Researching the Teaching and Learning of Action Competence in Relation to Sustainability

This 4-year project aims to investigate the teaching and learning of action competence in relation to sustainability problems as an embodied and practical practice.

The purpose is: (1) to investigate the entanglement of the bodily and cognitive dimensions of action competence connected to sustainability issues, (2) to investigate the impact of teachers’ interventions in the classroom on students’ learning of action competence (3) to develop the concept of action competence and to identify crucial principles/strategies for teaching it.

Two case studies in grade 7-9 are conducted: “(re)making lab” in Sloyd and Technology Education where students engage with resource, developing creative and problem-solving skills, and “living labs” in Physical and Health Education where students learn sustainable and healthy mobilities.

They are chosen because they involve both practical and embodied actions. Observations, interviews and walk-and-talk interviews with teachers and students will be conducted.

Transactional didactic theory, practical epistemological analysis and ‘teachers moves’ analysis, are used to analyze the empirical data.

The project is important to develop knowledge that can offer guidance for teachers to bridge the divide between knowing about sustainability problems and acting in the pursuit of tackling them, as well to avoid ‘ecological grief’ or even ‘eco-paralysis’ that affect students’ health and wellbeing.