This document summarizes research on education for sustainable development (ESD) from various international perspectives. Key findings include: ESD implementation varies between countries and is influenced by socio-political contexts; teacher training and understanding of ESD's holistic nature requiring attention to environmental, social and economic dimensions; and debates around approaches that cultivate individual actions versus societal transformation. Recommendations include improving pre-service training, evaluating curriculum implementation and focusing on critical thinking over solely increasing knowledge.

1. R1 Castillo Lian
2022年03月22日
ESD trends + RQs

2. Dannenberg & Grapentin, 2016
Chances of an improved implementation are especially given through the
core themes 2, 3 and 5 of the GAP. On an international level, ESD is
increasingly being taken into consideration in institutions as a whole (Jucker
& Mathar, 2015).
Global Action Programme (GAP)
Advancing policy
Transforming learning and training environments
Building capacities of educators and trainers
Empowering and mobilizing youth
Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

3. German Perspectives
Christoforatou, E. (2021)
Germany is dominated by a ‘federalized’, that is,
decentralized, system of education where education is
administered by the states.
It is (still!) not uncommon for the concept of sustainable
development to be narrowed down to the solution of
nature conservation and environmental issues, where
social, political, economic, cultural and legal aspects are
ignored.

4. Korean Research Trends
Kwon & Lee (2019)
This was not only because teachers and Education Offices
were unaware of ESD, but also because the competitive
entrance examination system in Korea made it difficult for
middle schools to introduce ESD.
[...] further studies need to expand on research subjects like
parents, the public, and pre-service teachers.

5. A View from Oceania
Thaman(2019)
Today, I see the problems associated with framing ESD and
SDGs as problematic not so much because they are often
Western and one-sided or inappropriate, but because they
are so pervasive. Sadly, all too often, one culture’s sense of
reality is put up as the reality against which all development
in all cultures will be measured.
Most Pacific indigenous people do not have equivalent
concepts of the three pillars because their worldviews are
holistic and do not separate aspects of life into economic,
environmental, or social.

6. "Narrow" ESD
Nagata, 2017 / Japan
ESD was intended to transform individual perspectives at the level of
culture within institutions and communities
Narrow
traditional biological and
geographical emphasis
implicit acceptance of
Western perspective on the
environment
broad
exploring relationships
between human behaviour
and global eco-system
exploration of non-Western
perspectives on the
environment
emphasis on standards and results over process; lessons
focused on participation of the full group at once; the
explicit difference in rank between managerial staff and
teachers; top down rather than bottom up approaches;
limited participation from students and teachers in the
management of classes and the school; and an
excessive emphasis on evaluation (Nagata, 2014).
Top-down Hierarchy

7. Sustainability
Dimensions
Pettig & Kuckuck, 2021 / Germany
[...] socially conducted discourses on sustainability often focus on
environmental sustainability, but rarely ever on social and economic
sustainability, or on the conflicting goals of these three sustainability
dimensions
Bedir, 2021 / Turkey
The findings showed that the majority of the teachers hold particular
perception on environmental aspects but did not consider societal and
economic matters to be aspects of SD.
Lehtonen, 2009 / OECD Organizational Discourse
[...] emphasised that the social dimension has been the least recognized
pillar of SD.
Maidou, Plakitsi, Polatoglou, 2019 / Greece
Our findings showed that most pre-service teachers had knowledge on
environmental aspects but did not consider societal and financial
matters to be aspects of ESD.

8. Teacher
Identity
Qi, Sorkina & Liu, 2021 / china
And the integration of ESD into our syllabus just means one or two
chapters covering the basic concepts and principles of sustainable
development.
stem exclusivity
They don’t take sustainable development into account because (they
think) it is a matter exclusive to science and engineering.
chinese esp teachers
my hands are tied because I’m not capable of teaching in
multidisciplinary contexts. You know, (senior) teachers of my age
generally lack training based on ESD principles, and few of us got
overseas professional development experiences. So I just do what I do
best—to follow the textbook
Durrani, Malik, Jumani, 2019 / Pakistan
[...] teachers have limited knowledge of ESD, could not relate the
existing problems of their local context to content knowledge during
teaching in classrooms.

9. ESD1 - individual as actor
focus on expert knowledge of SD conveying values that are commonly
recognized and linked to SD tasks that foster sustainable behavior
ESD2 - society as a whole
critical examination of SD (contradictions, complexity, uncertainy)
addressing the normativity of (E)SD tasks that foster critical thinking
ESD1 & ESD2
Pettig & Kuckuck, 2021 / Germany

10. Stagell, Almers, Askerlund, Apelqvist,
2014 / Sweden
The Eco-School teachers and instructors found direct
actions more appropriate than indirect actions
Different direct actions, and actions which take place in the
private sphere were viewed by Eco-School teachers and
instructors as the most appropriate actions to include in
teaching practices.
Public and Private
Direct actions
Recycling (1), Growing
vegetables (2), Composting
(3), Collecting litter (5),
Reducing consumption of
clothes, gadgets, etc. (8),
Reducing meat consumption
(9), Saving energy (12),
Saving water (13), and Travel
by bike and public transport
rather than by car (14), which
all relate to the private
sphere.
INDIRECT ACTIONS
Information about eco/fair-
trade labelling/goods (7),
Influencing others to adopt a
more sustainable life style
(10), Campaigning against
littering (6), Influencing
decision makers (11),
Engaging with political
parties (15), Engaging with
NGOs (16), where the first two
actions relate to the private
sphere and the others to the
public sphere.

11. Practice in Viet Nam
Balls (2016)
The top-down policy context influenced the extent of youth
participation and the range of ESD activities implemented.
ESD projects worked within these often rigid structures,
generally focusing on behaviour change and awareness
raising rather than advocacy.
ESD activities in Viet Nam tended to focus on small-scale
behaviour change instead of attempting to influence
government policy, suggesting that the dominance of the
instrumental approach is shaped by this socio-political
context.

12. Wang, Zhou, Cui, 2019 / China

13. Summary
Concept
ESD1 vs ESD2 (Public/Private)
Environmental vs Social & Economic & Cultural
Knowledge (awareness) vs Critical Thinking / Change in Attitude
Implementation
Teacher Training
Parents
Attitudes
Early Education
Environment (media consumption)
Extra-curricular involvement

14. Policy review
Pre-service training
National curriculum (lesson plans)
Implementation review
ESD1 vs ESD2
Pillars | Socio-Cultural, Economic
Critical Thinking
Student Evaluation
Knowledge Behavior Attitude
Environment (Parents, Media)
Life Experiences and Interests
Explanatory End-to-End

15. Research Questions
Davao Region, Philippines
Finding answers to?
evaluate environmental, social, economic
explain
individual as an actor vs societal accountability
explain
Problem
How can Metro Davao high schools effectively relay
holistic sustainability education?
*effectivity ratio in a quantified sense
Questions
Measures:
1. How can we determine the "holistic" index of
sustainability education? What are key effectivity
measures?
What factors:
2. What are the notable differences between highly
holistic schools and less holistic ones?
Recommendations:
3. How can schools and teachers adapt to these
effective practices?
[Initial] Scope:
5 cities (Metro Davao)
Davao City, Digos, Tagum, Panabo, Samal
teacher implementation
public & private
senior high school / high school

16. References
Babeş -Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Department of Regional Geography and Territorial Planning, Cluj-
Napoca, Romania, e-mail: ilovanoana@yahoo.com, Oana-Ramona Ilovan, Maria Eliza Dulamă, Babeş -Bolyai
University, Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education, Department of Exact Sciences Didactics, Cluj-Napoca,
Romania, e-mail: dulama@upcmail.ro, Kinga Xénia Havadi-Nagy, and Babeş -Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography,
Department of Regional Geography and Territorial Planning, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, e-mail: xenia.havadi@ubbcluj.ro.
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Bedir, Hasan. “English Language Teachers’ Beliefs and Perceptions on Sustainability,” 2021, 16.
Christoforatou, Ellen. “Teacher Education for Sustainable Development within National Frameworks: Squaring the
Circle from a German Perspective.” International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning 13, no. 1
(June 30, 2021). https://doi.org/10.14324/IJDEGL.13.1.01.
Dannenberg, Sascha, and Theresa Grapentin. “Education for Sustainable Development - Learning for Transformation.
The Example of Germany,” n.d., 14.

17. References
Durrani, Rukhsana, Samina Malik, and Nabi Bux Jumani. “Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Pre-Service
Teachers Education Curriculum at Pakistan: Current Status and Future Directions,” n.d., 18.
Kwon, Hyuksoo, and Eunsang Lee. “RESEARCH TRENDS AND ISSUES OF EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT-RELATED RESEARCH IN SOUTH KOREA.” Journal of Baltic Science Education 18, no. 3 (June 20, 2019):
379–88. https://doi.org/10.33225/jbse/19.18.379.
Maidou, Anthoula, Katerina Plakitsi, and Hariton M. Polatoglou. “Knowledge, Perceptions and Attitudes on Education
for Sustainable Development of Pre-Service Early Childhood Teachers in Greece.” World Journal of Education 9, no. 5
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Nagata, Yoshiyuki. “A Critical Review of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Japan: Beyond the Practice of
Pouring New Wine into Old Bottles.” Educational Studies in Japan 11, no. 0 (2017): 29–41.
https://doi.org/10.7571/esjkyoiku.11.29.
Petti̇G, Fabian, and Miriam Kuckuck. “Narratives of Sustainability on Energy-Related Topics: Empirical Findings from
German Geography Textbooks for Secondary Schools.” Review of International Geographical Education Online, April
25, 2021. https://doi.org/10.33403/rigeo.810603.

18. References
Qi, Wenjin, Nadezda Sorokina, and Yan Liu. “The Construction of Teacher Identity in Education for Sustainable
Development: The Case of Chinese ESP Teachers.” International Journal of Higher Education 10, no. 2 (December 14,
2020): 284. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v10n2p284.
Schauss, Mareike, and Sandra Sprenger. “Conceptualization and Evaluation of a School Project on Climate Science in
the Context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).” Education Sciences 9, no. 3 (August 14, 2019): 217.
https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9030217.
Stagell, Ulrica, Ellen Almers, Per Askerlund, and Magnus Apelqvist. “What Kind of Actions Are Appropriate? Eco-School
Teachers’ and Instructors’ Ranking of Sustainability- Promoting Actions as Content in Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD).” International Electronic Journal of Environmental Education 4, no. 2 (November 25, 2014).
https://doi.org/10.18497/iejee-green.87708.
Tanaka, Haruhiko. “Current State and Future Prospects of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Japan.”
Educational Studies in Japan 11, no. 0 (2017): 15–28. https://doi.org/10.7571/esjkyoiku.11.15.
Thaman, Konai Helu. “Sustainable Development for Whom? A View from Oceania,” n.d., 13.
Wang, Guangheng, Xin Zhou, and Hua Cui. “Exploring Education for Sustainable Development in a Chinese
Kindergarten: An Action Research.” ECNU Review of Education 2, no. 4 (December 2019): 497–514.
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