Systematic Review of Education for Sustainable Development at an Early Stage: Cornerstones and Pedagogical Approaches for Teacher Professional Development

Abstract

During recent decades, education for sustainable development (ESD) has been under the scope of the international community, but research in ESD for early childhood education (ECE) is still scarce. This article proposes a procedural framework for the implementation of teacher professional development opportunities in the area. During the first phase, we undertook a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles on ESD for ECE (n = 30). After an expert committee revision of the articles reviewed, three cornerstones (scientific action-integrated, community-based and value-oriented scopes) and three sets of suitable pedagogical approaches (art-based, outdoor-based and project-problem-based) were identified. The review was enhanced by an unsystematic review of articles (n = 26) that specifically referred to the cornerstones and approaches. Finally, a double-blind expert coding and categorization of the articles (n = 56) was performed in order to validate the results. Focusing on guidelines and approaches, different examples found in the literature are presented. This review offers a useful framework to understand and practice ESD in ECE. Unlike previous reviews, it has a practical scope to foster innovative teacher professional development opportunities, inspire teachers and inform policy makers. We conclude with some common challenges and the needs for educational systems to foster science-based citizenship education towards sustainable development in a practical way, fostering agency from an early stage to transform local context, creating global awareness of the environmental, social and economic challenges of the 21st century.

Designing Powerful Learning Environments in Education for Sustainable Development: A Conceptual Framework

“…Bascopé et al [105], in their systematics literature review, found that the term 'community' is used in various ways depending on the context, while it is not clearly defined. It may refer to the closer educational community (e.g., parents and neighborhood) or the local place in a more general sense.…”

“…Similarly, in their literature review, Bascopé et al (2018) revealed three forms of community involvement: (a) learning from and about their own community through participating in life in community and communicating with community members; (b) acting upon issues in the community as an attempt to solve SD-related problems and (c) co-learning and acting with the community, means that community members (e.g., parents) cooperate with students to solve SD-related problems while they have themselves the opportunity to learn by taking part in this process. Bascopé et al [105] pinpoint that these three forms of community involvement do not exclude but complete each other.…”

“…Interdisciplinary approaches make students obtain competences through the integration of various fields of knowledge to address SD issues [105]. An interdisciplinary approach helps students to engage with an environmental, economic or social issue in a way that students can reveal the contribution of all disciplines to the understanding of different parts of the problem [82].…”

Productive, Structural and Dynamic Study of the Concept of Sustainability in the Educational Field

“…In this way, the research carried out has evolved towards a transdisciplinary vision that attempts to explain the emerging theme from pedagogical approaches focused on the professional development of teachers on the formation of a sustainable citizenship from early ages, to higher studies [30,31], technology-mediated learning for a sustainable education [32,33], as well as the imminent need for teacher training to integrate skills related to education for sustainability, considering both individual differences and the common good of the community [34].…”

Mathematical Competence Scale (MCS) for Primary School: The Psychometric Properties and the Validation of an Instrument to Enhance the Sustainability of Talents Development through the Numeracy Skills Assessment

“…Everyone has the right to acquire and understand which skills allow full participation in society and also help people choose appropriate fields of study [15]. Its aim is to provide a standard framework for both research and practice to support sustainable mathematical competences [16,17].…”