This document summarizes a presentation on sustainability thinking as a new paradigm for philosophy, pedagogy, and learning theory. It discusses how current education systems were designed to produce compliant workers and promote convergent thinking, which contributes to unsustainability. In contrast, sustainability requires divergent thinking, contextualized learning in communities, and reconnecting education with environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Teaching students to think divergently about local issues affecting peace and sustainability in various contexts through democratic discourse and responsibility is key to preparing them for a sustainable future.

1. Sustainability Thinking:
A Major Paradigm Shift in Philosophy, Pedagogy,
and Learning Theory
Kurt Love, Ph.D.
Central Connecticut State University
!
New England Philosophy of Education Society
October 24, 2015
Central Connecticut State University

2. Schooling the Masses
Spent over a million dollars around the turn of
the 20th Century influencing U.S. public
education. Financed the General Education
Board which put out this statement in their
Occasional Paper One (1906):
John D. Rockefeller!
Co-Founder (1839-1937)!
Standard Oil Company
In our dreams...people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding
hands. The present educational conventions [intellectual and character
education] fade from our minds, and unhampered by tradition we work our
own good will upon a grateful and responsive folk. We shall not try to make
these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or
men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors,
educators, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great
artists, painters, musicians, nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians,
statesmen, of whom we have ample supply. The task we set before
ourselves is very simple...we will organize children...and teach them to do
in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an
imperfect way.

3. Schooling the Masses
Wrote in the Columbia Teachers College
Dissertation of 1905 that schools were to be
seen like factories “in which raw products,
children, are to be shaped and formed into
finished products…manufactured like nails,
and the specifications for manufacturing will
come from government and industry”
Ellwood P. Cubberly !
Dean (1917-1933)!
Stanford University Graduate School of Education

4. Schooling the Masses
Bill Gates has been the richest person on the planet since 1995 (net worth of
$76 billion in 2015). He and Melinda Gates also run the world’s wealthiest
charitable organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (net worth of
$34.6 billion)!
!
According to a Washington Post article entitled “How Bill Gates Pulled Off the
Swift Common Core Revolution” by Lindsey Layton (2014), he has been the
single greatest influence on the design and promotion of Common Core State
Standards.!
• In the summer of 2008, Bill Gates meets with two pro-standards reformers, Gene
Wilhoit and David Coleman who argue that public schools all states need to follow
a set of common skills in reading and math.!
• The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided about $200 million to not just
provide the funding for the development of what became the Common Core State
Standards, but also to persuade state governments and other organizations like
the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers (the
nation’s two largest teachers unions) to politically adopt this reform.!
• They also funded research to both conservative and liberal groups in order to
provide their support of the standards.!
• Former Gates Foundation staffers who worked with President Obama and
Education Secretary Duncan undoubtedly influenced the formation of Race to the
Top competitive state grants that utilized stimulus money (in the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). In order for states to rank high on the
rubric, they had to adopt curriculum standards that made students “college and
career ready.” States had the option of creating their own standards that did this,
as long as universities agreed that these standards would meet the requirement of
“college and career ready.” Or, states could simply adopt the Common Core State
Standards. !
• By 2010, 45 states plus the District of Columbia adopt the Common Core State
Standards. Also, 100 out of 176 Catholic diocese adopt them for their schools.
Kentucky became the first state to adopt the standards. They did so before the
final draft had been published.
Bill Gates!
Chair, CEO, Advisor (1975-Present)!
Microsoft!
!
Chair (2000-Present)!
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

5. Learning is Not Neutral
Nearly all of learning as we know it today was
conceived and formed under the auspices and
demands of creating mid-level workers.

6. Manufactured Learning
Nearly every mainstream understanding that we have about
teaching and learning at this point has been developed with
the primary goal of creating mid-level workers.
Standards
Lobbying, Donations,
Business-Government
Coalitions
Educational Research
Workers

7. “College and Career Ready”
Being successful in today’s school-to-corporation pipeline means
becoming efficient in a system that is creating unsustainability
Remember when people
died of “consumption”?
Our planet is dying of
“consumption.”

8. Sustainability Framework
Sustainability !
Environmental!
Social!
Economic
A healthy, balanced economy is dependent upon a healthy, balanced society.
A healthy, balanced society is dependent upon a healthy, balanced environment.

9. Ecological Pressures
The latest UN Report on the Climate (by the IPCC) released said:
Fossil fuels need to be phased out completely world-wide by
2100
Renewable energies growth needs to increase from its current
30% to 80% by 2050
!
Another report by ecologists (Worm et al., 2006) said:
Currently, 29% of salt-water edible fish have declined by 90%
representing a total collapse in fisheries
A total extinction predicted by 2048

10. Sustainability -
Environmental
The Earth has the ability on global and local scales to replenish itself
within a human generation (25 years)
- Science, Social Studies, English, Math,TE
Evolving mindset of humans as interwoven parts of nature and the Earth
- Social Studies, Science, English, Art, Music

11. Social and Cultural Pressures

12. Social and Cultural Pressures
• Dominance and privilege create “blind spots” and
defensiveness
• People suffer immeasurably in the current
practices of globalization, which is a misnomer.
Global westernization is a more accurate
experience for those receiving it.
• Global westernization injects societies with
commerce based largely on addiction and
narcissism.

13. Sustainability - Social
Working towards peace (non-
violent conflict resolution)
- Social Studies, Health, English,
Art, Music, PE, Music,
Solidarity - Affirmation - Critique
of Power
- Social Studies, English, Social
Work, Art, Music
Health & Wellness
- Health, PE, Science, English,
Social Studies, Art, Music,Tech Ed,
Math

14. Economic Pressures
The Super Wealthy
In 2015, the wealthiest 0.1% in the U.S. (about 160,000 families) had about as
much as the bottom 90% (about 300 million people) (Saez & Zucman, 2014)
In 2014, 58% of new income went to the wealthiest 1% (Saez, 2015)
The Koch Brothers have about $80 billion combined.
The Waltons have about $90 billion combined.
!
Median Wealth
In 2011, the median wealth for White households was $111,146
In 2011, the median wealth for Black households was $7,113
In 2011, the median wealth for Latino households was $8,348
(U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Income and Program Participation)
The racial wealth gap is driven largely by U.S. policy

15. Sustainability - Economy
Strong local economies
and responsible global
commerce
- Social Studies, English,
Art, Math, Science,Tech
Ed
Reintegration of the
cultural commons
- Social Studies, English,
Art, Science, Math, Music,
Health

16. Convergent Thinking &
Sustainability
• Convergent thinking is the predominant way of thinking in
U.S. public schools
• The central goal of behaviorists, industrialists, and curriculum
(standards) designers since the beginning of public schools in
the U.S. has been to move all students towards convergent
thinking exclusively.
• Convergent thinking creates uniform thinking and is routinely
decontextualized from local and global communities (aka the
“real world”).
• Since peace and sustainability require different ways of
thinking about problems and solutions, convergent thinking is
contributing to an unsustainable planet.
The pedagogy of the “right” answer is the
wrong answer for peace and sustainability.
Decontextualized
Learning
Uniform
Learning
Compliance &
“Efficiency”
Competitive

17. Convergent Thinking
“Truth”
Standardized Thought
(Behavior)
Behaviorism
(Traditional)
“Blank Slate”
Teacher Student’s Brain Student’s Performance
Convergent Thinking (pedagogy of the “right” answer) -
All paths lead to a single destination.This is rooted in a belief that there is only one “Truth.”

18. Convergent Thinking
Cognitivism
(Traditional)
Standardized Thought
(Memory)
“Memory Maker”“Truth”
Teacher Student’s Brain Student’s Performance
Convergent Thinking (pedagogy of the “right” answer) -
All paths lead to a single destination.This is rooted in a belief that there is only one “Truth.”
Not the same as brain-based research!

19. Prior
Thought
Prior
Thought
Constructivism
(Liberal/Progressive)
scaffold
scaffold
Teacher Student’s Brain Student’s PerformanceStudent’s Brain
“Truth”
Standardized
Thought
(New Schema)
Schema
Convergent Thinking
Convergent Thinking (pedagogy of the “right” answer) -
All paths lead to a single destination.This is rooted in a belief that there is only one “Truth.”

20. Convergent Thinking
20th & 21st century learning theories (fueled by wealthy business interests)
have failed the masses and the planet.They deliberately create compliance and
dependency in the poor and middle classes.
!
In an unsustainable world, we need learning theories and teaching practices
that create balance, solidarity, and interdependence.

21. Re-contexualize + Re-conceptualize
= New Education Paradigm
If we re-contextualize teaching and learning out of the “jobs”
purpose and into the “peace and sustainability” purpose,!
!
We have to re-conceptualize teaching and learning foundations
(philosophy, pedagogy, policy, learning theory) and practices
(methods).

22. Divergent Thinking &
Sustainability
• Divergent thinking is key for us to become more
sustainable, peaceful, and more prosperous.
Divergent thinking offers ways towards health,
wellness, and happiness.
• Divergent thinking is “the ability to see lots of
possible answers to the question, lots of possible
ways interpreting a question… you think not just
in linear or convergent ways.To see multiple
answers, not one.” (Ken Robinson, 2008)
• Since peace and sustainability require different
ways of thinking about problems and solutions,
divergent thinking allows more for contextualized
learning because it recognizes unique sets of
needs and various possibilities.
Peace and sustainability are
contextual and complex.
So must be our teaching
and learning.

23. Sustainability Thinking
To be prepared to create more peace and sustainability,
students will become adult members of society who
need to be able to:
• Identify issues in specific communities (in
context) that affect peace and sustainability
• Understand ideologies and philosophies that are
at the root of environmental, social, cultural, and
economic issues
• Communicate productively with people of all
social, cultural, and political backgrounds
• Inquire and experiment with possible solutions
that move us towards sustainability
Peace and sustainability are
contextual and complex.
So must be our teaching
and learning.
At the core is the ability to do divergent thinking

24. Info
Divergent Thought
(New Relationship)
Critical Constructivism
(Transformative)
Communities
Critical
Questioning
Teacher Student’s Brain Student’s PerformanceStudent’s Brain
scaffold
scaffoldPrior
Thought
Prior
Thought
Divergent Thought
(New Relationship)
Divergent Thinking -
Explore many paths in authentic settings with questions that have no predetermined answer,
but do require content knowledge.
Divergent Thinking

25. Sustainable and Peaceable Thinking
Divergent thinking that is
contextualized in community.This
provides students with
opportunities to explore how
content is thought about and
practices in local and global
community, especially with:
!
1. Anti-anthropocentric
mindsets
2. Democratic discourse
3. Wellness
4. Balanced, responsible
economies

26. References
Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to an ecology of mind. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
Bowers, C. A. (2006). Revitalizing the commons: Cultural and educational sites of resistance and affirmation. New York, NY: Lexington
Books.
Doppelt, B. (2010). The power of sustainable thinking: How to create a positive future for the climate, the planet, your organization,
and your life. New York, NY: Routledge.
Gatto, J. T. (2006). The underground history of American education: A schoolteacher's intimate investigation in the the problem of
modern schooling. New York, NY: Oxford.
Gatto, J. T. (2002). Dumbing us down: The hidden curriculum of compulsory schooling. Gabriola
Hickel, J. (September 23, 2015). Forget 'developing' poor countries, it's to 'de-develop' rich countries. The Guardian. Retrieved from
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/sep/23/developing-poor-countries-de-develop-
rich-countries-sdgs
Layton, L. (2014). How Bill Gates pulled off the swift Common Core revolution. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bill-gates-pulled-off-the-swift-common-core-revolution/2014/06/07/a830e32e-
ec34-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a_story.html
Nieto, S. (1994). Affirmation, solidarity, and critique: Moving beyond tolerance in multicultural education. Multicultural Education.
Saez, E. (2015). Striking it richer: The evolution of the top incomes in the United States. Berkeley, CA. Retrieved from : http://
eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2014.pdf
Saez, E., & Zucman, G. (2014). Wealth inequality in the United States since 1913: Evidence from capitalized income tax data.
Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w20625.
Worm, B., Barbier, E. B., Beaumont, N., Duffy, J. E., Folke, C., Halpern, B. S., . . . Watson, R. (2006). Impacts of biodiversity loss on
ocean ecosystem services. Science, 314, 787-790.