MRCSE is committed to creating a model for transformative learning for sustainability education that can help advance our movement towards a sustainable, resilient and regenerative future.  In order to create and involve this model feedback mechanisms have been integrated into many aspect of MRCSE and the MRCSE workshop. One such mechanism was to engage Patrick Bixler from the University of Vermont to attend the 2009 summer workshop as a participant observer in order to explore and capture the successes and areas of improvement of our work from the lens of a sociologist.  We are honored to have Patrick with his great sensitivity, creativity, expansive knowledge, and genuine caring working with us to advance our collaborative.  The following are the current results of his work.

Introducing Patrick Bixler, MRCSE Researcher

My name is Patrick Bixler and I’m a PhD student in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont.  I consider myself an environmental sociologist, but have both a personal and professional interest in sustainability education from both a pedagogical and practical point of view.  This study was a direct immersion into the discipline for me and opened my eyes to the various perspectives that exist in the field.  I enjoyed the opportunity to participate, and hope this report is found to be useful. 

MRCSE 2009 Workshop Evaluation Abstract

The weeklong MRCSE sustainability education workshop brought together many different people from many walks of life.  This research used participant observation methods and applied a various strains of sociological theory to explore the MRCSE workshop through the ‘sociological imagination.’  Through the cultural sociology of Pierre Bourdieu the space of positions and position-takings are explored in the context of the MRCSE community and the ‘field’ of sustainability education.  Next by considering the interplay of agency and structure three themes relating to substance and form of the workshop are identified.  Following that, the interactions between the individual and the group are explored drawing on the literature of group dynamics and using an alternative method of data collection that proved very interesting.   Finally, self-sacrificial leadership styles and their relationship to pro-social and anti-social behavior are explored, followed by a call for the need to diversify the socio-demographics of the participants using social network literature as a justification. 

To read the full text of this evaluation visit MRCSE: Viewed through the Lens of the Sociological Imagination