Leadership for Sustainability Education

LSE program of study

ELP Professional Studies Core: (16 credits)

Students may complete the professional studies core at any point in their program.

LSE Foundational Courses (8 credits)

The following are LSE foundational courses. Every LSE student should plan to take ELP 550 in their first term of study, and ELP 517 in their second term of study. These courses are offered on Tuesdays, 4:00-6:30pm.

LSE Thematic Specialization (12 credits)

Students each develop a unique plan of study with their adviser to include three additional courses from the LSE program offerings.

Electives (5 credits)

Elective credits should be related to the student’s overall program and selected in collaboration with their adviser. Students may choose to take ELP 506 Sustainability projects or ELP 509 LGL Internship as electives, to work on a project of choice. Students may also enroll in graduate-level courses from within the College of Education or other departments at Portland State University. LSE students frequently choose electives from Conflict Resolution, Community Development, Geography, Environmental Science and Management, Women Studies, Gender, Race and Nations, Public Health or Urban Studies and Planning.

Culminating Experience (4 credits) 

Candidates for the Master’s degree in LSE must select, in consultation with their adviser, one of the two culminating experiences: LSE Comprehensive Exam Course (Comps) or Thesis. The LSE Comprehensive Exam (Comps) is a course in which students develop a problem-based paper that focuses on one sustainability education issue, and demonstrates a satisfactory level of knowledge and skill related to LSE key learning areas. This course, ELP 506 LSE Comps, is taken as Pass/No Pass. Students should have completed a minimum of 35 credits, including the ELP Professional Core Studies, before enrolling in this course. The Comps course meets 4-6 times during the term to help guide students through the completion of their Comps paper. Students give a presentation of their paper at the end of the course.

The thesis option requires enrollment in ELP 503 for a minimum of 4 credits (but usually requires more). The thesis is likely to require 4-5 quarters of work before the completion of the program. Thesis also requires the appointment of a thesis committee of at least 3 faculty members chosen by the student, two of who must be from ELP. Students who are opting to write a thesis should plan to include a research course as part of their program of study.

What’s unique about the Leadership for Sustainability Education program? In LSE you will:

What kind of leader do you want to be?

As a student in the program, your learning will focus on the following 4 LSE Key Learning Areas, designed for you to:

Program description

We see sustainability education as: leading and teaching in ways that are inclusive, collaborative, holistic, and critical of injustice and oppression. In LSE we learn how to work effectively and emergently with others to challenge dominant systems and create just and regenerative communities and ecosystems. We believe this requires a shift in our way of being and knowing, a deep acknowledgement of our inherent interconnectedness. This also requires a deep ethical understanding of living within the limits of the earth’s natural systems, as well as personal and communal shifts to ways of being and acting that create healthy and balanced solutions to interconnected problems that face our bioregions. Sustainability education and leadership involves shifting to holistic, systemic, ecological, relational and spiritual ways of teaching and leading.

We believe that sustainability education should be embodied in all of our classes and activities. In LSE, students and instructors take on the roles of both teachers and learners, and we strive to model education that is inclusive, participatory, experiential, thematic, critically questioning, place-based and transformative.

The LSE program provides opportunities to address real sustainability issues through a theory to practice curriculum that includes ongoing community-based learning. You’ll create a network of relationships with your program colleagues and mentors, faculty, and community leaders, and will have the opportunity to apply your learning through a numerous individual and group projects.

Working closely with a faculty advisor, LSE students will develop a program of study that is tailored to personal and professional goals. Some examples of ways to focus your study include: garden-based education, non-profit leadership, service-learning, entrepreneurial pursuits, sustainability education in higher education, community or governmental organizations, or in schools.

LSE mission and guiding principles

Mission

LSE prepares graduates for careers as leaders in sustainability education through the study of sustainability leadership and pedagogy that emphasizes interconnectedness, social and ecological justice, relationship-building, and skills for sustainable change.

The following values guide the LSE program:


LSE Program Coordinator

To schedule an office or phone appointment regarding the Leadership for Sustainability Education Master's Degree, email Dr. Burns at: hburns@pdx.edu  

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