In this thesis the focus is on upper secondary school students’ meaning-making in sustainability in science civic education. The aim is to study how meaning is created, if/how natural science is used and how democratic participation is constructed in students’ group discussions. The thesis also aims to create an awareness of the role science has in both the creation of meaning and the construction of democratic participation. The study is based on audio-recorded group discussions arising from two different sustainability tasks. Discursive psychology is used as an analytical framework, through the concepts of interpretative repertoires, ideological dilemmas and subject positions. The students use different interpretative repertoires that draw on different conceptions of the “world” (discourses) in their meaning-making. These different conceptions create ideological dilemmas that recur several times during the discussions and are therefore negotiated in different ways. The students then use strategies where these dilemmas are solved in a relatively simple manner. They construct the sustainability issue they discuss so that their ways to live and act/not act are portrayed as acceptable in the current situation. The students use their knowledge in and about science in their meaning-making. Science is used to make the "world" more understandable and raise questions; to evaluate, decide and act; to give authority to arguments; and to solve societal problems. The students’ science-making process contains various kinds of use of scientific knowledge, for example, clarify the conditions, identify consequences, scrutinize information, compare, assess, evaluate and use scientific methods. The discussions increase the students’ experience of using scientific knowledge and which functions scientific knowledge can have. The students construct democratic participation in various ways: trust in science and technology are expressed and awareness of what is considered as actions that are “good” for the environment; different perspectives are expressed and ideological dilemmas discussed; students use their scientific knowledge in socioscientific reasoning to create a deeper understanding of the issues discussed; scientific knowledge is also used for evaluating actions in relation to sustainability issues. However, the students see themselves having a major responsibility to act “good”, but without power to influence the development of society as a whole. The students have two projects going on during their discussions: to discuss and learn about the sustainability issue and make their own existence acceptable.

No description available.

Studiens mål är att bidra till kunskapsutveckling om hur unga människor utvecklar handlingskompetens för hållbar utveckling. Med handlingskompetens för hållbar utveckling avses i studien vilja och förmåga att påverka livsstil och levnadsvillkor på ett sätt sominkluderar intergenerationellt och globalt ansvar. I avhandlingen introduceras begreppet avståndsmoral för att beskriva detta ansvar, som utsträcker sig i både tid och rum, till kommande generationer och till nu levande människor globalt. En utgångspunkt för studien är att hållbar utveckling innefattar idén om avståndsmoraliskt ansvar. Studiens huvudfråga är: Hur erfar avståndsmoraliskt aktivt handlande unga människor att de utvecklat handlingskompetens för hållbar utveckling? Studiens teorigrund är livsvärldsfenomenologisk. En upplevd verklighet undersöks i studien via berättelser. Genom ett strategiskt urval har tre intervjupersoner, som motiverar sina handlingar med avståndsmoraliska argument, valts att ingå i studien. Datainsamlingen har skett genom en kombination av öppna livsberättelseintervjuer ochhalvstrukturerade intervjuer. Analys och tolkning har metodologiskt stöd i berättelseforskningstraditionen och empirisk fenomenologisk forskning. Resultaten presenteras som tre citatrika levnadsberättelser om Karin, Carl och Matilda, tre unga vuxna med flera års engagemang i hållbarhetsfrågor. Syftet med levnadsberättelserna är att bidra till förståelse av det speciella i en enskild individs upplevelse av attutveckla handlingskompetens för hållbar utveckling. En integrerande analys redovisar mönster i form av likheter och skillnader mellan de tre individernas berättelser om att utveckla olika aspekter av handlingskompetens i avståndsmoraliska frågor. Sex gemensammakärnpoänger framstår som betydelsefulla: känslomässiga reaktioner, upplevd kompetens, kontrasterande perspektiv och normativ grund, handlingsimpregnering, tillit från och tillit till vuxna samt social gemenskap kontra utanförskap. Som motiv och drivkrafterför engagemanget framstår känslomässiga reaktioner som initierar önskan om förändring och vilja till handling, längtan efter meningsfullhet, önskan om att komma till sin rätt och längtan efter gemenskap. Resultaten diskuteras i förhållande till tidigare forskningoch en modell av en möjlig väg att utveckla aspekter av handlingskompetens för hållbar utveckling presenteras. Diskussionskapitlet utmynnar i fyra didaktiska utmaningar för enutbildning för hållbar utveckling. / The aim of the study at hand is to develop knowledge about the process of developing action competence for sustainable development. The overall research question explored is: How do young people experience that they have developed aspects of action competence forsustainable development? For the purposes of this study, action competence for sustainable development is defined as willingness and capability to act for changes in individual life style, as well as for structural changes of society, in a way that includes responsibility for present and future generations,globally. Life-world phenomenology provides the theoretical foundation of the study. Through purposive sampling, individuals have been found who, through different action strategies, engage in sustainability issues as for example climate change, bio-diversity and social justice. From a larger sample, three young adults have been selected for several life storyinterviews. Data has been analyzed and interpreted by use of narrative methodology. The result is presented as three stories, presented as thick descriptions, through whichthe winding paths towards aspects of action competence, as experienced, appear. This is followed by an integrative analysis presenting six themes that have emerged in theanalyses as relevant in the process of developing action competence for sustainable development: emotional reactions; perceived competence; contrasts and normative foundation;action permeation; trust and faith from adults and in adults; and social belonging in contrastto outsidership. Major motives and driving-forces for sustainability actions that emerge inthe stories are: emotional reactions initiating a desire for change and a desire to act; longingfor meaningfulness; a desire to feel comfortable with what you can contribute; and longing for belongingness. The findings are discussed in relationship to previous research and a modelof a possible way to develop aspects of action competence for sustainable development is introduced. This dissertation is part of a project supported by Formas, The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning.

The objective of this dissertation is to develop a theoretical and analytical framework for understanding the political in education from a social and global perspective. With this objective in mind, it employs an empirical engagement and theoretical reflection on how this political can be seen to emerge in policy making on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Policy making on ESD is interpreted as engaging in the constitution of the social and globalisation, where the non-determination of this practice is seen to require political acts of identification with particular perspectives on what education, society and, as a result, ESD should be. Book I constitutes a theoretical and analytical framework that outlines central concepts, such as antagonism, temporality, space and rhizomic globalisation, in order to conceive of how the political in education can be understood and analysed in concrete articulations, such as policy making on ESD. The findings of the empirical analysis underlying this dissertation and that address the political in policy making on ESD are presented in the papers that are incorporated into this dissertation as part of Book II. Paper I discusses how we can conceive of the relation between ESD and globalisation and makes an argument that this relation should be seen to be political and characterised by conflicting perspectives on what ESD is. Paper II presents the findings from a comparative study of policy making on ESD that engages with concrete policy on ESD in order to reflect on how globalisation can be seen to emerge in these instances of policy making. Paper III presents the findings of a comprehensive discourse analysis of Vietnamese policy making and shows how the concepts of ESD and Sustainable Development are contested among different perspectives of how Vietnamese society should be constituted. The dissertation as a whole makes an argument for the inescapable political condition for education and how this condition necessitates the articulation of concepts such as ESD that name an inaccessible state beyond conflict and social antagonisms that is to be achieved through education.

Syftet med följande litteraturstudie är att belysa hur elever i förskolan till årskurs sex förhåller sig till hållbar utveckling. Litteraturstudien ger en presentation kring elevers synsätt på de tre dimensionerna inom hållbar utveckling. Härtill framförs det hur begreppet hållbar utveckling har vuxit fram samt en sammanställning av nationella och internationella diskussioner om hur världen kan arbeta mot en hållbar framtid. Vidare presenteras det hur hållbar utveckling framträder i den svenska läroplanen. Det resultat som framkom inkluderar undersökningar från Sverige, Turkiet och USA, där elever under intervju eller med hjälp av illustrationer fick visualisera sin uppfattning på vad som väntar människan och planeten. I undersökningarna indikerade elever en generell oro gällande miljön och framtiden. Majoriteten av eleverna kunde ge uttryck för en koppling mellan de tre dimensionerna av hållbar utveckling. Härtill visade eleverna i en annan studie en generell rädsla för miljöproblem vilket återges som ”ekofobiska” idéer. I litteraturstudien förs slutligen en diskussion om införandet av ett nytt ämne i läroplanen, vikten av ett paradigmskifte samt hur undervisning kring hållbar utveckling kan exemplifieras i klassrummet. / The purpose of this study is to clarify how pupils in pre-school and the grades one to six relate to sustainable development. The literature study presents pupils´ perspectives on the three dimensions in sustainable development. Furthermore, it is presented how the concept sustainable development has expanded. The study also presents a summary of national and international discussions about how the world can work towards a sustainable future. Additionally it is presented how sustainable development stands in the Swedish curriculum. The study includes surveys from Sweden, Turkey and USA, where pupils during interviews or through illustrations visualized their view on what awaits the human kind and the planet. The result indicates a general concern regarding the environment and the future. A majority of the pupils could not refer to a connection between the three dimensions of sustainable development. Pupils indicated an overall anxiety for environmental problems, which can be redirected as “ecophobic” ideas. Finally, there is a discussion about an imposition of Sustainable development as an individual subject in the curriculum, the importance of a paradigm shift and how teaching about sustainable development can be exemplified in the classroom.

This qualitative case study focuses on identifying factors that could either enable or constrain sustainable food waste management as a form of environmental education (EE) in the participating schools. The study was motivated by the observation that the National School Nutrition Program (NSNP) that was introduced by the Department of Basic Education to support learners from disadvantaged backgrounds with nutritious food was causing pollution in some schools due to inadequate discarding of food leftovers. The purpose of the study was to develop recommendations towards a sustainable means of managing this food waste in the schools. As an Agricultural Science educator, I wanted to explore the possibilities of enhancing environmental education in schools through sustainable food waste management. While research has been conducted about food waste management and how this is an environmental concern, little has been written about it as it relates to environmental education and sustainability in schools. Hence, this study sought to contribute knowledge to this gap. To achieve this aim, this study followed a descriptive case study design, framed by the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory. Three schools in Vhembe district, Limpopo, were conveniently selected, and the NSNP food coordinator of each selected school, one food handler, two learners, two educators and two SGB members from each sampled school were purposively sampled to get rich information from them about sustainable school food waste management. Data were collected through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews and observations. The findings indicate the various ways in which food waste could be managed in these schools, such as recycling through composting, reusing by community farmers, and reducing the amount of possible food waste. The study also found environmental education to be a key element in which the schools could invest to sustainably and effectively manage food waste. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Environmental Education)

L’écomobilité en milieu scolaire, étudiée à travers le Pédibus ou walking school bus, système de ramassage pédestre organisant bénévolement le trajet domicile-école à l’initiative des parents, peut questionner l’éducation relative à l’environnement (ERE) et l’éducation au développement durable (EDD). S’inscrivant à la suite des travaux de Lucie Sauvé, Sandrine Depeau, Alain Legardez, Angela Barthes, Marie-Louise Martinez et Jean-Marc Lange, les analyses ont cherché à montrer comment la pratique du Pédibus peut devenir un enjeu éducatif qui touche aux finalités de l’éducation : « construire des savoirs », « construire une identité de sujet et de citoyen », « devenir une personne responsable évoluant au sein d’une communauté ». Le point de départ a été d’interroger la façon dont le discours véhiculé par les textes officiels, dont les grandes déclarations onusiennes fondatrices du développement durable (DD), voient en l’école le lieu fondamental de la formation des esprits conscients et responsables. A ces discours prônant une réforme par le haut, la thèse a mis en regard les discours des acteurs du Pédibus en Métropole Rouen Normandie, recueillis entre 2016 et 2018, afin de montrer comment s’articule un discours écocitoyen, inscrit dans un processus de réforme par la base et par l’action quotidienne. S’inspirant des études sur l’écocitoyenneté, en particulier des travaux de Marie-Louise Martinez, l’analyse interlocutive des discours a mis en évidence la constitution d’une conscience écocitoyenne et l’émergence d’une personne écoresponsable, inscrite dans son milieu urbain et naturel, ainsi que dans son milieu social (rue, quartier, ville). Par ailleurs, cette thèse constitue la première monographie universitaire consacrée au Pédibus, incluant un état de la recherche inspiré de divers pays et de domaines différents (sciences de l’éducation, médecine, sociologie, géographie) concernés par le « car-à-pattes », à l’origine des principaux types de discours portant sur un objet complexe (discours sécuritaire, hygiéniste, sociétal, environnemental). Conformément à la nature même d’un processus d’apprentissage dénué de curriculum et dont la compréhension peut s’inspirer des travaux de l’éco-ontogénèse dans l’esprit de Tom Berryman, les relations entre apprentissage non formel et apprentissage formel ont été interrogées, d’autant que les élèves concernés relèvent du « cycle des observations » et du « cycle de consolidation » de l’école primaire. Sur ces bases, la thèse a formulé des pistes de remédiation, susceptibles de renforcer la synergie entre éducation non formelle et éducation formelle d’une part, et de contribuer à la multiplication et à la pérennisation des lignes de Pédibus d’autre part, très engagée depuis des décennies dans les « déplacements doux », pourrait servir de modèle dans le domaine de l’écomobilité. / Eco-mobility in connection with schools, studied through the Walking School Bus, a pedestrian collecting system that voluntarily organizes the home-school journey for young pupils at the initiative of some parents, can raise questions about environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD). Following the work of Lucie Sauvé, Sandrine Depeau, Alain Legardez, Angela Barthes, Marie-Louise Martinez and Jean-Marc Lange, the analyses sought to show how the practice of the Walking School Bus can become an educational issue that touches on the aims of education: "building knowledge", "building an identity as a subject and a citizen", "becoming a responsible person evolving within a community". The starting point was to question how the discourse conveyed by official texts, including the major UN declarations founding sustainable development (SD), see schools as the fundamental place for the training of conscious and responsible minds. To these discourses advocating a reform from above, the thesis compared the discourses of the actors of the Walking School Bus in Rouen Normandy Metropolis, collected between 2016 and 2018, in order to show how an eco-citizen discourse is articulated, as part of a reform process from the bottom up, and through daily action. Inspired by studies on eco-citizenship, in particular the work of Marie-Louise Martinez, the interlocutory analysis of the discourses highlighted the creation of an eco-citizen awareness and the emergence of an eco-responsible person, inscribed in its urban and natural environment, as well as in its social environment (street, neighborhood, city). Moreover, this thesis is the first university monograph devoted to the Walking School Bus, including a state of research inspired by various countries and different fields of science (educational sciences, medicine, sociology, geography) concerned by the WSB, at the origin of the main types of discourse on a complex subject (safety, hygienist, societal, environmental discourse). In accordance with the very nature of a curriculum-free learning process whose understanding can be inspired by the work of eco-ontogenesis in Tom Berryman's mind, the relationship between non-formal and formal learning was questioned, especially because the pupils concerned fall within the "observation cycle" and the "consolidation cycle" of primary school. On this basis, the thesis formulated remedial approaches that could strengthen the synergy between non-formal and formal education on the one hand, and contribute to the multiplication and sustainability of the Walking School Bus lines on the other hand. Rouen Normandy Metropolis, which has been very much involved for decades in "soft mobility", could serve as a model in the field of eco-mobility.

At present, a trend is emerging that shows the increasing application of Education for Sustainable Development in the Czech Republic. This type of education is arriving in various strategic documents and is featuring in pedagogic and andragogical practices. There is a range of indicators, mainly originating from abroad, for the assessment of this type of education and the task ahead for the Czech Republic is to adjust these indicators for the Czech environment, or create its own ones. This thesis deals with result indicators, that is to say indicators of the impact of Education for Sustainable Development on the literacy of the adult public on the local, microregional and regional levels. The thesis analyses selected national and international strategic documents as well as Czech and foreign specialised literature from the perspective of environmental education, bringing-up and further education concepts and Education for Sustainable Development. It then analyses these concepts from the perspective of educational qualities that Literacy for Sustainable Development consists of. Subsequently, it evaluates the identified qualities in an expert way in accordance with the definition of Literacy for Sustainable Development and it sets a coherent Adult Public Literacy Model for Sustainable Development....

Der Umweltunterricht in Biologie befindet sich in der Orientierung zwischen Zwängen zur Reduktion auf naturwissenschaftliches Basiswissen (scientific literacy), den Kompetenzansprüchen der traditionellen Umweltbildung (environmental literacy) und der zuletzt implementierten Bildung für Nachhaltigkeit (BNE) mit dem Ziel Gestaltungskompetenz (sustainability literacy). Die hier präsentierte Studie diente neben der Bestimmung und Diskussion des Ist-Standes bei der Vermittlung umweltbezogener Gesichtspunkte im Rahmen des Faches Biologie auch der Entwicklung eines entsprechenden Instrumentes zur Erfassung der Unterrichtskonzepte von Lehrpersonen. Die Identifikation der Unterrichtskonzepte ging von Lehrkräften und deren Befragung in einem Ländervergleich zwischen Deutschland und Schweden aus. Methodisch wurde eine Kombination aus qualitativen und quantitativen Verfahren umgesetzt. Drei latente Erklärungsvariablen für die Antwortmuster der Lehrpersonen wurden faktorenanalytisch identifiziert und in verschiedenen Erhebungswellen validiert. Darauf basierend wurden drei kurze Testskalen gebildet. Ein zweites Auswertungsverfahren bestand in der Clusteranalyse der befragten Lehrkräfte. Indem die Cluster mit den Skalen in Beziehung gesetzt wurden, konnten anhand der Varianz der Gruppenmittelwerte verschiedene Profile identifiziert werden. Dies führte zur Beschreibung von je sechs qualitativ und quantitativ differenzierbaren Unterrichtskonzepten in Deutschland und Schweden als reservierte, minimalistische, traditionelle, neuorientierte, ambivalente und pluralistische Realisierung von Umweltbiologie. Während der reservierte Ansatz in Schweden nicht auftritt, kann dort „theoretische Umweltbiologie“ unterschieden werden. Beim derzeitigen Aus- und Fortbildungsstand der Lehrkräfte ist die Umsetzung von BNE in Deutschland nicht adäquat gewährleistet. Gründe dafür liegen im disziplinären Vermittlungsmodus, mit dem die Entwicklung überfachlicher Kompetenzen kaum vereinbar ist. / Environmental education has been implemented interdisciplinary at school in Germany. On the contrary, teacher training still remains emphasizing specific scientific subjects. Only recently, different initiatives towards education for sustainable development (ESD) are under way on state level, sub-state level and local level. However, common criteria for designing interdisciplinary teaching processes have not become obvious in Germany. There is a risk, therefore, that teachers will make decisions concerning aims, content and methods based solely on intuition. The study presented here identifies and discusses the existing state of concepts of environmental biology among biology teachers with respect to scientific literacy, environmental literacy and sustainability literacy. A wide range of different aspects of didactics in environmental biology was identified and gathered from biology teachers and scientists in Germany and Sweden. Following classical test theory, the diverse statements were eventually transformed into a closed Likert-scale questionnaire. In two preliminary studies and in the main study that was conducted across the whole of Germany, three dimensions were identified and validated by means of factor analysis. Using cluster analysis, six concepts can be distinguished: pluralistic, ambivalent, realigned, traditional, minimalist and reserved realisation of environmental biology. Biology teachers generally refer to a disciplinary science orientated teaching repertoire when addressing environmental education, which is not adequate to ESD theory. Following the investigation in Sweden, also six concepts can be distinguished. Instead of the reserved concept, a theoretic realisation exists in Sweden suitable for facilitation of sustainability literacy. In five types of realising environmental biology, a high degree of agreement was identified between perceptions of teachers in Germany and Sweden.

Environmental concerns and climate change strengthens the need of education for sustainable development. We have both acknowledged a need of more research aimed towards teachers in Swedish primary schools. Therefore, the ambition for this study is to contribute with more knowledge about sustainable development in primary schools with an emphasis on science education. In this qualitative study we interview teachers working in pre-school class and primary school years 1-3 about what they think pupils should learn in education for sustainable development, as well as what their practical approaches are to the subject and what the didactical challenges are. We used semi-structured interviews to interview six teachers from three different schools in a Swedish city. The collected data is analyzed and presented using a thematic analysis and the research questions that are based on the aim for this study. The results of the study are then put in relation to our theoretical perspectives, which are “the three selective traditions in environmental and sustainability education” and “individual and collective responsibility”, to draw conclusions. On this basis we reach the conclusion that teachers want to make it possible for their pupils to make change and that the most important thing in teaching is to make it concrete and close to everyday life. The challenges that the teachers face is that the subject is unprioritized, that there is a lack of didactical material, a need of personal engagement and that the subject is rather complex. Based on our selective traditions we draw further conclusions. Traces of all three selective traditions are visible in the school and in the individual teachers’ teaching. Furthermore, some teachers express that the aim for their education is linked to one tradition, but their actual method is another.