Insights and Next Challenges for the Italian Educational System to Teach Sustainability in a Global Context
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear Authors,
Thank you very much for a paper focusing on sustainability within the education process. As I find the article interesting, let me give you some advice to improve it.
The first remark focuses on the construction of your introduction. A well-known and highly recommended standard is to form the research questions or at least the main objective of your article. In the conclusion section, you stated that the paper aims to provide an overview of the 539 current integration of sustainability in Italian compulsory education, which is the article's objective. Add this or a similar sentence defining your research goal in the paper's first section (I suggest the last paragraph).
To continue, it would be more straightforward for the reader if you add in the preface what method had been chosen to reach the goal. Literature review? Comparative studies? General diagnosis based on the reports available? Those are just suggestions. Please, consider and add one.
In section 3, The integration of sustainability in Italian education, you have pointed out the legislation behind introducing sustainability to schools’ programs. You emphasize strongly that according to the regulations, schools and teachers must implement sustainability. We know what competencies the students should have on which education level. I question whether those documents ensure the tools for verifying whether teachers implement sustainability into the courses’ curricula. Is there any organization or evaluation in Italy for that? If so, please add some information about that.
In section 3, The national perspective, you present information that a positive relationship was found between teachers’ highest level of knowledge and a favorable environment at their school in terms of sustainability (p=0.003). I understand you mean the Pearson correlation coefficient. If so, please add this information to the text structure.
In the conclusion section, the study's limitation needs to be included. I would like to point out that the limitations are strictly related to the study method. Please consider what can be done in future research to fulfill the stated limitations. What research should be conducted apart from the improvement of sustainability literacy?
I advise revising the paper to clarify the language statements used. Some of them (ex., using concrete instead of specific) for native English speakers are unnatural. After the final language review, the paper will be ready to be published.
Author Response
Thank you very much for you suggestions to improve our manuscript.
The essay has been modified as follows:
- The main objective of the essay is now mentioned in the last paragraph of the introduction.
- The method used for our essay can be described as a general diagnosis/analysis, which is now mentioned in the abstract and at the end of the introduction section.
- To our knowledge, currently there is no standardized tool to assess the integration of sustainability at school by teachers, but a reform including these aspects is planned, and is now mentioned in the manuscript (ref.50).
- The p=0.003 mentioned in section 3 “The national perspective” was calculated using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The test is now mentioned together with the p value.
- The conclusions now include the limitations of the study and the implications for future research.
- The English spelling, grammar and vocabulary have been checked again throughout the text.
Reviewer 2 Report
Is this a scientific article or an essay?
If it is an essay, as it is mentioned at least twice in the text, then it achieves its goal: it is well documented, it cites relevant and up-to-date sources, it frames the issue of the development of the educational system in the direction of sustainability and environmental education.
If it is intended to be a scientific article, the material must be completely redone because it does not respect the necessary structure: introduction, objectives, methodology, results, discussions, etc. There are seven keywords (too much), and the terms "sustainable" or "sustainability" are repeated four times. We also note the complete lack of graphic and cartographic material (there is only one table), as well as a minimal statistical analysis.
The information provided, although well documented, does not bring any novelty in the field.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your suggestions to improve our manuscript.
We confirm the manuscript is an essay.
As suggested, a couple of keywords have been removed.
As the manuscript has been written in the essay format, its aim is to provide an overview of the current general situation concerning the integration of sustainability in the Italian educational system. Thus, no new data were collected to write the essay.
Reviewer 3 Report
After closely reviewing the entire article, I noticed various flaws. Before publishing, authors should think about the following points:
1-The abstract and introduction sections must be revised in terms of background, gap, how, why, what, and method.
2-The introduction portion lacks the paper's structure as well.
3-The introduction section also lacks sufficient citations. Additionally, it would be a mistake to discuss the educational system's teaching of sustainability in a global context without including IoT systems. The authors are suggested to use these four sources and cite them when discussing topics beyond this paper's scope.
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9485
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2210670722004061
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/16/8232
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1879
4-The discussion and future works must be expanded ( More Figs and Tables are needed)
5-The implications of the work beyond the scope must be stated in the conclusion section.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your suggestions to improve our manuscript.
The essay has been revised as follows:
- We revised the general presentation of the abstract and the introduction.
- The suggested paragraph and references concerning IoT systems are now included in the text.
- A new figure has been added, presenting the main elements of formal, non-formal and informal education.
- The conclusions now mention more specifically the future implications beyond the overview presented in the essay.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear Authors, thank you very much for all the improvements you've done with your research.
Author Response
We thank you very much for your suggestions to improve our manuscript.
Reviewer 2 Report
This material meets all the criteria to be published as an essay.
Author Response
We thank you very much for your suggestions to improve our manuscript.
Reviewer 3 Report
It can be accepted now with no change.
Author Response
We thank you very much for your suggestions to improve our manuscript.
