Educational background and why Sweden
Despite their different cultural background, they shared a common desire: educate themselves, become better educators and human beings. Both have a background in teaching and wanted to learn more about what outdoor and sustainability education is about, which led them to LiU and the Outdoor and Sustainability Education programme.
I knew that I wanted to go back to Sweden and develop my skills as an educator, embracing the multicultural and inspiring opportunities that I knew I could explore.
Manuel met a friend during his Erasmus exchange who told him about Linköping University, which piqued his interest in international studies. He liked the idea of speaking another language, which made him spend six months at Uppsala University giving him a holistic close-to-nature perspective on education. This experience gave him a thirst for more. Unfortunately, the pandemic hindered his opportunities to immediately return but after working as a teacher for a year, returned to Sweden and enrolled in the master’s programme. This proved to be fantastic idea that enriched his life, made him some close friends and changed is views on the core of education.
Carole worked as primary school teacher in Switzerland before enrolling in the master’s programme, here she welcomed pre-service teachers into her classroom and helped with their practical training. In parallel to training pre-service teachers, she worked with and trained in-service teachers to implement outdoor education in her region. It was during this time that she discovered her interest in working with teacher education and reflect upon educational theories, which led her to re-orient her career.
I very much enjoyed teaching and guiding [pre-service teachers]; we discussed a lot about different ways of teaching and the relation between theories and the reality of teaching practices when they met the young students in my classroom.
Carole realised that she wanted to pursue greater understanding about Outdoor Education, as well as wanting to have a master’s to be able to become a university teacher for teachers, made her switch from working to studying. Looking online she found that there were only two universities that offered Outdoor Education in Europe, of which LiU was one of them. The added bonus of her liking the country and the lack of tuition fees sealed the deal.
Therapeutic time in nature
Both PhD students share the sentiment about the programme having been a valuable period in their life. Both enjoyed the approach of theory in conjunction with outdoor practice, regardless of the weather. Carole’s thoughts about the programme ties in with the closeness to nature, as the experiences in nature was very therapeutic for her, or as she frames it:
This year of master [studies] felt like a refreshing breeze, with life-changing experiences and encounters that I will remember for ever.
Overall, she enjoyed the programme and the second course Environmental and Sustainability Education in the Natural and Cultural Landscape was the most interesting to her, as it was one of the areas she knew the least about, of which made her more eager to learn more about it. Something else that Carole highlights, is the relationship between professors and students; as she was a bit anxious about starting to study after so many years, and in a different language than her own. However, she quickly realised that the flat hierarchy in Sweden, and fika, is an integral part of Swedish society. As the professors, Ola and Emilia, welcomed them with fika, nothing more than coffee and biscuits but instilled the “spirit of fika” in the new students.
This first fika directly set the tone, teachers are super nice and truly want to build an easy relationship, without fuss and too many formalities; a relaxed atmosphere that would allow us to succeed.The first fika, in conjunction with the university culture, the teachers and everything in the organisation of the master’s programme made Carole’s anxiety of being able to succeed in her studies vanished by the end of the first semester. In comparison, Manuel’s experience of the master’s programme was a little bit different. Instead of it being a refreshing breeze, the programme changed not only his view of the world but his core beliefs.
The master’s programme was an eye-opening period in my life.Since Manuel comes from a city on a small island, his perspective on sustainability and nature were quite limited, of which the programme provided the ability for him to become not only a better person but also a better educator. Manuels experience of the second course was an eye-opening moment as it introduced notions of sustainability and environmental education, the complexity of society and how the impact of one’s choices have on several levels. In conjunction with these notions, the conversations with his teachers and classmates about the roles they have as individuals and educators to make a change and the importance of having these discussions made a mark on Manuel.
… led me to deconstruct my system of beliefs and redefine – or change completely – many of views of the world and my actions in it.
They shared a common desire: to educate themselves and become better educators with elevated knowledge of the outdoor environment and sustainability. In the present, they now focus, respectively, on research within sustainability education and how emotional learning encourages behavioural change.
LiU came with opportunities and doctoral studies
Both Carole and Manuel have worked as assistants in the Megagame Project Switching the Current, that aims to promote dialogue and interaction between players that need to cooperate in teams to create a sustainable society and focus on energy system. At the same time, increasing knowledge about how current design and transformation of the energy system affects the surrounding society, environment and climate. This project has been very enjoyable for both and Carole, who has worked as an assistant during the game several times, asks the rhetorical question: 'who knew that you could learn so much about sustainability while having so much fun playing a board game?'.
How they came to realise they wanted to pursue PhDs differed between them. For Manuel, the pursuit of a PhD came after working at a high school in Gränna and seeing that the teachers lacked a clear approach to sustainability topics. He thought that it was very disorganised, no clear purpose and missing a link between the topics.
I enjoyed learning and reading so much that I did not want to get back to teaching yet.
In contrast to Manuel, Carole knew after the first semester of the master’s programme that she wanted to pursue research. Going for her PhD studies directly after her master’s degree, she decided to stay in Sweden with the university system offering the best conditions for such studies; despite making her do those studies in a foreign language. Her research is about Biodiversity Conservation Education and explores teaching practices of teachers that have led initiatives in biodiversity conservation with their students. She will look at how the teachers implement the initiatives in their lessons and asks about any dilemmas they may have encountered. –I am interested in in discussing how such practices can develop in the context of formal school education, to support a more sustainable future for our planet. I am very curious about the role of teachers in sustainability education, and more broadly, about the role of education to support sustainability and the green transition.
Studying and research can both be challenging and rewarding. Likewise, this is true for our two doctorates who in the beginning sought to find the right research questions yet succeeded with the help of their supervisors. As Manuel ponders about, where will his research land on the different areas of discussion in research, to what extent will his work contribute to the betterment of teacher students and society in general?
I think that one of the greatest challenges I am facing as a PhD student is dealing with questions that make me constantly review my work and my perspectives, as I try to define myself as a researcher, but also a member of society.
In conjunction with this, Manuel also strives to better himself and made the effort of trying to acknowledge and accept the things he did not know, an exercise in humbleness that also pushes him to keep looking for answers. This process, albeit tiring and challenging, is transforming Manuel into a version of himself that is more knowledgeable, patient and open to the world and its offering. For Carole, the beginning struggles was finding the right research questions for her study, but she had great help from her supervisors, who supported her in finding the right path. In addition to this, she has had the chance of collaborating with her supervisor, Karin Stolpe, for her first research, which will be submitted for publication later this year. As Carole is the first author for this research, she manages the principal decisions related to the research. Thanks to Karin’s participation, Carole’s quality of work haven gotten added value because it has widened her perspectives.
I feel like my supervisors truly want to help me reveal my own potential and ideas, which is a true gift for a PhD student.
