Proposals for Teacher Training
in the Face of the Challenge of Educating
for Sustainable Development: Beyond
Epistemologies and Methodologies
Mari Regina Anastacio
Abstract The predominant educational matrix based on unconstrained progress,
individualism and competition needs to be reinvented so that it can contribute effectively to sustainable development. In this sense, the role of higher education institutions as trainers of local and global leaders is considered fundamental, along with the
role of university teachers who are mediators of learning and great influencers. Thus,
this article intends to reflect the ontological dimension on the programs of teacher
training higher education, in view of the need to review mental models regarding
actions aimed at effective sustainable development. Based on a foundation and a
set of reflections, the importance of adding ontological aspects to teacher trainings, as well as the intellectual and methodological aspects, in which the following
elements emerge: methodological congruence; multidimensionality of being; multidimensionality of relationships; attention to the unveiling of ‘power from within’;
meaningful learning; solidarity and civic culture; learning spaces; access to truths;
heterogeneous plural practices (transdisciplinarity); wisdom and imagination; acting in teams; collective intelligence; group dynamics; world of youth; designer of
learning environments.
Keywords Teacher training · Education for sustainability · Transdisciplinar
education · Ontological aspects · Complex thinking
1 Introduction: The Roots of the Evils that Plague
Humanity in an Unsustainable Long-Term Scenario
The diverse systemic challenges that present themselves in the contemporary scenario have invaded all life on the planet and translate, among others, into unlimited
growth within a finite planet, in the excessive power of corporations, in a parasitic
M. R. Anastacio (B)
Business School, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Street Imaculada Conceição, 1155 -
Prado Velho, Curitiba, Paraná 80215-901, Brazil
e-mail: mari.anastacio@pucpr.br
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities and Sustainable Communities:
Meeting the Goals of the Agenda 2030, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30306-8_33
549
in the Face of the Challenge of Educating
for Sustainable Development: Beyond
Epistemologies and Methodologies
Mari Regina Anastacio
Abstract The predominant educational matrix based on unconstrained progress,
individualism and competition needs to be reinvented so that it can contribute effectively to sustainable development. In this sense, the role of higher education institutions as trainers of local and global leaders is considered fundamental, along with the
role of university teachers who are mediators of learning and great influencers. Thus,
this article intends to reflect the ontological dimension on the programs of teacher
training higher education, in view of the need to review mental models regarding
actions aimed at effective sustainable development. Based on a foundation and a
set of reflections, the importance of adding ontological aspects to teacher trainings, as well as the intellectual and methodological aspects, in which the following
elements emerge: methodological congruence; multidimensionality of being; multidimensionality of relationships; attention to the unveiling of ‘power from within’;
meaningful learning; solidarity and civic culture; learning spaces; access to truths;
heterogeneous plural practices (transdisciplinarity); wisdom and imagination; acting in teams; collective intelligence; group dynamics; world of youth; designer of
learning environments.
Keywords Teacher training · Education for sustainability · Transdisciplinar
education · Ontological aspects · Complex thinking
1 Introduction: The Roots of the Evils that Plague
Humanity in an Unsustainable Long-Term Scenario
The diverse systemic challenges that present themselves in the contemporary scenario have invaded all life on the planet and translate, among others, into unlimited
growth within a finite planet, in the excessive power of corporations, in a parasitic
M. R. Anastacio (B)
Business School, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Street Imaculada Conceição, 1155 -
Prado Velho, Curitiba, Paraná 80215-901, Brazil
e-mail: mari.anastacio@pucpr.br
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities and Sustainable Communities:
Meeting the Goals of the Agenda 2030, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30306-8_33
549