The risk and potentiality of engaging with sustainability problems in education : a pragmatist teaching approach

This article engages in the discussion about education's role in relation to sustainability problems, a debate characterised by a tension between two legitimate concerns: a concern about the instrumentalisation of education, and a concern for the urgent need of widespread engagement and mobilisation for coping with the consequences of severe socio‐ecological problems. The authors argue for an approach that takes both concerns seriously. Drawing on transactional didactic theory—underpinned by a pragmatist perspective on the interplay of continuity and change through the phases of habit, crisis and creativity—they illustrate that engagement with real‐world societal problems does not inevitably result in the instrumentalisation of education. It can, on the contrary, open up a space for newness, creativity, freedom and pluralism. Yet, realising this unique educative potential does not happen automatically. It requires specific didactical work, specific forms of teaching. Through a practical example, the authors illustrate how teachers can stage problematic situations and inquiries in such a way that sustainability problems are brought to the table, turned into a common matter of concern and made free by giving the students possibilities to renew the world. Thus, they turn the question whether or not to engage with real‐world problems into the question how to do so.This article engages in the discussion about education's role in relation to sustainability problems, a debate characterised by a tension between two legitimate concerns: a concern about the instrumentalisation of education, and a concern for the urgent need of widespread engagement and mobilisation for coping with the consequences of severe socio‐ecological problems. The authors argue for an approach that takes both concerns seriously. Drawing on transactional didactic theory—underpinned by a pragmatist perspective on the interplay of continuity and change through the phases of habit, crisis and creativity—they illustrate that engagement with real‐world societal problems does not inevitably result in the instrumentalisation of education. It can, on the contrary, open up a space for newness, creativity, freedom and pluralism. Yet, realising this unique educative potential does not happen automatically. It requires specific didactical work, specific forms of teaching. Through a practical example, the authors illustrate how teachers can stage problematic situations and inquiries in such a way that sustainability problems are brought to the table, turned into a common matter of concern and made free by giving the students possibilities to renew the world. Thus, they turn the question whether or not to engage with real‐world problems into the question how to do so.A