Towards an Integrated Disciplinary Narrative and an Enhanced Role for Geography in Education for Sustainability: Reflections on South African Higher Education

Abstract

As a bridging discipline between the humanities, social and physical sciences, the claim by Geography that it focuses on interactions between the ‘human’ and ‘natural’ world, positions it well to play a leading role in Education for Sustainability (EfS). Despite the prominence of the twenty-first century environmental dilemma and the increasing importance of sustainability and associated discourses, the international literature provides evidence that not all geographers attach the same importance to the synergy between the human-environment identity of the discipline and sustainability and thus do not necessarily align their teaching and research accordingly. As highlighted in the international literature, the extent of the contribution by Geography to EfS depends on the interpretation of the human-environment identity by geographers and how this is transferred to students during their undergraduate studies. Utilising undergraduate curriculum information obtained from 19 departments of Geography in South Africa, this chapter reflects on the dominance of the dualistic treatment of the human-environment identity in Geography curricula through the separation between Human and Physical Geography. However, Integrated/Thematic Geography, through which the human-environment identity is approached in a more holistic way, is under-represented in the curriculum. This largely one-sided approach to the human-environment identity in South African undergraduate Geography curricula may lead to over-simplified conceptualisations of the twenty-first century issues humankind is grappling with, and cannot be afforded much longer. The paper concludes with some options for transformation of Geography to move from the dualistic treatment of nature and society towards a more integrated approach, which will not only be true to the higher goal of the discipline, but also increase its utility in the context of EfS. This transformation which will ensure a continued role for the discipline in the increasingly cross-disciplinary context in which teaching, learning and research has to be conducted in order to be relevant in the twenty-first century.