Reimagining applied practices: a case study on the potential partnership between applied practices and education for sustainable development

ABSTRACT

This case study tells the story of two educators at the University of Plymouth (United Kingdom) who reconsidered the fundamental purpose of their curriculum in light of the United Nations Sustainable Development agenda. This resulted in the development of a new community-engaged applied practice module during the final year of the Theatre and Performance degree. Reflection on their innovation process reveals that students engaged in their community benefit from making direct links in the curricula to locally-relevant sustainable development goals. However, it also highlights the interplay of other external forces influencing curriculum design, such as notions of teaching excellence becoming increasingly framed by student employability outcomes. Finding the means to hold these different agendas symbiotically is presented as key to survival within such an educational context.

KEYWORDS:

• Applied practices
• applied theatre
• sustainability
• sustainability education
• forum theatre

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Alex Cahill is Programme Lead for the Directing, and Theatre and Performance courses at the University of Plymouth. Her research interests focus on the mental, spiritual and social welfare of performers and integrate Boalian techniques into multiple facets of performer training.

Dr Paul Warwick is the Centre for Sustainable Futures Lead at the University of Plymouth.He has worked for twelve years within Higher Education, taking a leading role in developing a variety of educational innovation and reform initiatives primarily concerned with Citizenship Education and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Notes

1. Sustainability education is defined as the process of equipping students with the knowledge and understanding, skills and attributes needed to work and live in a way that safeguards environmental, social and economic wellbeing, both in the present and for future generations. (QAA 2014, 5)

2. ‘Compassionate critical creatives’ is a term coined by Paul Warwick in 2016 to describe the twenty first century HE graduate. This theory has in part underpinned the University of Plymouth’s Graduate Compass – ‘a framework of ‘future-facing’ attributes’ that informs the University’s educational strategy for innovative curriculum design. (University of Plymouth 2016).

3. UN Sustainable Development Goals consist of a series of ambitious global targets including eradicating poverty in all its forms, realising human rights and achieving gender equality whilst tackling environmental threats such as climate change and biodiversity loss. (United Nations 2015)

4. Sustainability Development Goal 3: Good health and Wellbeing.

5. Sustainability Development Goal 4: Quality Education.

6. Sustainability Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.