Sustainability
Education’s Gift: Learning Patterns and Relationships by
DILAFRUZ WILLIAMS
Summary
The
article contends that traditional education, influenced by mechanistic and
technocratic perspectives, contributes to the global sustainability crisis by
fragmenting knowledge into isolated subjects and distancing learners from
real-life experiences. Williams draws upon systems thinking and holistic
education—ideas inspired by scholars such as Capra and Orr—to argue that
sustainability education should prioritize understanding patterns,
relationships, and interconnectedness over disjointed facts.
Using the
Learning Gardens program in Portland, Oregon, as a case study, the author
illustrates how garden- and food-based education allows students from
kindergarten through eighth grade to engage in multisensory, interdisciplinary,
multicultural, and intergenerational learning experiences. Students explore
subjects like mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts through
activities such as designing gardens, studying soil, cooking, and observing
ecological systems. This embodied and place-based learning fosters connections
among personal health, community well-being, and environmental sustainability.
Explanation: I really relate to the thoughts of
shifting education to a more practical mode because I often wonder what the
true purpose of education is. I remember one of my students who did not enjoy
the structured mathematics requirements, yet she excelled as a cook and makeup
artist. I believe that instead of the world judging her by her grades,
mathematics should align more with her passions and the unique contributions
she can make in addressing today’s challenges. Is education merely about
sitting in a well-structured classroom, memorizing formulas, and achieving high
grades through rote learning? Or should it be a tool that helps learners adapt
meaningfully to the world, connecting knowledge to real-life experiences and
the environments around them?
In the context of mathematics, understanding should be
relational and embodied—not just about memorizing terms and procedures for
exams. Utilizing gestures, hands-on activities, and collaborative
problem-solving can make abstract concepts tangible, allowing students to
experience and relate to mathematics in ways that resonate with their lives.
Much like how ecologically literate education emphasizes interconnection and
holistic thinking, mathematics education can greatly benefit from approaches
that highlight relationships, context, and meaning instead of reinforcing
rigid, isolated, or linear thinking.
Quote: Students learn ecology, chemistry and biology
in working the gardens even as they learn mathematics in designing them. Through
harvesting in groups they also learn group dynamics, along with content areas
of social studies and agronomy. Page 45
Explanation: I am really amazed at how the planned
activities on the farm have been able to teach so many disciplines. This
exemplifies teaching through application to address today's problems, which is
the essence of sustainability. I remember our last class with Susan when we
took a walk to the garden we used for our lesson. The focus was on teaching us
measurement, but I ended up learning more about my own body. The hands-on
activities provided me with measurements of parts of my body that I never knew
about, which could even be useful for a tailor. Additionally, I learned the
importance of spacing my seeds when planting crops, which is fundamental to
agriculture. Just one objective of measuring is connected to other valuable
areas of life for us.
Question
How can embodied, artistic, and multimodal approaches to mathematics be
meaningfully integrated into traditional classroom settings without losing
curricular rigour while increasing student engagement and conceptual
understanding?
Hi Clementia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful reflection and question. To integrate multimodal and embodied learning in the classroom, we can start with simple physical experiences. When students first experience something with their bodies, math begins to make sense in a real way. For example, measuring spaces using steps, string, or everyday objects helps students understand ideas like length and area before formulas are introduced. Then, when formulas are taught, students see them as useful tools rather than confusing rules.
This connects well with what you shared about our class garden visit. During that activity, we learned about body measurements through different forms of measuring, which I had never really thought about before. It showed me how meaningful learning can happen when we connect movement and real-life experiences with mathematical concepts.
I have witnessed this in my previous school, where the students were given the opportunity to showcase their works in a student exhibition. Students made models, art works, and practical works that involved measurement, pattern, shape, and problem-solving. While presenting their works, the students also discussed the math involved in what they created, and this shows that the students really understood the concepts involved. Such experiences prove that learning can be creative and academically strong. As Doolittle suggests, learning should not be restricted to straight-line thinking but should allow the learners to see the relationships and connections in the real world.When the learners see the connection of math to real life, they will be more engaged in learning and will be able to cope with the challenging concepts of mathematics.
Hi Clementina,
ReplyDeleteI think in order to meaningfully integrate embodied, artistic, and multimodal approaches we first much change the attitudes we have around them - rather than treating them as extra or a form of enrichment, we must emphasize the importance of them and dedicate time and space for them in our teaching. Right now, I think students have a hard time seeing the benefit of this type of learning as they don't see the importance since so few teachers extensively embed it into their practices.
Curricular rigour is maintained when multimodal activities are designed to clearly communicate the mathematical learning goals and are explicitly connected to formal symbols and representations - otherwise, students will struggle to make these connections themselves. This way, students are not avoiding traditional symbolic mathematics, but instead build their conceptual understanding to allow the symbols and representations to become meaningful.
Assessment practices are also crucial - rigour is preserved if students are asked to justify, explain, and translate their understanding across modes, such as moving from a physical or visual representation to a written one. This positions multimodality as a pathway toward deeper reasoning rather than a replacement for conventional mathematical communication.
These approaches can increase engagement and equity by validating diverse ways of knowing and reducing the reliance on traditional practices that may only allow for one narrow mode of mathematical expression. This allows everyone to have a space in math, and reduce the number of students who may claim to be "not a math person" simply because their needs for mathematical understanding were not being met.
Beautiful work, everyone. I am learning from you too as you draw connections and notice more permeable boundaries between farming and cooking, bodily knowing and rigorous mathematical symbolism and assessment. If we take a ‘both/and’ (rather than an ‘either/or’) approach, and work with translation across modalities, there is potential for much more deep understanding understanding, curiosity and inclusion.
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