Video diaries: a tool to investigate sustainability-related learning in threshold spaces

Abstract

This paper takes as a case study an undergraduate field class from a UK university to rural Uganda. It describes and evaluates the use of video diaries as a tool for investigating the process of transformative learning in the context of education for sustainability. The applicability of threshold concept theory to this learning is investigated. Results show the video diary technique to be much more successful in capturing the development of student learning than written diaries. Despite some practical difficulties, rich data were generated. Analysis demonstrated that learning met three of the five criteria for threshold concepts: the learning was transformative, integrative and troublesome. Further research could test whether the learning in this case study met the threshold concept criterion of irreversibility. Further elaboration of the theoretical relationship between threshold concepts, transformative learning and education for sustainability is also needed. It is concluded that the video diary method is potentially transferable to other educational research contexts and may be particularly suitable for researching learning in threshold spaces.

Keywords:

• education for sustainable development
• fieldwork
• threshold concepts
• transformative learning
• video diaries

Acknowledgements

The success of these field classes depended on the support, goodwill and expertise of many colleagues at the National Teachers’ College, Kaliro, Uganda, especially Robert Bagalama. This project was undertaken as part of a fellowship granted by the Centre for Active Learning, University of Gloucestershire. My colleagues Alex Steele, Kenny Lynch, Hazel Roberts and Chris Hall are thanked for their assistance with data collection, as are the student participants. Sonia Chilton efficiently and accurately transcribed the video tapes. Feedback on an early presentation of this research at a Centre for Active Learning seminar was useful, especially comments from Peter Foster and Carolyn Roberts. An early draft of this paper was presented at the conference Graduates as Global Citizens at Bournemouth University in September 2007. The comments of three anonymous referees have also been helpful. Financial support for the field class by the Janet Trotter Trust and the St Paul and St Mary Fund is gratefully acknowledged.