The implementation of education for sustainable development in Sweden: investigating the sustainability consciousness among upper secondary students

Berglund, Teresa; Gericke, Niklas; Rundgren, Shu-Nu Chang

doi:10.1080/02635143.2014.944493

Cited by 95 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Beside the authors' [9,53,55] no large scale studies of the effects of ESD can be found in the literature, and the few existing studies in EE seem to suggest that while schools' participation in a certification program sometimes results in their students knowing more about the environment or sustainable development, it rarely results in them caring or acting more. What these studies also have in common is that they focus only on the outcomes of certification programs, and that they are cross-sectional by design: they compare groups of students at one single moment in time rather than following cohorts of students and study how their outcomes change over time (and how that change is or is not related to what is happening in the school).…”

Section: Research On the Effectiveness Of Esdmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A large scale study about the Brundlandt certification program for Canadian schools [10] showed no impact on the environmental behavior of students. In recent large scale studies in Sweden [9,55], small positive effects were observed in the sustainability consciousness of grade 6 and grade 12 students in ESD-certificated schools, but negative effects in that of grade 9 students.…”

Section: Research On the Effectiveness Of Esdmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effectiveness of Education for Sustainable Development

et al. 2015

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Abstract:Perhaps the most important issue in our time is how to sustain our planet's resources, while developing wealth and well-being for a growing population. This monumental task has been defined in the concept of sustainable development (SD). During the last few decades the world communities have agreed upon addressing SD through international treaties. As a response Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been launched as an answer to cope with sustainability. However, empirical studies are a missing link in the discourse around ESD, where decisions and implementation strategies are heavily based on policy recommendations and gut feelings by practitioners. We used data from 2413 students in grades 6, 9, and 12 from 51 schools across Sweden to study the effectiveness of ESD. In line with the current debate on the definition of ESD, we quantified the extent to which teaching can be labeled as holistic and/or pluralistic. Through a series of descriptive analyses and the estimation of structural equation models, our results indicate that ESD can indeed impact on student outcomes in terms of their sustainability consciousness. The results of this study reveal the key role ESD plays in addressing SD, paving the way for a more sustainable future.

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Section: Research On the Effectiveness Of Esdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research On the Effectiveness Of Esdmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effectiveness of Education for Sustainable Development

et al. 2015

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“…The latter group was selected to resemble the first group as close as possible, except for the ESD approach. Differences in terms of their sustainability consciousness were investigated in a previous study [42], and are no focus in the current study. However, Table 2 in the Results section shows the distribution of the sub-groups within the results.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The students (N = 638) completed an online version of the questionnaire [44] (a paper version was used where computers were not accessible). The process of data collection is described in detail in [42].…”

Section: Collection and Analysis Of Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The items in the part probing environmental knowingness, attitudes and behaviors originate from a larger questionnaire, which investigates students' sustainability consciousness in terms of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in relation to environmental, social, and economic dimensions of SD, see a detailed description in [42] and Gericke et al [43]. Definitions of the SD dimensions found in transnational policy agreements by United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization were used to categorize items into environmental, social, and economic dimensions (UNESCO).…”

Section: Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the Role of the Economy in Young Adults’ Understanding of Sustainable Development

Berglund

Gericke

2018

Sustainability

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Abstract:The economic dimension is one of the central perspectives in both sustainable development and education for sustainable development. The role of the economy in sustainable development has been discussed extensively over the years and different views exist about how economic activities affect other sustainability dimensions. How young people view the relationships among economic perspectives and sustainable development seems to be an underemphasized perspective in sustainability education and underexplored in the field of sustainability education research. This study uses cluster analysis, which is an explorative approach, to identify and analyze young peoples' views of the relationships between economic growth, economic development and sustainable development. Six hundred and thirty eight students (age 18-19) from 15 schools across Sweden responded to a questionnaire probing (1) views on these relationships, and (2) their environmental consciousness. Four clusters of students differing in their views on the economy in sustainable development were identified in the analysis: un-differentiating positive, nuanced ambivalent, two-way convinced, and critical. Further analysis indicated that some groups differed in their perception of the environmental dimension of sustainable development. Implications of these findings are discussed from the perspective of education for sustainable development.

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The Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire: The theoretical development and empirical validation of an evaluation instrument for stakeholders working with sustainable development

Gericke

Pauw

Berglund

et al. 2018

Sustainable Development

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In this paper, the concept of sustainability consciousness, an individual's experience and awareness of sustainable development, is introduced. Based on UNESCO's definition of sustainable development, a sustainability consciousness questionnaire (SCQ) is theoretically and empirically developed. Using the data of 638 respondents from Sweden aged 18-19 years old, the scale is developed in two versions. The long version (SCQ-L) can be used to measure individuals' environmental, social and economic knowingness, attitudes and behaviour (nine valid and reliable subscales), in addition to the second order constructs of sustainability knowingness, sustainability attitudes and sustainability behaviour, as well as the third order construct, sustainability consciousness. For the short version (SCQ-S) 27 items were identified that can be used to measure the second and third order constructs. Both versions of the scale present excellent psychometric quality. Possible applications of the questionnaire instruments in the context of evaluation of sustainability policies, practices and stakeholder engagement are discussed. KEYWORDS empirical validation of the sustainability consciousness questionnaire, questionnaire instrument, stakeholder engagement, Sustainability Consciousness, sustainable development, sustainable development policy, theoretical development of the construct of sustainability consciousness

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The implementation of education for sustainable development in Sweden: investigating the sustainability consciousness among upper secondary students

Cited by 95 publications

References 30 publications

The Effectiveness of Education for Sustainable Development

The Effectiveness of Education for Sustainable Development

Exploring the Role of the Economy in Young Adults’ Understanding of Sustainable Development

The Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire: The theoretical development and empirical validation of an evaluation instrument for stakeholders working with sustainable development

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