International Conference: language education for sustainable development

Critical practice of education mandates re-questioning and, at times, unlearning the ‘word’. Environmental teachings at schools in China with regards to phrases such as 'Tian Ren Heyi' (communion of man-nature) or 'Shentai Wenming' (ecological civilisation) have been around for decades; every student knows it, but every student lacks the understanding of it - even in Chinese. To renew, refresh and reinvigorate these concepts - the twin sisters of sustainability & GC (Torres, 2023) - English as a second language proves to be a helpful window into exploring concepts that fall on deaf years especially in a native language which has been used over and over again.

This research presentation gives insights and examples into a ‘practice’ of Ecopedagogy (Misiaszek, 2021) that allows the usage of English as a second language to revisit and relearn concepts of the environment critically. I provide five examples of ESL activities and the results of these activities from the field in China as my own ‘critical reflections’. There is a need for instructors and academics, such as myself, to engage in a reflective qualitative approach in research (Neumann & Waight, 2020). The self-reflective data (Cooper & Lilyea, 2022) doesn’t seek to identify ‘best practices’ or ‘next practices’(Selwyn et al., 2019), but aims to show promising contribution, with a focus on the learners’ enagement, second language education or ESL ‘ecopedagogies’ make to the education of the ‘twin sisters’ as specified by SDG 4.7. 

I approach this autoethnography case-study research whereby I explain activities using ESL, such as a research project (by high school students during summer) that includes evidence of GC in local communities in China, Embodiment of Nature, and Voice for Nature, among others that help revisit and relearn the traditional ecological concepts or that relate to GC models.

References will be added as the research paper and abstract is refined.
Will include references from Paulo Friere, G W Misiaszek, and other scholars of critical pedagogies especially with reference to ESL

Syed Nitas, PhD, serves as the Director of Education Programs at Bard's Beijing Office for the Asia Pacific region. His career spans across various aspects of education policy development, teaching and research specifically ecopedagogies.
As an 'aspiring' education changemaker, he is driven by a mission to create a positive and lasting impact on both humanity and the natural world. For that he continues to pursue and promote 'out of the box' education solutions that are innovative and impactful learning solutions that resonate and serve the youth of today globally - especially in China.