“Real Work, Real Consequences”: an action-oriented pedagogies (AOP) framework for sustainability education in K-12 classrooms

This conceptual manuscript presents a novel framework for positioning K-12 students as agentic learners taking action for sustainability through real work with real consequences. Drawing on our collective experience in K-12 and higher education STEM and sustainability teaching–learning environments as well as scholars from wide-ranging fields (i.e., transformative learning; environmental, science, and sustainability education), we introduce the action-oriented pedagogies (AOP) framework, which aims to inspire optimism in our collective ability to address interlocking sustainability crises and contribute to the advancement of cultural and social shifts necessary to achieve more ecologically attuned and socially just futures. After defining AOP, three necessary educational shifts to advance sustainability education are identified, along with their relationship to three key attributes of AOP: (a) imagining preferred futures where ecological and social justice prevail, (b) planning co-produced impact, and (c) taking agentic action. Finally, we present a cyclical model for enacting AOP in formal K-12 classrooms. Arguing that AOP can be a source of hope and agency for school-aged children and youth, we illustrate ways teachers can enact pedagogies that position students as agentic learners and actors, engaging alongside them in meaningful efforts to advance sustainability through real work with real consequences across multiple spheres of influence.