This study examines how modern language teachers in secondary schools in Sweden reflect on their capacities and motivation to implement Education for Sustainable Development [ESD] (lärande för hållbar utveckling [LHU]) in their lessons. Based on the theoretical framework of teachers´ beliefs, a postal survey was prepared, combining a Likert scale with open questions. As for now, the teachers in German in this study are seemingly unaware of the connection between ESD and their subject´s main purpose, which is to prepare the students to initiate and participate in authentic, communicative situations in the target language, and the requirement to foster intercultural dialogs within Europe. Neither are they aware of how the neuropsychological processes involved in foreign language learning are linked to the global sustainable goals SDG 4.7, SDG 16, and SDG 17 within Agenda 2030. Instead, the study confirms how the historical development of the term sustainability and ESD (LHU) has left a trail of confusion behind itself. As a result, six attitude types could be defined, each with different challenges based on the teachers' understanding of ESD and their underlying philosophical, ideological, and professional convictions. Besides the difficulties of placing their own subject within ESD, most teachers are convinced about the importance of sustainable development for mankind, which creates a dilemma of intrinsic incoherence and therefore less engagement. To increase their sense of capacity, they are unified falling back on former, contra-productive practices and turning to texts- and workbooks for help. The study concludes that there is a risk, that when language teachers are not given access to relevant knowledge and professional learning communities, in which they can explore the connection between their subject, ESD, and Agenda 2030, the Swedish society and schools will further lose the subject´s values and its unique neuropsychological related potential. This potential includes the ability and motivation to initiate and participate in peace-building intercultural dialogues within and outside Sweden, even if one´s language standards are still inadequate, as well as an individual prerequisite for empathy and compassion.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:du-48856 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Auf der Strasse, Ada Alexandra |
| Publisher | Högskolan Dalarna, Institutionen för lärarutbildning |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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