En aktionsforskningsstudie om undervisning och lärande för hållbar utveckling

Sammanfattning: Researchers in environmental education and education for sustainable development (ESD) have discussed in what way young people’s experience impact their action competence (e.g. Almers 2009; Schnack 1996; Breiting &Mogensen 1999; Lundegård 2007). In my research I wanted to study if and how action research (AR) including the students’ reflections may contribute to a pluralistic education in ESD. The AR was made together with a teacher at a secondary school in year 9. We worked on equal level in planning and often during the lessons, but I, as the researcher, was making the Analysis and the Questions of the interviews.I made three group interviews with five students. The other students were answering questions in logbooks. I also interviewed the teacher.Early on the class visited an exhibition at the National Museum of Science in Stockholm. During the next lesson the students wrote in their logbooks about their thoughts after visiting the museum, and I interviewed five students. The teacher and I read their reflections and observed what we had to pay attention to during the next lesson. Many students had been afraid of the future and started thinking that their children might not have a future; everything on the globe is spoilt, ice flows everywhere. The teacher and I decided to talk more about whose responsibility it is (Öhman 2006; Lundegård 2007). We found support in Ojala’s (2007) thesis.This was the first question we had to deal with in our Action Research. The teacher and I planned a new cycle of action, where we talked about the environment and whose responsibility is it.We talked about society, economy and politics, because we had noticed that the students were thinking that they were guilty for the global situation.Further on the students got more action competence and were more motivated and interested in environmental problems, and also critical in many ways about how societies and politicians were dealing with the environment issues.The next time the students were reflecting, they were not talking about worries for the future. Instead they had started to think about constructive actions favoring the globe’s future. Other things we took care of were when the students needed help with their studies about life-styles.They were working in groups, 3-5 members in each group, and they were taking initiatives, planning and acting and after the study they made presentations of their work in front of the whole class. I found that the Pluralistic way of education worked fine together with my action research and the students were able to take their own decisions in the environmental questions. They had gained action competence now and for the future.