Navigating Through New Terrain: Pre-service Teachers’ Journeys in Teaching ‘Sustainability’

This chapter explores the roles of situated and experiential learning in the development of an innovative sustainability education program established in partnership between a local secondary college and a regional university campus in Bendigo, south-east Australia. The chapter draws on “communities of practice” and ecological theories of learning to examine the experiences of a group of pre-service teachers working in teams to develop and implement an interdisciplinary sustainability unit integrating outdoor education, science and humanities. In a context where the curriculum and pedagogical approaches were new for all concerned, the chapter examines the challenges facing teachers, pre-service-teachers and teacher educators as they “feel” their way forward together. Tentative findings from a case study are described and discussion considers possibilities and pitfalls for educators involved in communities of practice for sustainability education.