Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been concerned about the happiness and well-being of other people, whether they are friends or strangers, rich or poor, young or old. To me, they are all members of one human family. I became engaged in community actions at an early age, and in addition to my work as a teacher, teacher trainer, and international educational consultant, I have been involved in many efforts to reconcile conflicts, ensure justice, and foster collaboration. My interest in civil rights, as well as my concern for the environment, led me to dedicate much of my time to developing global education and education for sustainable development.


I wrote

Sustainable Development, Education and Learning: The Challenge of Inclusive, Quality Education for All

By Victoria W. Thoresen ,

Book cover of Sustainable Development, Education and Learning: The Challenge of Inclusive, Quality Education for All

What is my book about?

This book presents the goals, progress, and challenges of the UN's Sustainable Development Goal #4, which focuses on inclusive, quality…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Envisioning Futures for Environmental and Sustainability Education

Victoria W. Thoresen Why I love this book

I was impressed by this book because of its comprehensive, diverse, and inspiring articles about how people realize their hopes and dreams for a just, sustainable future for all through the practice of envisioning.

Not only does the book describe many of the steps that might be needed to create desired futures, but it also illustrates how such steps involve education and community-building.

Book cover of The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis

Victoria W. Thoresen Why I love this book

I have always doubted the claim that people are predominantly violent and egotistical and can never change. Jeremy Rifkin, in this well-researched book, shows that despite humanity’s history of conflicts and misery, human beings have the potential, and have already begun, to create an empathic, global society.

A book such as this is needed to help us understand history as a process of humanity’s gradual maturing.

By Jeremy Rifkin ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Empathic Civilization as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this sweeping new interpretation of the history of civilization, bestselling author Jeremy Rifkin looks at the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has shaped our development-and is likely to determine our fate as a species.

Today we face unparalleled challenges in an energy-intensive and interconnected world that will demand an unprecedented level of mutual understanding among diverse peoples and nations. Do we have the capacity and collective will to come together in a way that will enable us to cope with the great challenges of our time?

In this remarkable book Jeremy Rifkin tells the dramatic…


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Book cover of What Walks This Way: Discovering the Wildlife Around Us Through Their Tracks and Signs

What Walks This Way by Sharman Apt Russell,

Nature writer Sharman Apt Russell tells stories of her experiences tracking wildlife—mostly mammals, from mountain lions to pocket mice—near her home in New Mexico, with lessons that hold true across North America. She guides readers through the basics of identifying tracks and signs, revealing a landscape filled with the marks…

Book cover of Global Teacher, Global Learner

Victoria W. Thoresen Why I love this book

I love this classic because it combines theory and practice in an encouraging and easy to comprehend manner. Used by pre-service and in-service teachers worldwide, it remains a wonderful source of engaging ideas and activities that help people make sense of today’s complex world.

It helped me understand more clearly why we must become global citizens.

By Graham Pike , David Selby ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Global Teacher, Global Learner as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This handbook for teachers explores and develops the theory and practice of global education, as well as offering an extensive range of practical, lively and stimulating activities for the primary and secondary classroom. Cartoons, photographs and diagrams add to the readable presentation of important ideas and issues, and comprehensive follow-up information in the form of names, addresses and suggestions for further reading combine in the aim to make this a valuable volume for all those involved with developing a global perspective in education.


Book cover of Environmental Ethics: A Sourcebook for Educators

Victoria W. Thoresen Why I love this book

I recommend this book because it effectively shows how ethics are a part of everyday life and must be an integral aspect of education for sustainable development.

I especially like the book's structure, with questions that can easily be identified with and examples that, while coming from Africa, are universal in their application.

By Bob Jickling , Heila Lotz-Sisitka , Lausanne Olvitt , Ingrid Schudel , Dylan McGarry , Blair Niblett

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Environmental Ethics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This well-constructed, and highly original, sourcebook integrates educational materials for teaching environmental ethics with theoretical reflections. The book is set to contribute immensely to its aim of taking ethics out of philosophy departments and putting it into the streets, into villages, and on the Earth—to make ethics an everyday activity, not something left to experts and specialists. Context-based activities are presented in almost every chapter.

While it acknowledges foundational theories in environmental ethics, and the work that they continue to do, it wholeheartedly embraces a growing body of literature that emphasises contextual, process-oriented, and place-based approaches to ethical reflection, deliberation,…


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Book cover of The Bridge: Connecting The Powers of Linear and Circular Thinking

The Bridge by Kim Hudson,

The Bridge provides a compassionate and well researched window into the worlds of linear and circular thinking. A core pattern to the inner workings of these two thinking styles is revealed, and most importantly, insight into how to cross the distance between them. Some fascinating features emerged such as, circular…

Book cover of De Bono's Thinking Course

Victoria W. Thoresen Why I love this book

I and those around me often find themselves stuck in thought patterns that merely reinforce the status quo. De Bono’s suggestions about alternative ways of thinking stimulate one’s imagination, creativity, and critical thinking, all of which are sorely needed in this time of conflict and confusion.

Taken together with systems theory, de Bono’s methodology is a valuable key to innovation. 

By Edward De Bono ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked De Bono's Thinking Course as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Transform your thinking!

Is the way you think like the colour of your eyes - something you are born with and cannot alter? Or is thinking a skill that can be improved with practice, like swimming, tennis or cooking?

In this practical book, Edward de Bono lays out some simple but powerful tools with which we can optimize our thinking, decision making and problem solving. Most of the errors of thinking are errors of perception and that is precisely where these tools help.

Learn:

How to enhance your thinking processes by developing your perception How to make the most of…


Explore my book 😀

Sustainable Development, Education and Learning: The Challenge of Inclusive, Quality Education for All

By Victoria W. Thoresen ,

Book cover of Sustainable Development, Education and Learning: The Challenge of Inclusive, Quality Education for All

What is my book about?

This book presents the goals, progress, and challenges of the UN's Sustainable Development Goal #4, which focuses on inclusive, quality education for all. The author discusses obstacles to realizing inclusive, quality education and claims that sustainable development will be severely impaired unless new approaches to education are prioritized everywhere. 

The book emphasizes the importance of fostering wonder, curiosity, care, audacity, unity, and justice by encouraging the use of a pedagogy that cultivates holistic learning processes. Conventional paradigms are challenged, and readers are urged to recognize education as “a transformative force that nurtures not only intellectual growth but also the development of compassionate and engaged global citizens.”

Book cover of Envisioning Futures for Environmental and Sustainability Education
Book cover of The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis
Book cover of Global Teacher, Global Learner

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