A tale of two teachers: Integrating education for sustainability, English and mathematics for a sustainable future using ethical dilemma story pedagogy

In this paper we present a case study of a mathematics teacher and an English teacher integrating education for sustainability into their curriculum through ethical dilemma story pedagogy and co-teaching. The teachers identified a popular picture book and a well-known traditional Australian ballad as the starting point for their shared journey into curriculum integration and education for sustainability. The investigation formed part of a three-year longitudinal project funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) focusing on ethical dilemma story pedagogy as a tool for integrating education for sustainability and values education into mainstream classrooms. The multi-paradigmatic methodology of the inquiry combined in-depth ethnography consisting of participant observation and teacher and student interviews with the Values Learning Environment Survey (VLES). Elisabeth’s and Peter’s (first/ second author) role was that of professional development facilitators, mentors and researchers. The results of this case study suggest that ethical dilemma pedagogy offers teachers an effective tool for integrating education for sustainability into subjects such as mathematics and English as well as for successful curriculum integration across subject boundaries. Teacher interviews highlighted opportunities for synthesis and mutual professional learning despite some difficulties in relation to organisational aspects of curriculum integration, such as time-tabling, shared assessments and shared programming. Student interviews illustrated the potential of ethical dilemma stories to engage students in critical thinking and critical reflection and in a critical discourse about sustainability issues. Some students appeared challenged by the cross-disciplinary nature of the classes