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Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:3 (2019) ©20

Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:3 (2019) ©2019 Canadian Society for the Study of Education/ Société canadienne pour l’étude de l’éducation www.cje-rce.ca Education for Sustainable Consumption: A Social Reconstructivism Model Sue McGregor Mount Saint Vincent University Abstract Social reconstructivism is suggested as an appropriate curriculum philosophy for education for sustainable consumption (ESC). Couched in framing the consumer culture as a power- ful social institution that needs to be challenged and reformed, the position paper begins by defining sustainable consumption, including symptoms of unsustainable consumption and barriers to consuming sustainably. This is followed by a description of the social recon- structivist curriculum philosophy and model. Related contributions include ESC values, principles, and issues, the notion of catalytic education, and a description of instructional strategies recommended to help put social reconstructivism-informed ESC curricula into motion. The intent is to create a generation of learners who see themselves as social change agents by assuming that ownership of learning leads to ownership of actions. Keywords: education for sustainable consumption, social reconstructivism, catalytic edu- cation, consumer culture, social institutions Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:3 (2019) www.cje-rce.ca Education for Sustainable Consumption 746 Résumé Dans cet article, le reconstructivisme social est présenté comme une philosophie de cur- riculum appropriée en éducation à la consommation durable (ÉCD). Poussé à qualifier la « culture de consommation » d’institution sociale puissante nécessitant d’être contestée et réformée, ce document de synthèse commence par définir la consommation durable, incluant les signes extérieurs d’une consommation non durable et les obstacles à la consom- mation durable. Ensuite, une description de la philosophie et du modèle du curriculum de reconstruction sociale est présentée. Les sujets abordés : les valeurs, les principes et les enjeux de l’ÉCD, la notion d’éducation catalytique et une description des stratégies éduca- tives recommandées afin d’aider la mise en œuvre de programmes d’études ÉCD axés sur le reconstructivisme social, font également partie des apports de cette synthèse. L’intention est de former une génération d’apprenants qui se considèrent comme des agents de changement social sur la présomption qu’une prise en charge des apprentissages mène à une prise en charge des actions. Mots-clés : éducation à la consommation durable, reconstructivisme social, éducation cata- lytique, culture de consommation, institution sociale Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:3 (2019) www.cje-rce.ca Education for Sustainable Consumption 747 Introduction We live in a world with rampant unsustainable consumption; things have to change. Position papers, “a legitimate and important form of [scholarly] discourse” (Kennedy, 2007, p. 139), entail an explicit expression of a position on an issue. This position paper develops the idea that schools need to become agents of change for education for sustain- able consumption (ESC), which inherently reflects the social reconstructivist curriculum orientation. This approach holds that the curriculum is responsible to and serves society and that schools are powerful agents for reconstructing society for the betterment of all. It deals with using schools to teach students how to effect cultural and societal change. It involves altering cultural and social institutions from the perspectives of critical con- sciousness, reflexivity, and social responsibility (Sowell, 2000). One such institution is the consumer culture, which sorely needs to be reformed and reconstructed, starting with socializing younger generations of learners to their deep role in making this happen (Thoresen, 2010). If the consumer culture “represents one of the primary arenas in which elements of social change are played out” (Miles, 2017, para. 1), it stands to reason that this arena itself can be changed to effect further social change. One mechanism for such change is curricular reform focused on societal reform. Before explaining what a social reconstructivist approach to ESC might look like in practice, the discussion turns to an overview of the consumer culture as a key social institution, followed by definitions of sustainable consumption including symptoms of unsustainable consump- tion and barriers to consuming sustainably. The argument developed in this position paper advances the body of knowledge and literature on consumer education by enriching it with a social reconstructivist educational philosophy. Using the latter, consumer educators can challenge the consumer culture and use school as the agent of change to do so. Consumer Culture Examples of familiar social institutions include marriage, family, and the market. They all shape everyday life. Institute (verb) is from the Latin instituere, “to set up, establish, put in place.” Institution (noun) is from the Latin institutionem, “an arrangement, instruc- tions” (Harper, 2019). Institutions are established, stable, secure, and influential elements or organizations in a people’s social, daily life (Huntington, 1968). They are an enduring Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:3 (2019) www.cje-rce.ca Education for Sustainable Consumption 748 and densely interwoven system of behaviours, role expectations, and relationship patterns that function across an entire society. Institutions order, regulate, and structure people’s behaviour (Verwiebe, 2014). They comprise familiar, valued, and recurring routines and patterns as well as complex practical activities played out each day, creating a people’s way of life (Huntington, 1968; Preston, 1997). Drawing on sociological theories, Verwiebe (2014) further explained that institu- tions structure social relationships and catalyze role expectations. They legitimize pre- vailing power relations, advantaging some people and marginalizing others. And they can actually unburden people by making their environments more predictable, leading people to not question embedded routines used to solve everyday problems. Unfortunately, this can lead to desensitization to reality and resultant uncritical engagement with life. Such is the way with a consumer culture where social status, values, identities, and activities are centred on the consumption of goods and services (Mattar, 2011; McGregor, 2010; Thoresen, 2010; Wright & Rogers, 2011). The consumer culture fits Verwiebe’s (2014) aforementioned profile of a pow- erful societal institution. It is a culture of false relationships, misplaced self-identity, disenchantment, dissatisfaction, and alienation (McGregor, 2010). In more detail, people relentlessly seek their identity through what and how much they consume, thereby creat- ing false relationships with things instead of people. This leads to dissatisfaction because the consumer culture promises everything but never fully delivers. People’s expectations are never met, leaving them not only dissatisfied but also disenchanted and disillusioned. A terrible sense of alienation leads people to spend and spend (i.e., materialism) trying to fill the void. This self-defeating and hard-to-defeat social institution has created a lifestyle (i.e., patterns and habits of living) that is not sustainable for self, others, other species, environments and ecosystems, or even the Earth itself (McGregor, 2010). “The consumer culture lies at the heart of the relationship between structure and agency in contemporary society” (Miles, 2017, para. 1). This means that “getting to the heart of things” (pun intended) entails opening that heart to critical examination and change. Hence the call for changes in the curriculum (using social reconstructivism) so citizens can fight back against this powerful societal institution through sustainable consumption. This necessitates an appreciation of the full (big) picture, including under- standing what constitutes sustainable consumption, recognizing evidence of excessive consumption, and acknowledging barriers to consuming sustainably. People need to know Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:3 (2019) www.cje-rce.ca Education for Sustainable Consumption 749 what they are doing wrong so they can effectively address this in any efforts to effect societal change. Sustainable Consumption To consume is from the Latin consumere, “take up,” and the Old French consumer, “to destroy by separating into parts that cannot be reunited” (Harper, 2019). In practice, in a consumer society, to consume means to search for, select, purchase (or not), use, or have delivered and dispose of products and services to satisfy wants and needs (McGregor, 2012). Sustainability is from two words, sustain and able. Sustain is from the Latin sus- tainere, “to hold up or support from below.” Able is from the Old French ableté, “expert at handling something” (Harper, 2019). Thus, “sustainability refers to people becoming experts at holding up or supporting something from below” (McGregor, 2011, Slide 3). In the context of sustainable consumption (and production) one thing needs to be sustained—all life (including humans, nonhuman species, ecosystems, the environment, and the Earth; McGregor, 2011). Succinctly, sustainable consumption refers to consuming goods and services without harming the environment or society. The 1994 Oslo sympo- sium on sustainable consumption defined it as “the use of services and related products, which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials, as well as the emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations” (Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, 1994). Although this is the prevailing definition (Chaturvedi, 2018), Jackson (2014) has suggested that sustainable consumption is better viewed as an umbrella term for a collec- tion of key issues that deal with enhancing quality of life, improving efficiency, minimiz- ing waste, meeting basic needs, respecting equity, and embracing a life cycle perspective. The latter refers to the production and consumption of goods and services in uploads/Geographie/ ej1231583.pdf