Development of Sustainability Competencies in Secondary School Education: A Scoping Literature Review

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is an excellent paper and what follows could be addressed by very minor changes.  Some of the concepts mentioned, notably systems thinking and critical thinking, can be interpreted in different ways.  In particular systems thinking can be used to refer to a very particular set of tools and techniques, and it would be useful to say whether the source papers being reviewed use it in this way or as a broader concept.  Similarly critical thinking could refer to a particular set of skills or to a broader, though nevertheless very important, notion of how people should view the world.

The structure is generally good but the introduction would flow better if it could be made clear whether concepts such as the competence-based approach emerged from the review or whether they were part of the authors' prior knowledge which they set out to build on

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Overall the English is good although it would be worth proof-reading to ensure that everything is clear to a reader approaching it and in particular that concepts are always introduced clearly

Author Response

 

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper is devoted to the development and application of sustainability competence frameworks in secondary education, to find their key trends and challenges within the 11 field. The analysis used more than 2000 peer-reviewed publications from the period 2003 – 2023. The review is focusing to the two primary perspectives on sustainability competencies. The first perspective emphasizes transversal competencies, relevant across diverse educational settings, including national policies, different educational domains, and also innovative teaching-learning approaches. The second perspective focuses on specific frameworks that address the cognitive, affective, and behavioural educational aspects.

I have following remarks and comments to this paper:

1.      Important role in nowadays education plays 21^st Century Skills. In many countries this concept (for example in the document https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Education-system-alignment-for-21st-century-skills-012819.pdf) is implemented to the school curricula. I tis possible to add the information about these skills on the page 4, row 162.

2.      On the page 11 is Figure 2. Critical thinking and problem solving are considered by many to be the new basics of 21st century learning. It is also possible connect Word cloud for sustainability competencies with 21st Century Competences (see 21st Century Competences in https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/innovating-assessments-to-measure-and-support-complex-skills_3637901c-en)

3.      It is possible to add to the page 24 row 900 some recommendations, hoe school policymakers can implement the findings of this study in the curriculum development for secondary schools. In which school subjects is possible to use sustainability competencies in secondary 2 school education?

4.      I recommend to control, if citations in the text (numbers in brackets) are connected with references in the part References – page 25 after row 965.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors

Thank you for the opportunity to read this manuscript. It was a very interesting and comprehensive literature scoping review. The procedure is well explained, but the main things I feel needs to be worked on is the presentation of results... the order of presentation feels not the best and sometimes the Tables/Figures and text are just saying the same thing... in particular the text in lines 361-371 adds nothing to Table 1.

Tables 2 and 3 feel like they are saying the same thing, so think about which is most useful.

I do not think you need Figure 3 and Table 4... the keywords and learning theories are most relevant in this discussion.

I suggest moving Table 6 earlier, as it feels very basic, and the same goes for Figure 8.

What does Table 7 add to the discussion?

This is a very interesting review, and I think only the presentation of the results needs to be worked on.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

minor editing only needed

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Pros:

1. Holistic development of students: The framework emphasizes developing cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of sustainability competencies, preparing students to tackle real-world sustainability challenges.
2. Global consensus on key competencies: There is broad agreement across various regions on essential competencies like critical thinking, systems thinking, and action competence. This allows for a standardized approach to preparing students globally for sustainability issues.
3. Transversal competencies: These competencies are relevant across different subjects and educational contexts, promoting interdisciplinary learning. This could lead to a more integrated and comprehensive approach to education.
4. Adaptability to local contexts: While there is a global consensus on key competencies, frameworks can be adapted to the specific cultural, economic, and environmental contexts of different regions, ensuring relevance to local issues.
5. Promotion of active learning: The review stresses the importance of active, experiential learning methods such as project-based learning, real-world explorations, and community-based research, which enhance student engagement and real-world application.

Cons:

1. Regional research bias: The review found that most studies on sustainability competencies come from Europe, particularly Germany and Sweden, which could create a research gap.
2. Complexity in defining competencies: There is a lack of consensus on the precise definition of sustainability competencies, leading to multiple frameworks. This complexity can hinder effective implementation and assessment in educational systems.
3. Limited empirical evidence: While there are many conceptual frameworks, there is a need for an author’s synthesis regarding the main ideas in the field.
4. Limitations: a chapter regarding the limitations of the study will be useful

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

thank you for these changes. Everything is fine for me now

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

In my opinion, the paper can be published