Schools addressing health, wellbeing and sustainability challenges: a literature review of perspectives on social justice, equity and agency

Abstract

PurposeThis paper explores perspectives on social justice, equity and agency when schools address health, wellbeing and sustainability challenges.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on a literature review of educational research. The analysis is narrative, highlighting how binary conceptions of equity, social justice and agency are explicitly or implicitly evident in the studies included in the review, distinguishing between as well as noting the interplay between the different conceptions.FindingsPerspectives on social justice and equity are emphasizing the need to address (1) a more equal sharing of resources in education, (2) dominance in education, and (3) community/ies and education as a common good. Perspectives on agency are framed as situated (1) between people (2) between people and structures or social contexts, and (3) between people and nature or the more-than-human. The paper furthermore highlights tendencies and experiences regarding the possibility of addressing these perspectives in different forms of educational practices.Research limitations/implicationsA potential limitation in this review is that 17 out of the 23 included studies are by authors with an Anglo-Saxon background, while a further 3 have a European background. As such, the review mainly represents “Western” perspectives on social justice, equity and agency.Originality/valueThe findings in the paper indicate that despite the fact that social justice, equity and agency are concepts that have been discussed in educational research for a very long time, they cannot be seen as taken-for-granted concepts, and that the research contains a diverse range of perspectives on these concepts — also within research authored by researchers with an Anglo-Saxon or European background.