Sustainable Learning in Education

This article presents a theoretical definition and conceptualization of sustainable learning in education (SLE). SLE is differentiated from teaching for sustainability or sustainable learning, which focuses on teaching ways to renew, rejuvenate, and reuse necessary resources, such as clean water. At its core, SLE consists of strategies and skills that enable learners to effectively renew, rebuild, reuse, inquire, be open-minded, and cope with challenging and complicated circumstances that require learning and relearning. Four aspects of SLE are described: (1) renewing and relearning; (2) independent and collaborative learning; (3) active learning; and (4) transferability. To further understand SLE, the self-regulated learning framework is used. This is an important and novel future direction for research and educational practice.