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INTERRELATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 1
Zh. Milenovich
R. Tsvetkovich
The paper presents the results of a study connected with the students' assessment of the interdependence of knowledge and concept of sustainable development. The empirical basis of the research is a sociological survey among students of the Teacher T raining Faculty of Prizren University (Republic of Serbia).
Key words: learning, knowledge, lifelong learning, learning society, sustainable development.
Introduction. The concept of sustainable development presupposes setting of a balance between resource consumption and restorative ability of natural complexes. Sustainable development as a doctrinal concept implies satisfaction of the basic needs of the present generation which do not deprive future generations of such a possibility due to the environmental degradation. At present there are numerous options for definition of the notion of “sustainable development.” In contemporary research this notion is most often related with the solution of the problem of equal coexistence of man and nature based on balanced satisfaction of the basic needs and preservation of vital resources for future generations (Salem, 2012). Some authors note that sustainable development is the balance between resource consumption and regenerative ability of natural reserves (Van Poeck & Vandenabeele, 2012). Sustainable development is an integral indicator for the assessment of economic, technological, social and cultural development allowing transformation of the environment to meet the needs of mankind as a socialized species. The above examples and reasoning bring us to the conclusion that the concept of sustainable development comprises three institutional aspects: ecological, economic, and social. A number of scientific-research papers offer the opinion that the cultural sphere is the fourth aspect of sustainable development, as stated in the above definition (Buchs & Blandchard, 2011). Thus, culture may also be considered to be the fourth constitutional component of sustainable development. The concept of sustainable development can make a considerable contribution to knowledge at the present stage of the learning society. In the learning society lifelong education as a major component of the mode of life and a social regulator of human professional life activities is based on the ideas of the concept of sustainable development. The personality uses all its available potentials to form its own interests and national identity (Edwards, 1995).
In the present conditions the society faces global phenomena, the major of them being: (1) interpersonal and inter-ethnic relations; (2) the area of human civil and political rights and basic freedoms; (3) protection of the environment; (4) health
1 The paper presents the results of the research performed within the framework of the project “Material and Intellectual Culture of Kosovo and Metohija” (registration No. 178028) carried out with financial support from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. The major operator of the project implementation is the Institute of Serbian Culture in Pristina temporarily located in Leposavic.
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protection and improvement; (5) nutrition of the population; (6) minding children and parents; (7) women’s emancipation; (8) protection and emancipation of people with disabilities, marginal categories and groups of the population requiring social protection; (9) employment of the population; (1) economic growth; (11) professional competence and labour productivity of the population; (12) search for the meaning of life and formation of personal identity.
Method. The problem of this theoretical and empirical analysis is to identify the interdependence of knowledge and the concept of sustainable development. The objective of the research is the students’ assessment of the interdependence of knowledge and the concept of sustainable development. The empirical basis of the research is the questioning of respondents carried out among students of the Teacher Training Department in Prizren in January 2015. The respondents were selected by batch sampling. The total number of the respondents is 104. The methodological tools were offered by the author.
The research started with a general assumption about the substantial contribution of knowledge to the concept of sustainable development and the suggested hypothesis about the statistically significant differences arising in assessment of the importance of the concept of sustainable development among students of the “preschool education” profile and “primary education” profile. The differences were diagnosed to identify the principles used by the students of the teacher training department to determine the significance of knowledge in the concept of sustainable development. The descriptive and transversal (probability) models were used in the research. The research was assessed by means of the KCSD (Knowledge in the Concept of Sustainable Development) ordinal scale developed on the basis of 15 statements of the respondents expressing different nuances of opinions. Every statement was followed by a factor analysis of the textual indicators documented by the selection criteria. The factors were extracted by the method of principal components (statistical procedure) with the subsequent centroid method of Varimax rotation and Mann-Whitney U test.
Results. The data obtained in the research were preliminarily processed by the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test.
Table 1
Mann-Whitney U-test results
Interdependence of knowledge and the concept of sustainable development
N teachers educators 52 52
U 850.500
W 2228.500
z -3.266
p 0.001
r -0,320
Medians teachers 19,5000
educators 25,0000
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The results of the correlation analysis of textual indicators by Mann-Whitney U-test reveal substantial differences between the indicators in the samples under consideration, in the understanding of the importance of the concept of sustainable development among students specializing in preschool education (Md = 25.0000, n = 52) and students specializing in primary education (Md = 19,5000, n = 52), U = 850500, z = -3,266, р = 0,001. The actual value of the impact according to Cohen criteria is minimal (г = -0,320).
Results of factorization of correlation matrixes
Table 2
Grouping variables
Components
I
a7 Knowledge management promotes economic development. 0.845
a12 Knowledge promotes transformation of traditional economy into modern knowledge-intensive economy. 0.799
a2 New knowledge promotes preservation of natural resources. 0.782
a5 Investments in progressing knowledge is the best resource of economy. 0.771
a15 Countries with scarce natural resources invest in knowledge as the dominant component of development of the postindustrial society. 0.737
a8 Countries with a higher level of economic and social development invest heavily in education of their members. 0.737
a3 In the real world there are no countries with both a high poverty level and a high education level simultaneously. 0.721
a9 I am sure that in the present conditions one cannot succeed in life without task-oriented learning of new knowledge. 0.709
a10 A society that does not invest in knowledge as a major development component cannot progress. 0.708
a14 Constructive knowledge is a higher priority for me than general knowledge. a13 The cultural identity of a society can be preserved only through the learning of new knowledge. 0.707 0.929
a11 I have always considered that progress in education is equivalent to social progress. 0.849
a6 Knowledge is a typical distinguishing feature of civil society. 0.833
a1 The culture of the society that does not invest in knowledge and teaching of its citizens is primitive and underdeveloped. 0.806
% of % of
КМО test Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity variation variation
0.760 p = 0.000 38.184 26.004
II
The factor analysis showed the positive correlation of the KMO test (KMO = 0.760). Bartlett’s test of sphericity shows a statistically significant result (p>0.001, р = 0.000), which evidences the reliability of the correlation matrix calculation. The analysis of the main components showed availability of two components with characteristic values of > 1.
The first factor is called “economic development,” and is determined by eleven categories accounting for 38.184% of the total dispersion. The second
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factor is called “cultural development” and accounts for 26.004% of the total dispersion (see Table 2).
Conclusions and discussion. The factor analysis of the statistical values based on the students’ statements has shown that knowledge is the dominant component and a major factor of economic growth and social progress. This is confirmed by certain facts according to which knowledge makes a substantial contribution to elaboration of the concept of sustainable development and cultural progress of the society. Knowledge is a major resource of the global policy of the early XXI century. Effective use of knowledge is achieved by a resultative business strategy of knowledge management (Grice & Franck, 2014). Knowledge management is the major trend of a learning organization for implementation of the set goals and development of the modern society. The concept of sustainable development was created at the time of origination of the learning society and affirmation of knowledge and education as a major resource of development.
The concept of sustainable development is based on balanced economic, social and cultural development, where the present generation satisfies its own needs and requirements without prejudice to the future generation by co-evolution and co-existence of the society and nature. At the present stage, the main objective of sustainable development is reorganization of traditional educational organizations. This objective is predetermined by the fundamental requirements of economy, demands of the market relations and social needs (Dahibeck, 2014). Marginalization of the traditional economy on the part of a science-intensive economy obliges the members of the civil society to become an integral part of the learning society and the concept of sustainable development. Thus, economic and public organizations turn into demiurges of knowledge while their employees turn into actors from different fields of knowledge. The merger of different network forms of learning is an important precondition for achieving the multi-aspect possibilities. In most studies the interaction of different teaching structures creates conditions for acquisition of specific knowledge which cannot be acquired through the long-received experience (Koehn, 2012; Lee & Schottenfeld, 2012). Another possibility is combining different objects of economy and society.
In addition, combining the forms of network learning allows improvement of the system and better learning organization aimed at involvement in the educational environmental activities and ensuring sustainable development. Therefore, educational organizations must keep improving account-taking of the specificity of an individual’s development, mental models and system thinking. These specific features were perceived by the students and recognized to be the major ones in implementation of the concept of sustainable development. Despite the certain existing differences in the assessment by the students in the profile of a primary school teacher and an educator of preschool institutions this does not mean that they do not consider knowledge to be the dominant factor in the concept of sustainable development. This is confirmed by the data on the differences between the indicators in the samplings of the importance of the concept of sustainable development under consideration (Table 2: r = -0,320) which have negligible influence according to Koehn’s criteria.
The theoretical analysis and results of the research have shown that in the process of education students are to get a modern idea about the concept of
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sustainable development including its major notions and principles. This promotes optimal understanding of the concept of sustainable development. On the other hand, students should acquire basic information about the co-existence of the society and nature, and impact and control of the environmental quality and resources without prejudice to the future generation.
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