Curriculum Innovations in Higher Agricultural Education CURRICULUM INNOVATIONS in HIGHER AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
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Curriculum Innovations in Higher Agricultural Education CURRICULUM INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION Editedby Arjen E.J. Wals 2005Elsevie rOverheid ,Th eHagu e This book was developed within the AFANet project, the SocratesThemati c Network for Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture and the Environment (www.afanet.info). This project has been carried out with the support of the European Community in the framework of the Socrates programme. The content of this book does not necessarily reflect thepositio n of theEuropea n Community,no rdoe s itinvolv ean yresponsibilit y onth epar t ofth eEuropea n Community. ISBN9 0590 155 2 5 Wals,A.E.J . ©2005 ReedBusines sInformatio n bv,Th eHagu e Allrights reserved . Nopar t ofthi spublicatio n mayb ereproduced ,store d ina retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior, written per missiono fth epublishers . Theauthor san dpublisher shav emad eever yeffor t toensur eth eaccurac yo fth e information in this book at the time of going to press. However, they cannot accept responsibility for any loss or inconvenience resulting from the use of information contained inthi sbook . FOREWORD Curriculum Innovations inHighe rAgricultura l Education isa compila tion oftw obook stha toriginall y resulted from the200 0an d200 4 disse mination phaseso fth eE USocrate sThemati cNetwor k forAgriculture , Forestry, Aquaculture and the Environment (AFANet). The first one focused onth eintegratio n ofsustainabilit y inhighe ragricultura l educa tion,whil eth esecon don efocuse d oneducatio nan dtrainin gfo rintegra tedrura l development.A decisio n toreprin t thetw obook si na combin ed volume was made based on the fact that they are both out of print, theyhav ea hig hdemand ,an dthe yaddres ssimila rissues .Th ecombine d volumei sprecede db ya ne wintroductio n linkingbot hthemes . Manypeopl ehav econtribute d toth econtent so fthi scombine dvolum e inon ewa yo ranother .Henc eI woul dlik et oacknowledg ePete rHolen , Wout van den Bor, Amos Dreyfus, Art Alblas, Marjan Margadant, Robert Macadam, Roger Packham, and Sri Sriskandarajah for their inspirational thinkingan dwor ko neducatio n inth econtex to fsustaina bility, which they so generously shared. I also would like toacknowl edgeth epeopl ewh ohelpe dwit hth ecas estudie so neducatio nan dtrai ning for integrated rural development: Professor Eduardo Ramos and Dr. Maria del Mar Delgado of the University of Cordoba, Spain; Joe Mannion and Jim Phelan of the University College, Dublin, Ireland; Michal Lostâko fth eCzec hUniversit yo fAgricultur e inPrague , Czech Republic; plus the students, faculty members, and administrators who shared someo fthei rvaluabl e timedurin g the site visitso rwhil eparti cipating inth eon-lin e survey. Ials o thank Reena Bakker-Dhaliwal for carefully proof-reading andcopy-editin gth emanuscript .Finally ,I wis h to acknowledge Simon Heath, the AFANet Coordinator, for being the driving force behind theAFANe tan denablin gu st owor ka sa team . Arjen E.J. Wals Wageningen, September200 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword 5 Introduction - Arjen E.J.Wal s 11 PartI Integrating Sustainability intoAgricultura l Education; dealingwit hcomplexity ,uncertaint y anddivergin g worldviews-Arjen E.J.Walsan dRichar dBawde n 1 Sustain-ability:wha tabilit y andwha tt osustain ? 21 2 Carsonian concerns,sustainabilit y andeducatio n 25 2.1 Farming andGlobalisatio n 25 2.2 Divergent viewso n Sustainability andEducatio n 27 2.3 Sustainability inagriculture :toward sa nanalytica l framework 29 2.4 Worldviewsa sconceptua l windowso nth eworl d 30 3 Sustainability,Curriculu m Developmentan d Learning 37 3.1 Sustainability andeducationa l transition 37 3.2 Processanchor sfo r integrating sustainability 41 3.3 Content anchorsfo r integrating sustainability 46 3.4 Conclusions 56 PartI I Education andtrainin gfo rintegrate drura l development; steppingstone sfo rcurriculu mdevelop ment- FabioCaporali ,Pau lPace ,Bil l Slee,Nadaraja h Sriskandarajah,Arjen E.J.Walsan dMarty nWarre n 4 Exploringcurriculu m responsest ointegrate drura l development 61 CURRICULUM INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION 5 An inventory of institutional practises 65 6 Case studies 73 6.1 MSc-degree in PublicAdministratio n and Regional Development of the Czech University of Agriculture, Prague 78 6.1.1 Background 78 6.1.2 External drivingforces 79 6.1.3 Structure andfunctioning of the MSc in Public Administration and Rural Development 83 6.1.4 Regional Integrationfor Rural Development 85 6.1.5 Outcome assessment 86 6.1.6 Evaluation,feedback andfurther development 87 6.2 The MSc in Rural Development of University College Dublin, Ireland , 88 6.2.1 Description of the institution offering the programme/ course 88 6.2.2 Key characteristics of theprogramme/course 88 6.2.3 Background of the integrated rural development programme/course 89 6.2.4 Key constraints in implementing the integrated rural development programme/course 91 6.2.5 Keystrategies used in implementing the integrated rural development programme/course 92 6.2.6 Evaluation and monitoring of the integrated rural development programme/course 93 6.2.7 Plansfor development of the integrated rural develop mentprogramme/course 93 6.3 Titulación Superior en Desarrollo Rural (TSDR) of The University of Cordoba, Spain 94 6.3.1 Introduction 94 6.3.2 Key characteristics of theprogramme/course 97 6.3.3 Background of the integrated rural development programme/course 100 6.3.4 Key constraints in implementing the integrated rural development programme/course 102 6.3.5 Evaluation and monitoring of the integrated rural development programme/course 104 TABLE OF CONTENTS 6.3.6 Plansfor development of the integrated rural development programme/course 106 6.3.7 Conclusions 107 6.4 Degree Course in Ecological Agriculture, University ofTuscia ,Viterbo , Italy 108 6.4.1 Description of the institution offering the programme/ course 108 6.4.2 Key characteristics of theprogramme/course 110 6.4.3 Background of the integrated rural development programme/course 112 6.4.4 Key constraints in implementing the integrated rural development programme/course 113 6.4.5 Keystrategies used in implementing the integrated rural development programme/course 113 6.4.6 Plansfor development of the integrated rural development programme/course 114 7 Stepping Stones for Curriculum Development 117 7.1 Curriculum change between pragmatism and change of ideology 117 7.2 Barriers to integration in curriculum development: a systems perspective 120 7.3 A systems perspective for Integrated Rural Development Curricula 122 7.4 Methodological tools 124 7.5 Conclusions 126 References 129 About the authors 137 Index 139 INTRODUCTION Arjen E.J. Wals "Liveyour lifeas ifyou might die tomorrow, butcare for theEarth as if you would liveforever "(modifie d old farming adage) Education as an institution can be seen as areflectio n ofth e society that supports it. Hence, it is not surprising that some of society's ills can be found in our schools and universities, while the reverse also holds true. Our world is changing with lightening speed. We can either be over whelmed and beovercom e bythes e changes,o rw eca ntak eu pth echal lenge to influence their direction, collaboratively and individually, by becoming critically aware of our world and the forces that shape it. Education is notjus t about knowledge transfer and skills enhancement, it isals o about helping people to take charge of their own lives in a sha red world.Th e human development side of education, including educa tion for agriculture and rural development, needs to be explored if we are to cope with the challenges of today and tomorrow. Education for a changing world Weliv e in a rapidly changing society.Advance s in technology continue to alter the ways in which we perform ourjobs , obtain our food, extract raw materials from the earth and communicate with each other. Along with these alterations in lifestyle, our social and natural environments are changing. We often seem unable or unwilling to anticipate how these changes directly affect us and our world.Althoug h technological development has improved the lives of many people, it has also led to the disruption of many others. In the poorer nations of the world, inap propriate technology often upsetsth e social and cultural order, degrades the environment, and depletes natural resources. Change can be detri mental ifw e dono t take an active role in deciding how itshoul d happen and for what reasons. 11 CURRICULUM INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION Naisbitt(1982 )describe s a shift currently taking placewithi nWester n society from an industrial culture to an informational one. In this era, information asa resourc ei sno ti nshor tsupply ;i tcome st ou swit heve r increasing speedan d inlarge ran d largerquantitie s from distant places around the globe. As information flows in ever increasing amounts, opportunities forcommunicatio nmultiply .Thes eopportunitie shav e led to the development of numerous ways of exchanging knowledge and insightsbetwee npeopl eal laroun dth eworld .Despit ethis ,th e informa tion age has often failed tobrin g people and nations together to solve our common problems. More information does not necessarily lead to betterunderstanding . Ecological problems, such as pollution of water supplies, disposal of chemical wastes, and global warming, often stem from neglect and inequality. We live in a finite biophysical environment that imposes constraints on human affairs. However, we tend to use raw materials faster than the earth can regenerate them and at the same time return wasteproduct sth eeart hcanno tassimilate .W eofte n presumetha ttech nology can transcend the carrying-capacity of the earth, but it isno w cleartha tecologica l lawscanno tb esuperseded .Althoug hhuman shav e exceptional characteristics that setu sapar t from otherlif e forms (such asculture , faith, and consciousness), wear e only one of many species that interdependently exist in the global ecosystem (Carton &Dunla p in:Humphre y& Büttel , 1982,p .