Environmental Storytelling

Using Poetry Therapy Methods in Sustainability Education in the Context of Teacher Education

Abstract

The issues of sustainable development are current in education. They deal with human, ecological, social, cultural and economic activities, and are multifaceted in nature. As a part of their multidisciplinary studies, class teacher students completed a study module on sustainability education, which approached the topic of climate change. Functional, creative methods were applied with the aim of identifying, addressing and unraveling conflicting emotions and underlying ideologies. Students kept a reflective learning diary throughout the four-stage module. The learning diaries examined relevant learning entities. A total of 24 diaries were analyzed using data-driven content analysis to examine the role of poetry therapy methods in sustainability education as a part of multidisciplinary studies. Teacher students recorded many and varied meanings of poetry therapy methods in their learning diaries. The pedagogical applications of creative learning methods were the strongest one. The deconstruction of emotional experiences of the issues of sustainability was raised using poetry therapy methods. It was associated with ability to reflect on one's inner world and to mirror the phenomena of the outside world and the experiences of peers.