TECHNOLOGY AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT UNESCO-UNEVOC Book Series Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects Volume 10 Series Editor-in-Chief : Dr Rupert Maclean, UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Bonn, Germany Associate Editors: Professor Felix Rauner, Institute Technology and Education, University of Bremen, Germany Professor Karen Evans, Institute of Education, University of London, United Kingdom Editorial Advisory Board: Professor Munther Wassef Masri, National Centre for Human Resources Development, Amman, Jordan Dr David Atchoarena, UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning, Paris, France Dr Andras´ Benedek, Ministry of Employment and Labour, Budapest, Hungary Dr Paul Benteler, Stahlwerke Bremen, Germany Ms Diane Booker, TAFESA, Adelaide, Australia Mr John Budu-Smith, formerly Ministry of Education, Accra, Ghana Professor Michel Carton, NORRAG c/o Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland Dr Chris Chinien, Workforce Development Consulting, Montreal, Canada Dr Claudio De Moura Castro, Faculade Pitagoras,´ Belo Horizonte, Brazil Dr Michael Frearson, SQW Consulting, Cambridge, United Kingdom Dr Lavinia Gasperini, Natural Resources Management and Environment Department, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy Dr Peter Grootings, European Training Foundation, Turin, Italy Professor W. Norton Grubb, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, United States of America Dr Dennis R. Herschbach, Faculty of Education Policy and Leadership, University of Maryland, College Park, United States of America Dr Oriol Homs, Centre for European Investigation and Research in the Mediterranean Region, Barcelona, Spain Professor Phillip Hughes, Centre for UNESCO, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Professor Moo-Sub Kang, Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Seoul, Republic of Korea Dr Bonaventure W. Kerre, School of Education, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya Dr Gunter¨ Klein, German Aerospace Centre, Bonn, Germany Dr Wilfried Kruse, Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund, Dortmund Technical University, Germany Professor Jon Lauglo, Department of Educational Research, Faculty of Education, University of Oslo, Norway Dr Alexander Leibovich, Institute for Vocational Education and Training Development, Moscow, Russian Federation Professor Robert Lerman, Urban Institute, Washington, United States of America Mr Joshua Mallet, Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, Canada Ms Naing Yee Mar, UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Bonn, Germany Dr Phillip McKenzie, Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne, Australia Dr Theo Raubsaet, Centre for Work, Training and Social Policy, Nijmegen, Netherlands Mr Trevor Riordan, International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland Professor Christopher Selby Smith, Centre for the Economics of Education and Training, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Professor Barry Sheehan, Melbourne University, Australia Dr Madhu Singh, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Hamburg, Germany Dr Manfred Tessaring, European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Thessaloniki, Greece Dr Jandhyala Tilak, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, India Dr Pedro Daniel Weinberg, Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training (ILO/CINTERFOR), Montevideo, Uruguay Professor Adrian Ziderman, Bar-llan University, Ramat Gan, Israel Technology and Vocational Education for Sustainable Development Empowering Individuals for the Future by MARGARITA PAVLOVA Griffith University, QLD, Australia Margarita Pavlova Griffith University Griffith Institute for Educational Research Mt Gravatt Campus 176 Messines Ridge Road Mt Gravatt, Queensland 4122 Australia m.pavlova@griffith.edu.au ISBN: 978-1-4020-5278-1 e-ISBN: 978-1-4020-5279-8 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-5279-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008938359 c Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper 987654321 springer.com Introduction by the Series Editor This is an important book on an important subject and so I am delighted that this volume appears in the UNESCO-UNEVOC Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Book Series, published by Springer (the Netherlands). The researcher Dr Margarita Pavlova, a leading scholar in the field of technology and vocational education, argues a convincing case in support of the importance of technology education as a key contributor to vocational education. Dr Pavlova believes that the inclusion of technology education in courses of vocational education, particularly at the secondary school level, can be a major facilitator of student empowerment both within the immediate learning environment and beyond. She also argues that technology education has much to contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD). This book provides a valuable contribution to the development of technology and vocational education in terms of theory and practice. There are several bases for claiming this. First, this book challenges a number of assumptions that are visible to me through my international work in TVET, namely: (A) The often antagonistic relationship between technology and vocational education: As is rightly argued by Dr Pavlova, technology education is a very effective way to achieve the vocationalisation of secondary schooling and in so doing contributes signifi cantly to the aims and objectives of vocational education by increasing the employability of students. (B) The perception of values as a single concept: Often in the literature on values in TVET, all values are considered as being of equal importance, however, the author argues for a priority for moral values that provides a basis for responsible behaviour and care for others. (C) The interpretation of SD in terms of three pillars of sustainability: This constitutes only one dimension for conceptualising sustainable development whereas Dr Pavlova argues for the inclusion of another two, namely, the ethics of weak anthropocentrism and the nature of the proposed responses towards SD issues: ‘value-change’ versus ‘technical fi x’. The thoughtful reflections and analyses presented in the book help identify and challenge such assumptions and in doing so, the book raises some stimulating intellectual matters for the reader to consider. v vi Introduction by the Series Editor As well as providing a new, coherent approach towards conceptualising SD and ESD, this book presents a number of examples on how it has been or could be applied in practice. These include teaching strategies in Chapters 3 and 4; and a model for the re-design of teacher training programmes to incorporate ESD, in Chapter 6. This book is based on theoretical analysis and research projects conducted by the author in different parts of the world that add additional credibility to the arguments presented in the book. A further important attribute of the book is its contribution to the literature on empowerment, a very important topic for UNESCO since the empowerment of people often helps bring about positive changes that are clearly required in many regions of the world. Aesthetics of sustainability and aesthetics for sustainability are two fresh concepts introduced in the book. These are related to consumerism, identity construction and challenges that teachers have to address when dealing with SD issues in their classrooms. Aesthetics and how it can serve SD is an important new theme that has not been addressed in TVET discourses on sustainable development and is examined in the book. Having established a well developed conceptual framework, the author goes on to illustrate the ideas and concepts presented in the first part of the book through an enlightening, well argued case study of the complex interrelationship between tech- nology education, vocational education and education for sustainable development as part of the process of modernisation of the education system in Russia. The case study demonstrates the importance of context. This includes TVET histories and traditions, SD discourses, political structures of the country, intellectual traditions and various important other factors. Although ESD is not fully addressed in TVET in Russia, the case study identifies a huge potential in its ability to include ESD. One additional benefit relates to the presences of general studies in vocational education. Two types of theories inform conceptualisation of SD in Russia: a theory of biologi- cal stabilisation and a concept of noosphere presents an original thinking that can be used by the other countries to inform their ESD development. This book is of interest for both technology education and TVET researchers, practitioners and education policymakers since it presents powerful arguments and discussions that are applicable for technology and vocational education contexts. Furthermore, it shows the links between them that