Energy education - the role of children in developing sustainable energy management

It pins down what characterizes qualified EE as well as points out perspectives that can strengthen reflections about an action-oriented EE and hereby enable this education. Theoretical criteria and perspectives on action-oriented teaching are put forward with starting point in the following themes: the actor perspective as methodological approach, the energy field as a large technological system, the knowledge content in EE and finally, action and action competence. The researchers in the project are anchored in two different research fields: City planning and environmental education and cross disciplinary theoretical framework is put forward, based on the researchers using a shared conceptual framework drawing together disciplinary-specific theories, concepts, and approaches to address a common problem. This framework can be a starting point for discussion and development of EE. The project draws a picture of central actors in EE and their perspectives on EE including a number of criteria for qualified EE. Furthermore, the project contains seven case studies of external actors' EE -described and analysed in relation to knowledge content, action and participation and collaboration between schools and external actors. A mayor finding is that the action-orientation in EE is characterized by behaviour modification strategies, thus the students' learning of good energy habits dominate in EE. The project grovides valuable insight in the complex terms - as well as barriers and possibilities - related to strengthening of the action-orientation in teaching. The students' participation appears as a particular educational issue illustrated by the project. In the light of this, a model for pedagogical aspects of action-oriented teaching in energy is put for ward with starting point in a distinction between liberal education (or educational-socialisation) and conditioned socialisation. In this model, central perspectives are: areas for actions, social actors, social actions, knowledge content, and underlying educational philosophy. The model involves the development of the network society and governance and points to the challenges of the primary and lower secondary school's work with education. Among other things this is exemplifed with consumption as a field of action. Collaboration between external actors and the school is assessed as a large potential for action-oriented teaching. However, the proect points out a number of barriers in the relations between the school and the external actors, thus this potential is not sufficiently exploited. External actors are in many different ways and for different reasons looking for collaboration with the schools. Their offers are designed as education, but the projects points to the faet that they presents specific issues of interests for the external actors such as energy conservation, introduction of companies and strengthening of the interest for nature science. The project also points at a 'shopping-relation' between the school and the external actors, which among other things expresses itself as the external actors offering 'pre-packages' to the school that live up to the teachers' need to argue for the offer - not at least to relate the offers to curriculum. This shopping-relation is a barrier for action-oriented teaching, as the students do not have the possibility of establishing a ontaet with or having a real dialogue with the external. Thus, the project points at the paradox that many schools use external actors' offers as extra resources in teaching even if it actually demands further resources to be able to enter into a close collaboration