Science textbooks as an education resources for sustainability: A content analysis

Abstract

This paper presents findings from an analysis of 4<sup>th</sup> grade science textbooks used in the United Arab Emirates schools, using an analytical descriptive approach to examine their content in light of the sustainable development goals. The results reveal that the environmental dimension of sustainable development (SD) was the most frequently reflected upon in the textbooks, with an occurrence of 18.5%, followed by the economic dimension (11.7%) and the social dimension (4.9%). While the distribution of sustainability themes varied across the textbooks, all four textbooks included references to SD. However, the researchers find that the distribution of these themes was not even, with some themes being absent in some textbooks while being extensively presented in others. These findings suggest that while sustainability is present in 4<sup>th</sup> grade science textbooks, there is room for improvement in ensuring that all three dimensions of SD are adequately covered in these materials.