Search Results (399)

Climate change education requires learners to understand complex systems and dynamic interdependencies, making systems modeling an important competence within education for sustainable development. This study investigated how instructional guidance influences students’ modeling of causal loop diagrams when working with the climate simulation En-ROADS. In a two-phase design, 242 secondary school students first explored En-ROADS and constructed an initial diagram representing their intermediate knowledge, then refined it while receiving conceptual guidance, procedural guidance, both, or none. Structural complexity of the causal loop diagrams and cognitive load were assessed after each phase. Structural complexity increased significantly in all four conditions, η²_p = 0.22. Procedural guidance was associated with a smaller increase, η²_p = 0.02, located primarily in the branching structures of the diagrams, and with higher germane cognitive load, η²_p = 0.02. Conceptual guidance showed no overall effect but interacted with intermediate knowledge, β = 0.23; as the conditional effects were not significant, this indicates that its influence differed across levels of intermediate knowledge rather than that it benefited either group. The structural complexity of the initial diagram was by far the strongest predictor of that of the refined one, underlining the importance of aligning instructional guidance with learners’ intermediate knowledge in complex digital modeling environments. Full article

Higher education institutions are increasingly expected to contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by equipping students with the competencies needed to address complex sustainability challenges. Among these competencies, critical thinking, perspective-taking, evidence-based reasoning, and informed decision-making are considered essential for education for sustainable development. However, limited research has examined how SDG-oriented instructional approaches can foster sustainability-oriented reasoning through argumentative engagement within teacher education. This study investigated the implementation of an SDG-oriented argumentative writing course designed for pre-service teachers. Using a scholarship of teaching and learning approach, this study examined participants’ learning readiness, argumentative performance, and perceived learning outcomes. Data were collected from 16 pre-service teachers through learning readiness questionnaires, argumentative writing tasks, Toulmin-based text analysis, self-assessment questionnaires, and reflective feedback. Descriptive statistics indicated a moderate-to-high level of learning readiness before instruction (M = 4.38) and highly positive perceived learning outcomes after the course (M = 4.61). Qualitative findings further indicated that SDG-related issues provided meaningful contexts for engaging pre-service teachers in critical reflection, perspective integration, and sustainability-oriented reasoning. Participants’ written work showed evidence of structured argumentation, particularly in claim construction and reason development, whereas evidence integration and rebuttal construction remained challenging higher-order dimensions of sustainability-oriented reasoning. Self-assessment data further revealed increased awareness of issue analysis, argumentation strategies, and the social relevance of sustainability-related topics. This study contributes to the growing literature on sustainability in higher education by illustrating how SDG-oriented argumentative writing may support sustainability-oriented reasoning within a teacher education course. The findings provide context-specific insights into how argumentative engagement can encourage evidence-based reasoning, perspective integration, and reflective judgment when addressing sustainability-related issues. Implications are discussed for curriculum innovation, education for sustainable development, and the design of instructional scaffolds that support sustainability-oriented reasoning in teacher education. Full article

This article examines virtual international work-integrated learning (VIWIL) through the lens of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). ESD, as defined by UNESCO, seeks to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and dispositions required to make informed decisions and take responsible actions to contribute to environmentally sustainable, socially just, economically viable, and peaceful futures. Drawing on UNESCO’s four interdependent sustainability dimensions, we highlight its environmental benefits in reducing carbon-intensive travel, its social contribution to broadening equitable access to international learning opportunities, its political role in fostering global citizenship and intercultural competence, and its economic potential in providing a scalable and financially viable model for work-integrated learning. We present a series of ten design principles for enhancing the contribution of VIWIL to ESD outcomes. Through an anonymised case study, we argue that VIWIL has the potential to offer a practical and inclusive mechanism for developing socio-emotional, cognitive and behavioural global citizenship competencies through digitally mediated workplace learning. In doing so, VIWIL is positioned as an important approach for advancing ESD and contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Full article

The growing acceleration of socio-ecological crises has increased demands for higher education to move beyond disciplinary teaching toward competence-based sustainability education. In science teacher education, this shift requires not only aligning curricula with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also developing transformative sustainability competencies. This review analyzes the relationship between UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) learning objectives and the European GreenComp framework, exploring their integration into science education programs. Based on a qualitative thematic review of 65 publications published between 2015 and 2025, the study identifies a strong emphasis on normative and methodological aspects of sustainability education, while critical-political perspectives and futures literacy remain less represented. The paper proposes an integrative model built around three interconnected dimensions: SDG-oriented learning objectives, sustainability competences, and a critical socio-ecological perspective. The findings indicate that effective curriculum design in science teacher education must combine content-oriented and competence-oriented approaches. UNESCO’s ESD objectives provide socio-environmental relevance and normative guidance, whereas GreenComp contributes systems thinking, anticipatory competences, and action-oriented learning. However, the review warns that sustainability education risks remaining functional rather than transformative unless issues of power, inequality, and socio-ecological justice are explicitly addressed. Full article

While existing curricula often focus on theoretical aspects of sustainability, they frequently fail to equip students with practical design skills required by the green industry. To address this disconnect, this study seeks to answer: How can a structured pedagogical framework effectively enhance students’ ability to translate abstract sustainability principles into concrete technical solutions? This study introduces a comprehensive CDIO-based framework reform for Embedded Intelligent Systems education, weaving sustainability throughout every phase. We put forward a “Sustainable CDIO Capability Model” that charts a progressive pathway—starting from basic resource awareness and advancing through to sophisticated sustainable system innovation. Our four-dimensional teaching strategy brings this model to life: first, project-based learning driven by real sustainability challenges; second, a hybrid ecosystem blending online resources, hands-on practice, and immersion in green industry contexts; third, hierarchical team-based pedagogy backed by personalized support mechanisms; and fourth, a multi-dimensional assessment system that weights energy efficiency, resource stewardship, and social value creation alongside conventional metrics. We implemented this approach with Intelligent Science and Technology majors at Wuhan Institute of Technology. The results show the model effectively bridges the persistent gap between dry technical content and the practical demands of green industry. Students made substantial gains not merely in core engineering capabilities—system architecture, hardware-software co-development—but crucially in sustainable design awareness and their capacity to untangle complex sustainability challenges. This work offers a readily transferable framework for embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into engineering curricula worldwide. It provides practitioners with a concrete, tested model for cultivating the next generation of engineers who naturally think and act with sustainability in mind. Full article

Education plays a crucial role in addressing the challenges of the Anthropocene. Schools are therefore called upon to empower students to actively participate in sustainable social and ecological transformation. Building on the pedagogical concept of “Bildsamkeit” (malleability), which emphasizes the openness of human development in relational contexts, this paper examines how education for sustainable development (ESD) can promote transformative learning and sustainable action. A conceptual triad of knowledge and strategies, transformative learning processes, and action is presented as a framework for designing learning environments that support the sustainable development of students’ potential. We argue that transformative learning involves critical reflection on existing structures of meaning, leading to lasting changes in perspective, self-understanding, and capacity for action. Sustainable entrepreneurship education, particularly through the design thinking concept, is presented as an effective pedagogical approach to enabling such transformative experiences. The “Start-up Schools: Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Schools” project, which is being implemented in German schools, serves as a clear example. Initial insights into student portfolios suggest that this project could foster experiences of self-efficacy, critical thinking, and ethical awareness in the context of sustainability challenges. These exemplary excerpts suggest that learner-centered, participatory, and action-oriented educational formats can promote individual potential and support social change. To achieve this, a conscious departure from established teaching and learning scenarios would be helpful, a concept that can also be described as “exnovation.” This paper seeks to demonstrate that integrating sustainable entrepreneurship into school education could be a promising way to foster the transformative skills necessary for shaping a sustainable future. Full article

Teacher education programs often fail to bridge the gap between sustainability knowledge and its practice, leaving pre-service teachers ill-equipped to implement Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Addressing this knowledge–action gap, the present study draws on Mezirow’s ten-phase perspective transformation model and the UNESCO ESD competency framework. It examines how a competency-based pedagogical design is associated with (a) pre-service social studies teachers’ sustainability awareness and (b) the transformation of their experiences across the stages of transformative learning. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed with 33 pre-service teachers enrolled in a “Sustainable Development and Education” course during the fall semester of the 2025–2026 academic year. The ten-week instructional program was organized around four core processes: disorienting dilemma, critical reflection, rational discourse, and action. Quantitatively, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test revealed statistically significant increases in overall sustainability awareness and across all three sub-dimensions—economy, society, and environment—with large effect sizes according to Cohen’s criteria. Qualitatively, participants shifted from individual responsibility to systemic awareness, revised their consumption practices, and reframed sustainability as a pedagogical responsibility. Disconfirming patterns also emerged: some retained their initial perspectives, while others reported heightened feelings of helplessness despite greater awareness. Findings suggest that transformative learning offers a robust framework for action-oriented sustainability education, while demonstrating that behavioral and professional transfer remains a complex process. Full article

This article presents a Q-methodological approach to capturing the relational structure of teacher beliefs regarding education for sustainable development (ESD). It reports on the development and pilot testing of a Q-sample designed to assess the suitability of Q-methodology with a pilot sample of pre-service primary teachers. Research on ESD emphasizes the field’s normative complexity and conceptual ambiguity, which pose challenges for empirically investigating professional beliefs. Current approaches often conceptualize beliefs as isolated dimensions or thematically reconstructed individual constructions, which provides limited insight into their relational organization as structured configurations of meaning. The Q-sample was constructed through a structured selection from a hybrid concourse, drawing on international empirical studies, student reflections, and theory-derived statements. The Q-sample was administered via an online Q-sorting procedure using a forced quasi-normal distribution and analyzed using by-person factor analysis to examine structural differentiation and interpretability. The pilot study produced an interpretable two-factor solution, demonstrating the instrument’s ability to generate distinguishable belief configurations. Overall, the findings suggest that Q-methodology is a conceptually coherent and methodologically robust approach for capturing the relational structure of ESD-related belief configurations in teacher education research. Full article

Digital games are becoming increasingly important as promising tools to foster Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), aiming to combine engagement, systems thinking, and transformative learning. This narrative review synthesizes evidence from 40 studies on serious games, game-based learning, and gamification to assess both the potential and limitations of digital games in ESD contexts. This review thus contributes to the field by integrating theoretical frameworks, empirical evidence, and design principles to provide a coherent understanding of how digital games support ESD learning processes. The findings reveal positive effects on cognitive and motivational outcomes, particularly regarding knowledge acquisition, systems understanding, and learner engagement. In addition, digital games can foster social learning processes such as collaboration, participation, and perspective-taking. These effects are grounded in established theoretical frameworks, including self-determination theory, flow theory, and experiential learning, and are supported by design features such as adaptive feedback, meaningful narratives, social interaction, and authentic decision-making. Across the reviewed studies, cognitive outcomes are most consistently documented, while evidence for long-term behavioral change and real-world transfer remains limited. This reflects both structural challenges of ESD and methodological constraints, including difficulties in measuring behavior, short-term study designs, and heterogeneous implementations. Overall, digital games can support key ESD competencies by enabling learners to engage with complex socio-ecological systems and multi-perspectivity. Their effectiveness and educational value depend less on gameplay itself than on four overarching design principles: encouraging the exploration of systems, linking experience and reflection, balancing between autonomy and guidance, and embedding within broader social and pedagogical processes. Full article

Anthropocene pressures underscore that human well-being and societal resilience depend on both biodiversity and geodiversity, the latter providing the abiotic foundation of Earth’s life-support systems. Despite increasing emphasis on systems thinking, participation, and action, Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development often underrepresent this abiotic dimension and leave ethical commitments insufficiently articulated. Addressing these gaps, this concept paper develops a convergence framework that integrates geoethics, geoeducation, and geoenvironmental education within the broader domains of EE and ESD. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship, geoethics is positioned as a normative lens that clarifies principles for responsible human–Earth relations, including responsibility, justice, respect for Earth processes, transparency in science communication, prudent resource use, and risk-aware decision-making. Geoeducation is conceptualized as the pedagogical vehicle through which these values are translated into competencies such as geoliteracy, systems thinking, critical reflection, ethical deliberation, and evidence-informed action, while geoenvironmental education provides the integrative content domain linking biotic, abiotic, and cultural dimensions. Place-based learning functions as the primary implementation pathway, with protected landscapes and UNESCO Global Geoparks serving as exemplary “living laboratories” where geoconservation, education, and sustainable development are co-produced with local communities. The paper advances three interrelated contributions: (a) a conceptual convergence framework, (b) an operational definition of geoethical awareness, and (c) a programmatic model linking geoethical values to competencies, pedagogies, indicators, and place-based implementation strategies. Operationalized through a Theory of Change and a translation matrix connecting principles to educational outcomes, the framework provides a foundation for future empirical research, curriculum development, teacher education, and the cultivation of geo-citizenship, stewardship, and more resilient human–Earth relationships. Full article

As educators play a pivotal role in advancing sustainable futures, understanding their readiness to translate sustainability-related knowledge and values into teaching practice has become an important concern in teacher education and professional development research. This study aims to develop and validate a measurement instrument assessing student teachers’ intention to implement education for sustainable development (ESD). By operationalizing intention as a proximal indicator of future-oriented professional readiness for ESD, the study addresses the need for empirically grounded tools that capture educators’ preparedness to engage in sustainability-oriented teaching. The Intention to Implement ESD Scale (IESDS) was developed through a theory-informed item construction process grounded in ESD literature, teacher agency, and competence-oriented approaches to sustainable education. The instrument was validated on a sample of 706 student teachers enrolled in the final years of teacher education programs. The findings indicate that a bifactor model provided the best fit to the data, with a dominant general factor supporting the interpretation of the IESDS as a primarily unidimensional measure of intention to implement ESD. In addition, intention to implement ESD was positively associated with teacher self-efficacy for ESD, providing evidence of convergent validity and reinforcing the role of perceived capability in sustainability-oriented professional action. The IESDS can support teacher education institutions and professional development providers in monitoring and strengthening educators’ readiness for sustainability-oriented teaching. It may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of courses, modules, and professional learning interventions aimed at promoting teaching for sustainable futures. Full article

Environmental Education (E.E.) and Education for Sustainable Development (E.S.D.) play a crucial role in fostering environmentally responsible citizens and supporting the achievement of sustainability goals. This study aims to investigate secondary school teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding E.E./E.S.D., as well as the factors influencing their implementation in the educational process. A quantitative research design was employed using a structured questionnaire distributed to a sample of 500 teachers across Greece. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, content analysis, exploratory factor analysis, reliability testing, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis with the use of SPSS software. The results indicate that teachers generally demonstrate positive attitudes toward E.E./E.S.D. and recognize its importance in promoting environmental awareness, behavioral change, and students’ social development. Content analysis revealed that key environmental concerns identified by participants include pollution, climate change, and waste management, while E.E./E.S.D. is mainly associated with environmental practices and awareness. Factor analysis identified five core dimensions shaping teachers’ attitudes: (i) perceived value and impact, (ii) social and personal development outcomes, (iii) pedagogical design and evaluation understanding, (iv) institutional and structural barriers, and (v) practical implementation challenges. Significant correlations were found among these factors, particularly between perceived value and pedagogical understanding, as well as between institutional barriers and implementation challenges. Regression analysis showed that demographic and experiential variables have a modest but significant effect on perceived challenges, with age and participation in E.E./E.S.D. programs negatively associated with difficulties, while years of involvement increased awareness of implementation constraints. Overall, the findings highlight that although teachers possess a satisfactory level of awareness and positive attitudes toward E.E./E.S.D., limited training, insufficient institutional support, and structural barriers hinder effective implementation. The study underscores the need for enhanced training opportunities, stronger policy support, and systematic integration of E.E./E.S.D. into school curricula to promote sustainable education practices. Full article

Mathematical creativity is positioned as a key competency for sustainable development, yet its classroom enactment often remains episodic and teacher-dependent. This qualitative study examines how prospective teachers conceptualize and organize the dynamics between divergent thinking (DT) and convergent thinking (CT)—analyzed through continuity, complementarity, and interaction—across a semester-long course involving textbook critique, task design, and microteaching. Twenty-seven prospective teachers critiqued textbooks, transformed tasks, and enacted microteaching lessons on five middle-school topics. Data included recordings, lesson plans, transformed tasks, and reflection journals. During textbook critique, participants diagnosed an authoritative CT bias and emphasized inquiry/DT, but rarely articulated how DT should transition into CT for justification and generalization. In task design, inquiry and content goals were listed in parallel, yielding a role split between teacher and students and weak complementarity. In enactment, added CT prompts remained largely teacher-directed; DT episodes were more multi-authority, whereas CT episodes concentrated authority in the teacher, producing monotonous continuity and unrealized complementarity. Findings suggest teacher education should explicitly scaffold goal-bridging routines, DT–CT transition prompts, and mechanisms for distributing authority—contributing to ESD aims by enabling creativity-oriented instruction to operate continuously rather than episodically in everyday mathematics classrooms. Full article

Sustainability challenges are frequently characterized by a persistent attitude–behavior gap, particularly within competitive frameworks. This phenomenon is exemplified by voluntary carbon offsetting in aviation, where passengers’ stated willingness to pay consistently exceeds their actual transactional behavior. Prevailing strategies in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) typically address this discrepancy by either reinforcing individual value systems or advocating for post-capitalist shifts to circumvent market competition. Given the inherent limitations of both approaches, this paper delineates an alternative conceptual path. By transposing a research framework from the field of institutional ethics to the domain of ESD, we aim to integrate this perspective into the academic ESD discourse and facilitate its practical implementation. We present a simple game-theoretic ESD model from which we derive specific guidelines for practical application. We contend that sustainability issues are best addressed by restructuring the ‘rules of the game.’ Consequently, this necessitates a strategic shift in ESD: prioritizing the analysis of incentive structures, governance mechanisms and their modification over a sole reliance on individual motivational drivers. Full article

In a post-consensus institutional landscape—where higher education systems face intensifying pressure to demonstrate strategic governance and measurable commitment to global sustainability mandates—understanding how the scholarly field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has itself structurally evolved acquires both analytical urgency and policy relevance. This study maps the intellectual structure of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and institutional commitment in higher education through a PRISMA 2020-guided bibliometric analysis of 126 articles retrieved from Scopus for the period 2018–2025. Annual output rose from a single article in 2018 to 32 in 2025, with 46.8% of the corpus concentrated in the 2024–2025 biennium—a pattern indicative of rapid field maturation. Keyword co-occurrence analysis reveals a dual thematic architecture comprising four clusters: a Curriculum Innovation and Pedagogical Transformation axis and a strategic governance and institutional commitment axis. A notable pattern is a reorientation in the relative weight of research themes, evidenced by the growing density of terms such as governance, strategic approach, and institutional commitment in the recent literature. This governance-oriented cluster, consolidated by a core of prolific authors, shows a higher recent growth rate in co-occurrence frequency than the traditional curriculum axis. An emerging tendency toward disciplinary specialization—particularly in engineering education—and toward impact assessment is consistent with a gradual thematic consolidation of the field. The observed co-occurrence patterns are consistent with theoretical frameworks that associate scalable pedagogical innovation with institutional-level commitment and systemic governance frameworks aligned with the SDGs, although bibliometric data alone cannot establish this dependency. These patterns may signal a reorientation in the scholarly framing of ESD toward institutional design and governance questions, although confirming whether this reflects substantive epistemic change or shifts in publishing incentives requires evidence beyond bibliometric indicators. Full article