Arjen E.J. Wals

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Science as communitySustainability-oriented
trans-disciplinary research

• Arjen E.J. Wals

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Outline

1. Unsustainability, change confusion
2. Hybrid learning in post-normal times
3. Science as community - phronesis

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2.000.000/5min
www.chrisjordan.com
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www.chrisjordan.com
426.000/day
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Who knows? Who cares?

• Deepwater horizon
• Nuclear radiation in Japan
• Increased infertility in men
• Calcium supplements for women
• Runaway (?) climate change
• Organic sustainable for all?
• Paper or plastic?
• .

We are drowning in information while starving
for wisdom E.O. Wilson, 1998, p. 300)
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Post-normalism

• Complexity
• Uncertainty and indeterminacy
• Contestation and controversy extinction of
  truth erosion of trust (fact free science,
  fact free politics, science as opinion)
• Shallowness and hyper-connectivity erosion of
  meaning
• Emergence - reflexivity

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• The conventional wisdom holds that all education
  and research is good, and the more of it one
  has, the better. The truth is that without
  significant precautions, it can equip people
  merely to be more effective vandals of the Earth
  (D. Orr).

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Trends and counter-trends in higher education

• Science for impact factors science for society
• Increasing efficiency promoting authentic
  learning
• Science as commodity science as community

trend counter-trend
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Science for impact factors trend
Whats you h-factor?
T
1990
2000
2010
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Science for society counter trend
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Increasing efficiency - trend
Diploma factory - trend
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Authentic learning counter trend
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Science as commodity - trend

• More private funding
• Billable hours
• Accountability

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Science as community counter trend
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  Science as commodity Science as community
Research orientation Science for Impact Factors Strong emphasis on publication targets to be met by publishing in ISI journals preferably with a high Impact Factor Science for Impact Strong emphasis on societal relevance targets to be met by positive feedback by extended peers that include those who are to benefit from the research
Educational orientation Efficiency Students are viewed from an economic perspective as clients, input, throughput and output, who need to get their diplomas within the time allocated at minimal costs   Instrumental transfer of pre-determined and relatively fixed outcomes Authenticity Students are viewed from a human development perspective as citizens who want to develop themselves and want to engage in meaningful learning around authentic issues that cannot be lectured   Emancipatory high degrees of self-determination, space for transformation and co-created and emergent outcomes
Business orientation Focus on continuous growth The university wants to or is forced to (as governments withdraw public money) to get more money out of the market. Faculty get acquisition/ billable days targets. Growth of private institutions. Focus on dynamic quality The university invests in community relations and community outreach seeking to become indispensible and an integral part of the community which in return is willing to support the university.
Epistemological orientation   Empirical rationalism Finding an objective truth. Establishing causality. Single truth exists and can be known. Maximize predictability, management and control. Minimize uncertainty. Socio constructivism Co-creation of knowledge, inter-subjectively validated. Pluralist. Not one single truth but many subject to interpretation. Uncertainty as a given. Facts and values are inseparable.
Type of knowledge generated Scientific and technical knowledge that can (allegedly) be generalized across contexts to inform attempts by various social actors to predict, control, and/or intervene for specific instrumental ends. Phronesis ethically practical knowledge that is indispensible for the work of making context specific value judgments about ends and means. Source Peters Wals, in press
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Rethinking science
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Hybrid Learning Configuration

• A vital coalition of multiple stakeholders
  engaged in a common challenge using a blend of
  learning processes in a rich context (sumgtparts)

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Source George Siemens, 2008
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Thank you!