Bringing Sustainable Development Goals into Classrooms: Digital Picture books as Resources for Education for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Sustainable development issues rarely become a discussion in classroom settings. Teachers tend to have limited understanding and negative attitudes regarding sustainability issues. Moreover, teachers aware of the importance of sustainable development usually struggle to find resources to discuss topics in the classroom. Not only do sustainability issues seem to be simplified in the textbooks, but the interconnection between subjects regarding sustainable development issues is minimal. Picturebooks can greatly nurture students’ awareness of sustainable development issues. Picturebooks can nurture students’ self-awareness in educational settings and help them develop a positive self-identity. The study evaluates and analyzes possible open-accessed resources for teaching Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the classroom. The analyzed resources are digital picturebooks provided by Room to Read at literacycloud.org website. The framework used for categorization is adopted from the 17 SDGs established by the United Nations in 2015. The findings show that the sustainable development themes are represented in the picturebooks under analysis to a reasonable extent. Among the 17 SDGs, the most frequent themes that appeared in the picturebooks are SDG 4, Quality Education (17%), SDG 5, Gender Equality (14%), SDG 15, Life on Land (14%), SDG 10, Reduced Inequalities (12%), and SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities (10%). However, themes related to SDG 1, No Poverty, SDG 7, Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 13 Climate Action, and SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals are hardly found in the picturebooks. The study findings can become a recommendation for teachers to teach and promote awareness of sustainable development in the classroom.