respective departments.
From Figure 1, it is clear that majority (53 to 65%) felt that
adequate measures relating to ESD issues were taken in
the curricular areas. Departments offered courses that
engaged sustainability concerns; sustainability topics
were integrated into courses; teaching programs of
various departments included both local and global
sustainability issues and challenges; and students were
enrolled in courses that engaged sustainability concerns.
The problem lied only with the level of cross faculty
collaboration in teaching sustainability programmes. More
than half of the respondents (51%) rated this aspect as
inadequate, whilst, only 26% of the respondents found it
to be adequate and the rest did not know about it. The
result paints a rosy picture about curriculum and ESD.
The only gap found in curriculum and ESD is in cross
faculty curriculum collaboration. This implies a need to
The next item in the instrument was research and
scholarship activities in the area of sustainability issues,
challenges and development, that the departments,
faculties and the institution engage with. It was found that
rd
1/3 of the respondents (35 to 42%) felt that the engagement was inadequate in almost all the areas like
department‟s involvement in research in the area of
sustainability; local and global sustainability issues;
collaborative research regarding sustainability with other
faculties; institutions and stakeholders; selection/ execution of research in sustainable development and the
research outputs (Figure 3). Around 28 to 44%, on the
other hand found that adequate measures were taken in
the area of research in sustanable development. Findings
also showed that a number of respondents (19 to 30%)
indicated that they did not know anything about any ESD
research related activities or any initiatives for that
matter. This clearly establishes a gap which needs to be
bridged immediately with research, applied or action
research, that can complement the curriculum with hands
on experiences. Without sufficient involvement in research
activities in issues related to sustainability, how can ESD
be realised by the Faculty of Education?
Community engagement
The next item was with regards community engagement
and ESD. A cluster of indicators established the extent of
Gabatshwane and Kabita
1701
Curriculum
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
9
12
12
9
65
58
58
53
26
30
30
37
12
23
26
65
51
Don't Know
23
Adequate
Inadequate
Figure 1. Curriculum and ESD.
Teaching Approach
Inadequate
Adequate
Don't Know
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
81
72
81
77
49
44
7
7
5
23
12
7
5
14
16
Figure 2. Teaching approach and ESD.
the departments‟ (staff) involvement in the area of
education for sustainability. Indicators to this community
engagement were the level of commitment respondents
showed in using department‟s resources in sustainability
projects; the degree to which local sustainability issues
and challenges were addressed in the departments‟
community engagement programmes; the extent of
departmental collaboration with other stakeholders in
addressing community sustainability challenges and; the
extent to which aspects of sustainable development were
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Educ. Res. Rev.
used in selection or execution of community engagement
projects. More than half (51 to 56%) of the respondents
indicated that inadequate efforts were made to use
departmental resources for community projects and
resolving local sustainability issues and challenges
(Figure 4). Whereas, 47% felt that adequate measures
were taken to involve the department in community
engagement projects and 42% said collaborations with
other stakeholders were made to address community
sustainability challenges, the majority found the community engagement either inadequate or did not know about
such programmes. There is a discrepancy between what
the staff says in terms of collaboration with the
community on ESD matters and execution. For instance
whist they indicate a high collaboration with stakeholders
on ESD matters, they are unable to show the resources
they use, community projects they are engaged in as well
as local issues and challenged that they address.
Therefore, this discrepancy may imply that there is not
much happening in terms of community engagement
Figure 4.
Assessment and ESD
Under this segment, questions regarding the assessment
and examination of sustainability issues in courses,
projects and service learning programmes were asked.
rd
The findings show that almost 1/3 (28 to 35%) of the
respondents found them inadequate, whereas 40 to 42%
stated them adequately observed while assessing through
examinations and projects. When the question of service
learning programmes was asked, 44% of respondents
said they did not know (Figure 5). Perhaps, the concept
of service learning programmes, a method of teaching
that combines formal instruction with a related service in
the community, was either not understood, or Faculty of
Education, UB does not sufficiently cater for those
programmes Figure 5.
If the curriculum infuses both local and global sustainability issues into courses and teaching programs, then
the examination/assessment procedure needs to
emphasise those aspects in the assessment tool as well.
This aspect is however wanting.
Staff expertise and willingness to participate in ESD
related matters
Lastly, the indicators under this cluster determined staff
expertise and willingness to teach and carry out sustainability research and community services related to ESD.
Faculty of Education staff was asked to state their own
level of expertise and that of their co-staff members in the
area of sustainability. They were also asked to state the
extent to which staff members were willing to carry out
research and service activities on sustainability aspects/
topics and the extent to which staff members were willing
to teach sustainability topics. Less than half (37 to 47%)
of them rated the staff expertise in teaching sustainability
topics, conducting research in the areas of sustainability
and their willingness to teach sustainability topics as
adequate (Figure 6). As indicated in Figure 6, the rest of
the respondents have no expertise or such expertise is
inadequate or they did could not evaluate the state of
expertise and willingness to participate in ESD related
matters. If the majority of staff are on the negative with
regards this topical area of ESD, this then is a cause for
alarm and has to be addressed. However, considering
the recency with which the ESD issues have entered the
arena of education in Botswana and Faculty of Education
in particular, the minority which is in the affirmative could
be capitalized on and be used as the headlights for the
majority still in the dark Figure 6.
Heads of the Departments
The Heads of various Departments of the Faculty were
interviewed in order to gauge information, regarding ESD.
The interview consisted of guided questions that elicited
responses related to the meaning of ESD and its
reflections in the Mission and Vision of Faculty of
Education and its departments, as well as infusion of
ESD in departmental courses. The interview also sought
for suggestions on achievement of ESD in Faculty of
Education and subsequently in UB.
All HoDs felt that ESD refers to something that looks at
the present in such a way that it does not destroy the
future, and helps in regeneration and durability. They
further said that ESD is a lifelong process that ensures
survival with available resources and transfers knowledge
to the next generation whilst advancing socio-economic
development. The HoDs were of the opinion that ESD
prepares teachers to be innovative, self-sufficient and
enables them to survive in any demanding environment.
This is in line with Osterwalder‟s (2009) definition of ESD
as accepting responsibility for the wellbeing of future
generations and the planet habitat.
Regarding reflections of issues pertaining to ESD in
Missions and Visions of UB and its departments, all the
HoDs confirmed this reflection. They felt that the
departments had ESD component and were informed by
the mission and vision framework of the UB. They voiced
their opinion that a teacher must focus on practical
aptitude, be innovative and benefit from content class
and pedagogical experiences for achieving ESD. They
further said that teachers should skill themselves on ESD
and deskill from old and defunct skills.
On the other hand, two (2) HoDs noted that ESD is not
quite internalized by the departmental staff, and felt that
more emphasis needed to be given on ESD.
The HoDs were also asked about infusion of ESD in
departmental courses. They revealed certain ESD
Gabatshwane and Kabita
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Research and Scholarship Activities
ESD-reflection in research outputs
37
33
30
ESD-selection/execution of research
40
33
28
Collaboration-faculties/stakeholders
42
28
30
Inadequate
Adequate
Local issues/challenges-research
37
44
19
42
40
19
Global issues/challenges-research
0%
20%
21
44
35
Involvement-research/scholarship
40%
Don't Know
60%
80%
100%
Figure 3. Research activities and ESD.
Community Engagement
Inadequate
Adeqaute
47
60
50
40
33
Don't Know
56
26
21
30
51
23
19
42
26
33
26
35
37
28
20
10
0
Figure 4. Community engagement and ESD.
implementation challenges. They, for instance, noted that
the departmental research outputs were poor which they
say clearly indicates that teaching was not supported by
research on the current issues, which prohibits attainment of sustainability. They showed concern that content
taught was passed from year to year, without making any
changes or adjustments to suite the contexts. They felt
that most staff members at their departments lacked
expertise of innovative teaching methods that could
enhance sustainability. They noted that the procedure
used for educating students is not commensurate with
ensuring sustainability, and negatively affected students‟
academic, critical, and mental growth, the ingredients of a
strong resourceful human. They further complained that
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Educ. Res. Rev.
Assessment of Sustainability Topics
50
42
40
28
30
30
44
40
33
35
20
21
Inadequate
28
Adequate
10
Don't Know
0
Figure 5. Assessment and ESD.
Staff Expertise and Willingness to Participate
Don't Know
Adequate
100%
26
21
26
37
47
40
37
33
35
Inadequate
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Expertise
Research/Service
activities
Willingness to teach
Figure 6. Staff expertise and willingness.
the UB graduate attributes were not understood and
therefore not realized through the courses taught. The
UB attributes are as follows: critical thinking, technological proficiency, effective communication, competent
decision making and problem solving. These are also key
indicators of understanding of ESD as an ESD proficient
being must be able to display all the above attributes. If
academic staff members cannot display these attributes
in their courses, it is unlikely that they may be understanding issues of sustainability in general, and in ESD in
particular. This apparent absence of graduate attributes
in the course outlines is probably due to lack of know-
ledge on same or lack of knowledge on how to infuse
ESD in the regular courses by academic staff members.
Some HoDs were of the opinion that a lack of clarity
between ESD and Environmental Education (EE) could
be a challenge to staff who might be thinking that since
the Faculty has a unit which addresses EE issues, there
is no need for them to duplicate the efforts of this unit.
They therefore suggested that, it is imperative upon the
Faculty to make a clear distinction between the two
concepts.
Heads of the Departments were asked to give some
suggestions regarding the achievement of ESD. The
Gabatshwane and Kabita
suggestions that emerged from their deliberations were a
need for Action Research to find out the current issues,
constant review by the staff as well as students regarding
course outlines and necessary teaching materials to
establish whether these address ESD issues through
graduate attributes.
The findings show a general agreement between the
academic staff and HoDs that ESD issues are inadequately addressed in the Faculty of Education in UB.
Whilst in teaching, assessment and curriculum there is a
positive picture of addressing ESD related issues by the
academic staff members a contradiction is found in the
same staff members‟ responses regarding their willingness to take part in ESD related matters as well as
indicated lack of expertise. Findings related to research
also show that not much is researched on ESD related
issues and yet, teaching and community engagement
must be informed by research. With regard to community
engagement in particular, it was clear that whilst staff
claim to collaborate with the stakeholders, they were not
able to identify resources they use, the ESD related
community projects they are engaged in, as well as the
local issues and challenges they address.
The above contradictions are corroborated by the
findings from the HoDs which point to inadequate
addressing of ESD matters in the curriculum, teaching,
research and community engagement.
DISCUSSION
With regards to cross faculty teaching in sustainability
issues, the findings are in synch with the findings by
Rietje van Dam-Mieras (2006) who notes disciplinary
oriented education as a challenge to attaining education
for sustainable development. He suggests that it is
important to look further than the borders of one‟s
discipline and/or faculty in order to complement and
supplement one‟s activities with regards education for
sustainable development. Mieras (2006:15) calls for
competencies of looking “further than the borders of own
field of specialization or culture to work together with
different people of different beliefs, to communicate
orally, in writing and via new media , and reflect on the
own personal dedication, involvement and performance”
in ESD.
The competency alluded to above is lacking in the
Faculty of Education, University of Botswana. This could
be interpreted as inability of staff involved in ESD not
attaching value to cross- involvement as something that
can grow and benefit the Faculty and society at large.
Could it be that each person wants to be the owner of the
discipline and therefore be the sole authority or simply a
lack of understanding of cross-disciplinary learning as
critical to ESD? If that is the case, it may imply clearly
that the whole essence of ESD is not fully understood
and appreciated as a challenge that requires jointed
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efforts from various stakeholders and therefore, that the
challenge can only be managed in unison. The disjointed
approaches to issues of sustainability as they manifest
themselves in the Faculty are definitely not a good
germination ground for the realization of one of its values
of ensuring environmental sustainability through deepening awareness. According to Dawe et al. (2005), it is
critical to ensure that sustainability literacy is made a core
competency among graduates. The culture of Botswana
is such that traditionally, the nation had its own way of
providing sustainability competencies from youth.
Methodologies of providing these competencies have
since been neglected or not incorporated in modern
learning. For instance, as early as childhood, children
were taught how to work in teams across families and
ethnic groups, by implication, inter and across discipline
interactions were engaged in. The youth would be
engaged in debates while sitting around a fire in the
evening after supper, and would interpret riddles which
enhanced their critical thinking. The atmosphere of such
learning would be typified by peer education with
background support from the adults. The education processes took into consideration, contexts which modern
education seem to be lacking in. Modern education in
Botswana depends mostly on those from elsewhere and
in most cases without knowledge of the culture of the
learners. Currently, only those educated from a modern
point of view are teachers and hardly natural or traditional
teachers are used. This is a gap because when that
happens, learners view education as an alien and difficult
exercise composed of harsh disciplinary measures for
those who cannot easily learn. It is therefore not an
enjoyable and leisurely experience. It is argued therefore
that the country has a rich culture of natural sustainability
competencies which can be drawn from. The traditional
education of Bojale (initiation for girls) and Bogwera
(initiation for boys) are typical examples of traditional
schools which taught youth all the competencies of selfsustainability. These schools taught morality, environmental sustainability by observing certain practices which
prevented the uncontrolled felling of trees, indiscriminate
killing of fauna and even preservation of soils through
taboos for example.
As a way of enhancing the teaching of ESD one suggests the use of traditional education as way to complement modern education, by implication, this should be
seen as some form of interdisciplinary education.
The traditional education competencies and their
methodologies could be incorporated into the higher
education curricular either as part of courses or as extracurricular activities. These activities would no doubt, as
had been the case in the olden days, embed in learners
the right sustainability attitudes with regards the general
ecosystem. The use of collaborative teaching through
involving traditional teachers or community elders in
higher education is an aspect that can be explored. The
idea is not to go native perse, but to include within the
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Educ. Res. Rev.
learning environment those positive aspects which may
be alien to modern teachers who are in most cases not
exposed to this contextual education.
To further acknowledge the importance of traditional
education as an important compliment of modern education with regards sustainable development, curriculum
reviews should be embarked on to create space for this
traditional education and/or infuse it into modern syllabi.
There is no doubt that this would add more work to higher
education lecturers, but as noted by Dawe et al. (2005) it
is important to review curriculum to create space for ESD.
Research plays a critical role in providing informed
decision relating to any policy and/or practice in any field.
With the advent of intensification in issues of climate
change and their negative ripple effects on humanity, it is
imperative that institutions of higher learning be proactive
in providing evidence based policies and practices as
they relate to ESD. Hametner et al. (2010:1) clearly
articulate the importance of evidence-based decision
making which accordingly “attempts to link knowledge
and policy…to make policies more effective, manage
risks, achieve transparency strengthen accountability and
support learning”.
The research findings point to the fact that not much
research takes place in ESD issues within the Faculty of
Education. The reason could probabbly be failure to
understand and appreciate issues of sustainable
development because if indeed faculty appreciated these
ESD challenges, it would be puzzling to understand why
not much research activity is taking place in this area.
The Faculty of Education is closely linked to the
Botswana Educational Research Association (BERA)
whose mandate is to conduct educational related research. In the research agenda for BERA, it is important
to bring in issues of sustainable development. This is the
avenue that can assist researchers to access topics that
may have sustainability impact. Botswana Educational
Research Association conducts workshops for potential
researchers on problem identification; methodology
writing; data collection and analysis. Conducting research
in itself is a way of sustainable development as it explores issues, and attempts to answer questions that
border on issues of sustainability as a cross cutting
challenge. Instead of feeling that researching about education is not a sustainability issue, it must be understood
as such. A deliberate effort has to be made to ensure that
within the BERA workshops, the concept of sustainability
is explained and how it relates to all disciplines in the
Faculty and that each and every member can, in their
respective disciplines, talk to and research on sustainable
development. Researching issues of sustainablity as a
process could make teachers appreciate and internalise
this concept and therefore practice as well as impart to
the learners the right competencies. Through our own
discovery of issues, answers to challenges, we develop
ownwership of the solutions. The systems research
approach enhances ownership of solutions by involving
the researched as part of the researchers. Their subjective views of the world and participants observation of
the world would make succinct their understanding of the
sustainability challenges and therefore come up with
relevant and realistic interventions.
Within the Faculty of Education, the dominant research
methodologies are quantitative where researchers fail to
make connections across and between different variables
within the communities. The Faculty needs to re-focus its
methodologies and embrace those that would lend
themselves well onto sustainability issues which are
usually socially constructed and caused. As pointed out
by Welsh and Ingram (2012) systems research approach,
which is holistic and assumes things are interconnected,
interact and control one another, could be one of the
most appropriate research approaches to use. In order to
be pragmatic in addressing sustainability challenges, it is
critical to be problem focused. Therefore, to understand
and critically appreciate such problems, it is important to
include clients, as part of the research processes as
participants and the researched, all the interconnected
tissues which are victims and beneficiaries of sustainability impacts as well as perpetrators. Community
engagement in research should therefore be through
research methodologies which are social systems
inclined or ethnographic. In other words, the conventional
research approaches dominant in Botswana particularly
the use of questionnaires could be minimized to engage
in qualitative methodologies which use the researched as
part of the research teams. It is argued that ethnic groups
have their traditional ways of sustaining their environments. In particular, Botswana groups have taboos,
customs and beliefs as well as their behaviour towards
the environment. Engaging with them in participant
observation modes of research would entice them to feel
free and share with the external researchers, which are
University staff and students, how they currently or used
to sustain their environment. As noted by Genzuk (1999),
ethnography is a description of a particular culture,
customs, beliefs and behaviour of a particular group of
people. Engaging people in these sustainability actions
would sensitize them in terms of how, despites their
challenges of poverty for example, they can still conserve
their resources.
The University of Botswana, like many institutions of
higher learning has, as one of its key performance areas,
Engagement with the Community. It is anticipated
therefore that the Faculty of Education would therefore
among others, be engaged with the community in
sustainability issues. The research results however, show
that not much is done by staff members in this regard.
The Faculty of Education has a responsibility to produce
teachers who must provide a national education foundation on ESD in both primary and secondary school
children. As noted earlier, adults who are already
malpractising environmental sustainability management
by, for instance indiscriminately destroying the vegetation,
Gabatshwane and Kabita
have „they cannot be dehorned lest they die’. In other
words have engraved negative attitudes towards
sustainability. The focus must therefore be on the youth
who are still malleable in their absorption and retention of
knowledge and best practices in sustainability concepts
and practices.
Every subject that is taught at the University is an
expansion of subjects offered at both primary and
secondary education. It is imperative for curriculum to
spiral upwards so that there is continuity in education.
That continuity is an aspect of sustainability and has to
be enhanced as such through, for example, engagement
of University academic staff in subject panels at both
primary and secondary education levels to provide the
link.
According to the Federal Ministry of Education and
Research (2009), some higher education institutions
focus on bridging the theory practice divide by providing
students with opportunities to apply their learning in
surrounding communities. The Faculty of Education does
this through teaching practice and internships. It is
argued that more can still be done in the area of ESD by
making sure that every student engages with the community one way or the other demonstrating acquisition of the
graduate attributes within the communities. A deliberate
policy could be made that every student undertakes a
community project showcasing anyone or multiple
graduate attributes as a way of ensuring that students
internalize the understanding of sustainability as espoused through the graduate attributes. A policy of this
nature accompanied by its practice can enhance in both
staff and students an appreciation of these attributes as
competencies of sustainability.
It is argued that while academic staff as well as
students always find their curriculum packed making it
difficult to accommodate extra work, conscious decisions
could be made to put aside a day in every two weeks for
students in their respective disciplines to interact with the
community in various social responsibility activities such
as working with children at primary and secondary
schools in various projects which are aligned to sustainability issues. Pasque et al. (2005) point out that
serving society is one of the most important higher
education functions and that at this time when nations are
faced with lots of difficulties such as issues of poor
sustainability, the question is not whether universities
need to concern themselves with these societal problems
but rather whether they are discharging them as they
should.
It is therefore imperative for the Faculty of Education,
the source and producer of teachers to take a deliberate
initiative of internalizing the ESD concept in order to
impart it to the teachers who in turn must engrave it in the
minds of the young ones. For teachers at Higher Education to appreciate this activity, the students must be made
to interact with societal challenges throughout their
training hence a suggestion to get them put aside specific
1707
days for just that as part of the curriculum. This would
obviously require a re-working and reviewing of the
curriculum, to shred any superfluous content.
As noted by Buchan (2012) the book of Proverbs in the
Bible says that if we raise a child in God‟s ways, he will
not lose his ways when he or she grows older. By the
same token, if children are raised in good ESD ways,
they will not lose these good ways when they are older
and there will be no need to discipline or fight with them
as they will be in good understanding of sustainable
development. The statement above denotes a need to
engage teachers in ESD throughout their training, as
these teachers have to go and impart such knowledge to
their pupils and students. The question that arises as also
noted by Kethoilwe (2010) is inadequate policy and
support by the institution coupled with a dearth of
understanding what sustainable development really
means by staff. To sensitize the staff would demand a
deliberate engagement in continuous seminars and
debates by higher institutions
Conclusion
In general, there seem to be a trend in the University of
Botswana, Faculty of Education that not much is
happening with regards education for sustainable
development. This is picked up from responses to
curriculum implementation, research and community
engagement, the three key performance areas of the
University of Botswana academic. Carteron, Vermont and
Stoll with the cooperation of members of the Responsible
Management Network and the Euro Med Management
Sustainable Development Student Association (Unis
Terre) (2013), note that there are different types of
people whose characteristics could act as a barrier to
achievement of sustainable development goals. In
particular, which one feels may apply to Faculty of
Education, UB, is what they call the Darwinists inclined
people. According to Carteron et al. inference from the
Darwin theory, those who do not do anything about
education for sustainable development believe in fate.
Carteron et al. (2013:1) note that these types of people
believe that:
“ecological, cultural and sociological changes have
always existed…..and they led to extinction of some
species, changing the lifestyles, forcing people to
change… natural selection…. That the way it is its natural
selection… You cannot save everyone …. Let people do
what they want… It is fate, a series of coincidences will
solve the problem. Life is competition... self-regulation.”
If the above is the case in the University of Botswana,
Faculty of Education, the highest learning institute in the
country then there is a lot that needs to be done to
conscientise the staff who themselves are critical in
1708
Educ. Res. Rev.
educating the nation.
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