Abstract
This article presents results from a Swedish exploratory study investigating perceptions of the learning experiences related to education for sustainable development (ESD) by students 10-12 years old. A comprehensive questionnaire with both open and closed questions asking for the students’ cognitive, emotional, practical, social, and situated learning experiences was developed. The empirical material consists of the responses from 209 students from six schools. The schools were selected to get a variety of both school programs regarding ESD and outdoor education activities. The results reported here reveal relationships between areas of students’ learning experiences, mainly between the cognitive, emotional, and social areas. Comparisons between the schools illustrate different approaches to teaching as well as the students’ diverse perceptions of these practices. The questionnaire developed for the project proved to be a valid instrument for researching the relationships and complexities in ESD learning, thus demonstrating its potential for use in future studies.
Highlights
The implementation of ‘Education for sustainable development’ (ESD) has been politically mandated through UN and UNESCO policy as well as evaluated, where different approaches were found (UNESCO, 2009)
The results offer information about how the students perceived some of the intended methods of education for sustainable development (ESD) by the UN, namely participation, cooperation, and decision-making (UNESCO, 2005), and whether there was a multi-method approach perceived when working with environmental and sustainable issues in the outdoors
Similar to the relationship of cognitive and affective aspects seen when learning in nature, as documented by Brody (2005), and the interrelationship of students’ understandings and emotions of SD (Manni et al, 2013), this study showed relations between students’ cognitive and emotional learning experiences
Summary
The implementation of ‘Education for sustainable development’ (ESD) has been politically mandated through UN and UNESCO policy as well as evaluated, where different approaches were found (UNESCO, 2009). We were interested in exploring how students perceive and experience learning, in other words, how they deal with the content of, and activities related to ESD. Studies investigating the students’ thinking about environmental and sustainable issues (Loughland, Reid, & Petocz, 2002; Walshe, 2008), students’ emotions towards nature and the environment (Alerby, 2000; Kalvaitis & Monhardt, 2011), and students’ experiences of social learning for sustainability (Wals, 2009) have given important knowledge of some perspectives when learning for sustainability. This study, aimed to explore the relationships between cognitive, emotional, practical, social, and situated aspects of ESD
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