The unsustainable heaviness of education

Abstract

From the pedagogical point of view, the theme of sustainability has two perspectives: the first one is the education for sustainability; the second one is the sustainable education. In the first case, there are mainly educational practices for the knowledge and behaviors aimed at environmental care, consumptions, in general a correct, sustainable “lifestyle”.
The second perspective poses the problem of the sustainability of the educational system as it has developed in the Western world, above all the school. The human and material resources that it requires and the gap between rich and poor countries, pose the question if the development of the school, parallel to the Western development model, is still sustainable.