MGSU3000 Sustainability and Outdoor education Course description

In this course, the students will write an individual thesis that addresses child welfare and social pedagogy work with children and young people and their families living in vulnerable life situations. 

The bachelor's thesis is an independent piece of academic work produced by the student. Each student formulates a research question of relevance to the work of a child welfare officer. The goal is to put issues relevant to professional practice into a theoretical and practical perspective and demonstrate analytical competence and ethical reflection. The students should also show that they master the formal and methodology requirements for academic writing of such a scope.

In the work on the thesis, the student is expected to use relevant subject matter from the programme and obtain new knowledge from specialist literature and other relevant sources.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes, defined as knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge  

The student  

• has knowledge of environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability 
• has knowledge of place-based learning as embodied and emplaced 
• has knowledge of philosophical, pedagogical and ethical dilemmas in environmental and sustainability education 
•  has knowledge of central sustainability concepts from natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and aesthetics  
• has insight into the key concepts of climate, ecology, biodiversity and technology systems 
• has an understanding of how language, texts (in a broad perspective) and educational practices can increase children’s awareness of both nature and current environmental challenges
• has knowledge of social sustainability, citizenship and children’s rights such as the right to education and play
• has knowledge of cultural identity and indigenous and minority perspectives for pedagogical work with sustainability  
• has knowledge of international and national policy, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and teaching curricula

Skills 

The student 

• can implement outdoor place-based play and learning in kindergartens and schools
• can apply sustainability knowledge in diverse didactic practices such as inquiry-based and dialogue-based learning approaches 
• can facilitate active and experience-based learning in various extended classroom environments 
• is able to identify and discuss core themes and questions related to social justice and diversity, including indigenous and minority perspectives 
• has the ability to engage children in critical dialogue based on encounters with natural and urban environments and literary texts 
• can facilitate problem-based learning with the help of technology and digital/virtual spaces 
• is able to communicate with children about sustainability issues with the aim of generating hope, solidarity and agency  

General competence 

The student 

• is able to reflect on dilemmas, challenges and possibilities in work with sustainability and place-based education  
• can facilitate transformative learning and develop action competence in kindergartens and schools 
• can reflect on pedagogical experiences with place-based education and sustainability in early childhood to lower secondary education
• can contribute to an awareness of how local actions have an impact on a global scale through learning activities 

Marie Hatlelid Føleide and Birgitte Nyblin-Austgulen

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence: 

Knowledge

The student has developed knowledge of

• outdoor activities and environmental ethics in different aspects of pedagogical work

• physical literacy

• motor development and learning

• different approaches to outdoor didactics

• sustainable development

• foodliteracy

• in-depthstudy of the topics presented

Skills

The student has developed

• basic skills in outdoor life (friluftsliv)

• practical skills in (working with different approaches to) outdoor didactics

• skills in working with play and bodily movement in different environments

General competence

The student has developed

• an awareness of and reflections on education and child welfare - values and practices in

in a Nordic and comparative perspective

• competencies to analyse and communicate gender-related professional issues related

to outdoor education

• knowledge about cultural and comparative pedagogical approaches in different

educational programmes

• knowledge about writing an academic paper

Teaching of relevance to work on the bachelor’s thesis. All students will be offered three 45-minute supervision individuall sessions. No supervision will be given in the final week before submission.

The following coursework requirements must be met before the student can sit the exam:

• Carry out a one-day hike or overnight stay in the forest and an oral presentation of experiences from the hike.
• Group work (four to six participants): A written paper based on a subject addressed in the course in agreement with the teacher (1,500- 1,900 words).
• Make a poster in groups (four to six participants) on a selected topic in agreement with the teacher. The poster will be presented at a presentation day with the class. Each group has to give a presentation of the poster to the class (approx. 10 minutes).

Coursework requirements must be met by the deadlines. Coursework requirements are evaluated as pass/fail. Valid absence documented by a medical certificate or similar is not an excuse for not meeting the coursework requirements. Students who, due to illness or other valid and documented reasons, do not meet the coursework requirements by the deadlines, may be given longer deadlines. A new deadline for meeting the coursework requirements is agreed with the relevant teacher in each case. 

Coursework requirements are evaluated with a pass/fail. Students who meet the coursework requirements by the deadline, but are awarded a fail grade, shall be given another attempt to meet the coursework requirements. A new deadline for meeting the coursework requirements is agreed with the relevant teacher in each case. 

The final assessment is based on two parts.

1. Individual oral exam (approx. 30 minutes). Each student has to prepare an individual presentation from one of the listed topics (maximum 12 minutes). The exam is evaluated by two internal examiners.
2. The second part consists of an individual paper on a chosen subject addressed in the course in agreement with the teacher (2,500- 3,000 words).

The individual paper should

• have an individually chosen topic from the subject areas presented in the course
• be a more in-depth study of this individually chosen subject
• focus on the target group relevant to the student’s own educational system.

The paper can

• be a purely theoretical study/analysis
• include practical studies
• test out educational ideas linked to the subject

The topic must be approved by the student’s supervisor.

Resit/rescheduled exams

Resit/rescheduled exams shall take place within reasonable time after the ordinary exam. The regulations on sitting a resit/rescheduled exam are set out in the ‘Regulations relating to studies and examinations at Oslo Metropolitan University’. The student is responsible for registering for a resit/rescheduled exam.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Grade scale A-F.

All exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner. A student's supervisor may not be the examiner for this student.