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Education for Sustainable Development: Perpetuating Myths orBringing about Meaningful Change?
Jim TAYLOR
Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA)
P.O. Box 394, Howick 3290, South Africa
e-mail: jt@wessa.co.za

Abstract
This article challenges conventional wisdom approaches to social change that rely heavily on the communication of messages and ‘deficit development’ orientations. Drawing on the process sociology orientations of Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu as well as a southern African open process framework, a situatedand engaged meaning-making orientation has been developed. Here practical and applied work supports a
deepening of engagement with the issues and risks faced in contexts of environmental and health risk. The
article uses practical examples or mini-case studies to illustrate the points made.
Our vision is a world in which our work and lifestyles contribute to the well-being of all life on Earth(Center for Environmental Education, 2007).
Key words: cholera, communications, conventional wisdom assumptions, deficit development, health risk,
open process framework

1. Introduction
At first glance the environmental situation in Africa
appears bleak. Wars, famine and other social, political,
economic and bio-physical disasters dominate attitudes
and feature as headlines in world media. Whilst one cannot contest many of the challenges faced, it is possible tohave a more positive view. This article shares stories ofchange that reflect differing perspectives. These are
African stories of how our thinking has changed as we
respond to challenging times. The stories demonstrate
how our outlook, and the very outcomes we seek toachieve within that outlook, have sometimes been flawed
and may even, inadvertently, perpetuate the challenges
we face. Through the Regional Centres of Expertise(RCEs), supported by the United Nations University
Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), a different
way of thinking and acting is emerging and this article
seeks to share this broader view. Here I explore experiences from the Wildlife and Environmental Society ofSouth Africa (WESSA) and the RCE KwaZulu-Natal inSouth Africa and reflect them against the background ofbroader educational processes. The cholera crisis in
Zimbabwe, and the RCE’s partnership response to thiscrisis, is an example of one of the challenges faced as weseek to support and enable change for a more sustainable
society. To achieve sustainability we need to draw ontheories that strengthen and enhance our work rather thanrely on assumptions, or conventional wisdom, that may
Global Environmental Research
14/2010: 187-192
printed in Japanmislead us. Our work had previously relied heavily on
the communication of messages and the conveying ofsolutions to environmental problems but such top-down
or centre-to-periphery processes have been found wanting (Taylor, 1997).
This article invites comment and reflections from allpractitioners who are seeking a broader view on socialchange. It might also be interesting to those who arefinding our conventional ways of working to be inadequate or even frustratingly slow. We hope that the ideas
and case stories presented here can give a new vigor andenthusiasm for a brighter, more sustainable future. Whilecommunication and social marketing have an importantrole to play in social change processes, we need tobroaden the related educational activities if we are toachieve meaningful and lasting social change. Norbert
Elias’ notion of a ‘Triad of Control’ (Elias, 1991), Pierre
Bourdieu’s ‘practical reason’ (Robbins, 1991) and an
Open Process Learning Framework (O’Donoghue, 2001)
are described as more relevant approaches. Practicalexamples illustrate how, collaboratively, we are able toapply this practice and its theoretical principles in RCE
KwaZulu-Natal.

©2010 AIRIES188J. TAYLOR

2. Deficit Development and Unintentional
Power Gradients
2.1 Problematic assumptions of deficit
development
A major challenge faced in a development context,
such as in southern Africa, is the unintended effect of‘deficit development.’ Deficit development may be described as an outlook that assumes that Africa, by andlarge, is a continent where people ‘lack’ resources andskills, and that these inadequacies must be overcome inorder to ‘develop.’ As such it is an outlook on development that tends to have a blind spot towards the inherent
potential or opportunities that people in resource-poor
contexts have. Research and experience have shown that
if one works with people from a deficit perspective one
may, inadvertently, perpetuate a ‘power-gradient’ fromthose who assume they know (the development agency
and facilitators) to those who appear to lack capacity (theintended target group of the development processes). An
enduring belief may persist, where ‘those who have’ areperceived to have a recipe or methodology for sharing or
imparting their expertise and apparent competence(Rahnema, 1992). Such an outlook may perpetuate thevery inequalities it seeks to address. Instead of an outlook
where the development partners are perceived to be‘poor’ and lacking skills and competencies, one could
rather acknowledge their economic poverty while building on their social capital and other strengths. In a development context it is important to recognize mutual
strengths, without neglecting weaknesses, and seek toengage with and address both strengths and weaknesses.
From an ecological impact point of view Africa
probably has the least impact, per capita, of any continent
on the planet. While aiming for greater sustainability, we
should build on this strength instead of focusing on thenegative lack of skills, technology and over-exploitationof Africa’s resources. RCE KwaZulu-Natal is currently
seeking to clarify, with our partners at Rhodes University(e.g., O’Donoghue, 2009) as well as with the Centre forEnvironmental Education in India, the ‘hand-print’ concept where young people seek to do something positive
to alleviate their environmental impact, rather thanfocusing on their negative impact or environmental‘foot-print.’ An example of this is the enormous energy
savings young people have achieved through trading
low-energy light bulbs (CFLs) in KwaZulu-Natal townships. Audits conducted by the pupils suggest thatthrough exchanging 4,000 cfl bulbs 1.6 million kg ofcarbon emissions will not be released into the atmospherein the greater Ladysmith area alone (Wilkinson, 2008).
Also, from a social perspective, Africa appears
problematic, especially at first glance. A closer look at
the social fabric may reveal a different picture, however.
Communities and societies may be economically poorand suffering great hardships but the ability of people towork together and support each other in challenging
times is unprecedented. The Nguni tradition where people of a similar age are considered to be brothers andsisters, the elderly are considered to be the parents of all
people younger than they are, and young people are regarded as the children of older people is an example ofthis. Where such traditions are respected, the social fabricis strengthened since no one would wish harm on others
who are considered members of one’s family.
Indigenous knowledge and cultural norms, such as in
the example above, are often still intact in Africa,
whereas in other continents these may have been eroded
or even disappeared altogether. The child-headed households near the KwaZulu-Natal RCE, where children who
have lost their parents take care of each other, benefit
from this powerful knowledge. In many instances suchfamilies survive and obtain food and nutrition by exploiting and applying indigenous knowledge while
harvesting nourishing imbiba (field-mice) and imifino(wild spinach) (Kaschula, 2008).
In terms of bio-physical life support systems Africa isprobably the world’s richest continent. The biodiversityof life, both plants and animals, is probably more intact
than in any other part of the world. It is not surprising,
therefore, that growing economies, including the Chinese
economy, are increasingly relying on Africa to supply
much needed resources. One can only hope that this
exploitation is done in a more sustainable manner than inprevious examples of colonization of people and resources in Africa. Whatever the case, we need to care forand build on the life support systems of Africa. There is aneed to recognize their strengths and use them wisely
instead of perceiving Africa to be a continent that lacks
resources and needs ‘development.’
2.2 Beyond communicating solutions
Of most significance to us today, however, are not the
misconceptions that are so often perpetuated about Africa.
Rather it is about how we are learning to apply teachingand social transformation methodologies that genuinely
support change. In many instances technologies are researched and developed in order to solve social andhealth problems. The assumption is often made, as in thecase of cholera outbreaks and the HIV-AIDS pandemic,
that one can discover what is going wrong, develop a
more informed response and then ‘communicate’ this
response to all concerned.
Unfortunately, meaningful learning and enduringsocial change does not come about through such
simplistic, ‘cause and effect’ orientations to learning andchange. For enduring social change to occur, people need
to become actively involved in their own learning.
O’Donoghue (2001) proposed an Open Process Framework, in which inter-linking features of ‘field-work,’‘information seeking,’ ‘reporting’ and ‘action taking’become useful orientations to support learning that is
engaging, meaningful and longer lasting. For example,
during the cholera outbreak at Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natalin the year 2000, advice on how to avoid the disease wascommunicated to members of the public. Engaged learning processes during which bacteria could be identified
using a simple community health kit proved more

EDS: Perpetuating Myths or Bringing about Meaningful Change?

meaningful, however, than simply the communication ofclear messages (O’Donoghue, 2005). It is also useful toconsider Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of “practical reason”(Robbins, 1991), where one starts from current actions
and practices and seeks to make these more sustainable,
rather than relying on the conventional wisdom andassumption that ‘theory or awareness’ will lead to more
informed actions.
Elias (1991) alludes to a “Triad of Controls” forexploring and helping to understand the relationships
between humans and their environment and the social
processes that come to shape differing situations. Withina ‘Triad of Control,’ three shaping perspectives influence
the relationships people have with society, each other, thebroader environment in which they live and the natural
resources they use. The three influences are ‘environmental or natural constraints,’ ‘social constraints’ and‘self restraint.’ Environmental constraints are largely
bio-physical in effect. If people exceed environmental
limits or boundaries they suffer the environmental
consequences and will run out of resources. The social
constraints are the rules or laws which society exerts.
People comply because they are afraid of the consequences of not complying, which may include sanctions(the law and legislation) and informal influences(through social and cultural norms). Compliance withsocial constraints tends to be fear-based. In a process of“self restraint,” however, people act in a certain way
because they feel it is the right thing to do. An example
from a traffic scenario may help clarify what is meant
here. In a context of self restraint I choose to drive at
120 kmh, because it is the ‘correct thing to do’ and I havedecided that it is safe for me and my family. I drive at
120 even when I know there is no risk of being killed(environmental constraint) or being caught for speeding(social constraint). This practice of ‘self restraint’ isprecious and enduring. It can be sustained indefinitely
and once it begins to ‘kick-in,’ or rise in ascendancy, thequalities of humanity and environmental responsibility
gain in strength.
In this context, ‘self restraint’ can be regarded as ahelpful goal and an important orientation in support ofeducation for sustainable development (ESD). Educators
should seek to enable participants to develop and shape
the principles of ‘self restraint’ so that they are able todevelop a sense of pride and purpose in their lives andthrough the lifestyle choices they adopt. However, inorder to achieve this, one needs to understand the social
contexts in which people live and work and their motivating influences and goals, and to engage with these so that
one might come to a better understanding of the shaping
effects that our lifestyle choices have. It is more about
understanding and engaging with issues and ideas thansimply trying to communicate, so as to make people‘aware.’189

3. The RCE KwaZulu-Natal Response to theCholera Crisis in Nearby Zimbabwe
3.1 The Harare cholera outbreak
On Saturday 31 January 2009 it was reported that
3,200 people had died from cholera in Zimbabwe andthat at least 60,000 had been infected. On Monday 2
February, in Harare, Sarah Charukwa, from the City
Health Department, reported that the figures were
probably much higher: on one tragic day in November
2008 a Harare policeman had collected 19 bodies fromthe high density Harare suburbs of Budiriro and Glen
View (Mandikonza et al., in press). How is it possiblethat such a disease was having such a devastating effectin modern times? How could society respond and what
theoretical orientations and strategies could best be usedin such situations of crisis?
3.2 RCE KwaZulu-Natal response: Harare
workshop for teacher trainers
The tragic spread of cholera in Zimbabwe, and evenfurther south in parts of South Africa, in late 2008 led to a
multitude of responses, many of which relied on thecommunication of health messages to people. On 2
February 2009, a workshop was convened in Harare and
26 teacher training lecturers, social workers and healthofficials gathered to explore issues related to cholera andhealth risk. The group was well aware that simple
awareness messages, beamed at people, were unlikely tomeaningfully address the complex issues associated withcholera, sanitation and hygiene (O’Donoghue, 2005) anda carefully thought-out ESD response was jointly explored by the group. Beatrice Musindo (of VVOB, theFlemish Office for Development, Cooperation andTechnical Assistance) facilitated the meeting and ensured
that all present were able to share their experiences andinvest their ideas in the workshop. At times workshop
participants challenged each other, sometimes to overturnassumptions, as they grew in understanding aboutcholera, health and sanitation issues.
During a session on sharing experiences of the disease
it became increasingly evident how fearful people wereof cholera. As fear rises people’s ability to reason may
decline as they become agitated and wider explanations
for what is going wrong may be sought. From an Elias‘controls’ perspective people appeared to be victims of
their fears of the disease and were unable to respond froma ‘self restraint’ perspective, where they could actively
engage with and deal with the disease in a meaningfulmanner. Although there is no known medical antidote tocholera, the realisation began to dawn that with greater
understanding of the disease many fears could, in fact, beaddressed and alleviated. Participants reported, forexample, that there was a commonly held view thattouching a dead body could lead to contamination. In
response to this observation Caleb Mandikonza of theSouth African Development Community-Regional Environmental Education Programme (SADC-REEP) carefully took the meeting through how the bacteria spread190

J. TAYLOR

and how careful hygienic practices could eradicate therisk. This engaged learning process, which drew on andmobilized the concerns and understandings of theparticipants, was helpful in strengthening their resolve
and understanding of the issues (Mandikonza et al., inpress).
The workshop in Harare was convened so as to develop a meaningful educational response to the cholera
epidemic. The workshop mapped out a framework forfurther training workshops, which were then conductedin ten districts across Zimbabwe. Facilitators were
equipped with information and resources related tocholera, sanitation and health risk issues. Insights from apaper developed during the cholera outbreak in
KwaZulu-Natal by Rob O’Donoghue proved invaluable
in clarifying appropriate responses to the crisis as well as
being critical of many ‘conventional wisdom’ ideas(O’Donoghue, 2005). O’Donoghue carefully described
how efforts to keep messages simple, so as not to confuse
people, might be misleading in the context of health risks
associated with cholera. As Einstein once noted; things
should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.
3.3 Practical tests at the workshop
At the workshop, Sarah Charukwa, informed participants that practical tests that do not require trained
personnel, such as the simple pinch test, can be very
helpful and even life-saving. The pinch test is a practical
test for dehydration: skin on the forearm is pinched andthen one watches to see how quickly it returns to a normal flat state. A dehydrated patient’s skin is slow to return to the normal position and urgent re-hydration must
follow to avoid possible death. A sugar and salt solution
in clean water, administered orally, can help rehydrate apatient suffering from these symptoms.
Following a careful scientific explanation of bacteria
and how they multiply, workshop participants were theninvited to participate in a simple coliform test. First acontrol sample of boiled water was prepared. This water
was placed in a small sterile bottle, with some ‘bacteria
food’ in the form of Colilert powder, and the bottle was
kept in each participants pocket for 24 hours, to provide
the warmth needed for the bacteria to grow and develop.
All participants hands were then rinsed in saucers ofwater and samples of this water were added to otheridentical bottles containing boiled water and the Colilert
bacteria food/nutrient medium.
Participants at the workshop also discovered a nearby
upwelling of water from a broken water main of ZiNWA(the Harare water provision authority). This water was
also subjected to the same test. We all had to wait until
the next day to see how the bacteria samples would
incubate.
The results of the Colilert test were quite graphic. Anybottles containing samples of e-coli turn a bright yellow,
urine-like colour, and those from our fingers and hands
did so as did the sample taken from the broken water
main. The control sample, which had used boiled water,
remained clear, however (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Outcomes of the Colilert tests.

The simple test clarified, in a practical and engaging
way, how bacteria may get onto our hands and how they
multiply and develop, even though one cannot see them.
We were all astonished at the results and some participants hastily went off to test the water from the drinking
water dispenser. Someone even remarked that perhaps
we should not test the drinking water source since thatwas the only source we had, and we always drank it
anyway.
Communications after the Harare workshop revealed
that some workshop participants had tried the same
experiment before and after washing hands with soap.
They reported a positive test in both cases, which seemedstrange. They were worried because the result caused
confusion amongst the team. This outcome pointed to theconclusion that whether you wash hands or not, yourhands may still have bacteria on them. It later dawned onthem that the water they had used in the experiment wasfrom the same source as the water that had indicated apresence of coliform bacteria when it was tested the day
before. This finding indicates that scientific experiments
must be undertaken in a careful, systematic and scientificmanner. The team should have boiled the water to sterilize (destroy) any coliform bacteria already present before
using it in the experiment. The confusion, far from beinga negative event, became a source of learning for all
members. Participants were prompted to raise questions
on the unexpected results but in the end deeper understanding resulted.
3.4 Meaningful learning resulting from theworkshopWals (2007) states that “the conflicts that emerge inthe exploration of sustainable living become prerequisites for, rather than barriers to, learning” (p43). He goeson to say that dissonance is actually the trigger for learning: “put simply: there is no learning without dissonance,
and there is no learning with too much dissonance!”(p40). There was a further key learning experience fromthe simple laboratory experiments at the workshop. Often,
in Africa, especially when laboratory equipment is scarceor expensive, teachers and health workers simply explain
the experiments to the learners in words. Learners thenmemorize the information, or experiment and may evenbe able to answer a knowledge test or exam. Unfortu-

EDS: Perpetuating Myths or Bringing about Meaningful Change?

nately, simulated experimentation and knowledge
memorizing does not necessarily lead to deeper understanding or meaningful learning the way a wellstructured, practical activity does. Through experimentation participants are able to get closer to the issues athand in an engaged, applied and sometimes challenging
manner. It is in these circumstances that engaged, moremeaningful learning is likely to occur.
When participants were able to see how the cholera
germs grew and developed in the test tube of the ‘Colilert
test,’ the importance of careful hand-washing with soap
in order to curb the spread of cholera became apparent.
Deeper knowledge about cholera, including developing
an understanding that it has an intestinal life cycle, andthat it spreads through direct hand contact with fecal
matter, is important in developing participants’ capabilities.
In this context ‘self restraint’ becomes an important
goal of life. The experience in Zimbabwe mobilized theunderstanding and knowledge base of the workshop
participants and an engaged dialogue ensued. This mutual working together negated the risk of a deficit
development orientation where experts seek to educate or‘change’ the ‘other.’ The processes of engaged meaning-making helped shape and develop the principles of‘self restraint’ so that the learners’ ability to reason
strengthened. To achieve this, an understanding of thesocial contexts in which participants lived and worked,
and their motivating reasons and goals was important.
Effective learning came from the way in which participants engaged with the issues and the situated dialogue,
in context, rather than efforts at communication so as tomake others ‘aware.’
The workshop in Harare commenced with people
sharing their stories or experiences related to the cholera
epidemic. These ideas were carefully discussed andprobed. The participants tried out and experimented withmaterials related to the disease, including the simple
e-coli test. This led to a rich conversation as people got togrips with the scientific issues and risks, developed
meaningful approaches and shared their developing
understandings. A period of ‘trying out’ and ‘finding out’
led to deeper and more engaging ‘deliberative’ encounters as people weighed up the options and approaches tolearning. The important point is that instead of simply
receiving clear messages, workshop participants were“mobilizing” (O’Donoghue, 2001) their prior knowledge
and understanding and at times finding their perceptions
to be incorrect. At one point in the workshop, for example, Caleb pointed out that coliform bacteria may develop
in the stomach of other warm blooded animals, not only
those of humans. As Wals (2007) reminds us, knowledge
springs from discontinuity, but only if the issue is engaged with and not ignored or masked by fear.
O’Donoghue (2001) proposed an Open Process Framework, in which inter-linking features of ‘field-work,’‘information seeking,’ ‘reporting’ and ‘action taking’become useful orientations to support learning that is
engaged, meaningful and longer lasting. The Open Proc-

191

ess Framework provided a useful guiding orientation forthe development of an ESD strategy in response to thecholera outbreak in Harare, Zimbabwe in 2009.

4. Concluding Comments
For several years stakeholders of RCE KwaZuluNatal have been working in an ‘open forum,’ becoming
aware of needs and possibilities and working together on
projects in support of education for sustainable development. In this work Elias’ ‘Triad of Control’ has become auseful concept, elucidating the interplay between‘environmental constraints,’ ‘social constraints’ and thesought after ‘self-restraint’ through which choices are
made on the strength of “doing the right thing” rather
than seeking to comply with the law or seeking to act on asimple message.
Conventional wisdom often holds that social change
is a simple process of making people aware (attitudechange) and thereby changing their behaviour (behaviour
modification). Unfortunately, in an environmental context where decision-making is complex, contested,
contextual and emergent and involves many different
facets, such simplistic assumptions are not realistic and
can even be alienating as one group of, supposedly more
informed people, seek to influence ‘less informed’ others.
In developing the notion of ‘practical reason,’ Pierre
Bourdieu (Robbins, 1991) articulates how we should
work from what we ‘do’ rather than from awareness orinformation about what we should do. We should therefore start from what we are currently doing and work
towards better, more sustainable practices. In other words,
we should ‘do it to get it’ rather than assume that if weshare the understanding, or the message, we will ‘get it’and learn to ‘do it’ more wisely. These remarkable insights about human behaviour have strengthened ourunderstanding of ‘action learning’ and RCE KwaZuluNatal increasingly draws on applied and practical action,rather than only on awareness-raising, to bring about thesubstantial changes that are needed.
The Open Process Framework (O’Donoghue, 2001)
proved useful in helping people “mobilise prior knowledge and understanding” and engage with issues andrisks that concern them. As our ideas develop related tothese open process frameworks we welcome contributions from any fellow RCEs who are exploring the ideological underpinnings of their work and may be finding
some ‘conventional wisdom’ assumptions about learningand social change to be limiting and even alienating.
Africa has as much potential, if not more, than any othercontinent on earth. It is the place where East meets Westand can benefit from the cultural sharing this contact
brings. What we really need to change is the way wethink about what we do in order to overcome the ‘deficit
development’ mind-set that is so prevalent in our
so-called modern times.

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J. TAYLOR

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Jim TAYLOR
Dr. Jim Taylor is currently Director ofEnvironmental Education for the Wildlife andEnvironment Society of South Africa (WESSA).
He has a particular interest in environmental
education and social change processes, research,monitoring and evaluation, and resource
materials development. He has been awarded honorary life member status
of WESSA and received a Human Rights award in 1997.
Jim is a founding member of the Southern African Development Community’s Regional Environmental Education Programme (SADC-REEP).
This programme includes the fourteen southern African member countries
and promotes networking, training, policy development & implementation
and resource material development. He is currently coordinating an education for sustainable development course programme that is supporting
professionals from China, Sweden, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Tanzania,
Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Jim is also a founding member of the Environmental Education Associationof Southern Africa (EEASA) and is a past President. He has a PhD inenvironmental education from Rhodes University and a Master’s degree inenvironmental psychology awarded through the University of Surrey in the
U.K.

(Received 6 December 2010, Accepted 27 December 2010)