TY - JOUR

T1 - Learning to spend time in unusual times

T2 - An inquiry into the potential for sustainability learning during COVID-19-induced school closures

AU - Grauer, Claire

AU - Frank, Pascal

AU - Fischer, Daniel

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).

PY - 2023/12/1

Y1 - 2023/12/1

N2 - While current research on school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic is predominantly concerned with learning deficits, the exploratory study presented here focuses on the previously neglected question of young people’s concrete learning experiences during this disruptive period, with a focus on how they used their time and how this relates to their individual needs. The authors interviewed German secondary school students via Zoom and used a grounded theory approach and a transformative learning theory framework to derive recommendations for environmental and sustainability education (ESE). Their findings highlight two important insights: first, that the predominant focus on academic learning loss obscures a more comprehensive understanding of students’ learning experiences; and second, that real-world experiments such as the involuntary school closures during the pandemic may hold the potential to start meaningful, transformative learning processes and experimentation with new strategies for needs satisfaction.

AB - While current research on school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic is predominantly concerned with learning deficits, the exploratory study presented here focuses on the previously neglected question of young people’s concrete learning experiences during this disruptive period, with a focus on how they used their time and how this relates to their individual needs. The authors interviewed German secondary school students via Zoom and used a grounded theory approach and a transformative learning theory framework to derive recommendations for environmental and sustainability education (ESE). Their findings highlight two important insights: first, that the predominant focus on academic learning loss obscures a more comprehensive understanding of students’ learning experiences; and second, that real-world experiments such as the involuntary school closures during the pandemic may hold the potential to start meaningful, transformative learning processes and experimentation with new strategies for needs satisfaction.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Environmental and sustainability education (ESE)

KW - Personal needs

KW - School

KW - Time use

KW - Transformative learning

KW - Sustainability sciences, Communication

KW - Sustainability education

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85179706002&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/a5af8a9f-334f-3a3e-9d48-ea83f62320bc/

U2 - 10.1007/s11159-023-10034-w

DO - 10.1007/s11159-023-10034-w

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85179706002

VL - 69

SP - 823

EP - 849

JO - International Review of Education

JF - International Review of Education

SN - 0020-8566

IS - 6

ER -