Learning about Sustainable Development Goals through English Language Teaching (original) (raw)
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Sustainable development goals in the English language high school curriculum in Turkey
European Journal of Education, 2021
The study on which this article reports examined the representation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the English language syllabus and English language senior high-school textbooks in Turkey. The learning objectives associated with the SDGs were also investigated. The syllabus and the textbooks including Teenwise, High School English 10, Silver Lining and Count Me In were examined. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with eleven high-school English teachers to gain further insight into the place for SDGs and their related learning objectives in the English language high school curriculum. We found that the syllabus has a low frequency of engagement with SDGs. Also, that there is a tendency in the textbooks to include the theme of health that is related to the SDG of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The learning objectives set for ESD were mostly cognitive-oriented. Interviews revealed that teachers favour the incorporation of a variety of SDGs in textbooks. They believe that prioritising sustainability in textbooks can help secure a more sustainable future for learners. Implications of this for pedagogy include, among other, that extending teaching and learning activities to activate socio-emotional and behavioural development would benefit learners and would allow for a more balanced engagement with SDGs in English language teaching.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2024
This paper attempts to give an overall literature review on the topic of English Language Teacher Education in education for sustainable development to the other researchers wishing to study the topic. The topic of sustainable development is a highly important theme in today’s world due to rapid changes in this era. Sustainability is about using the natural resources considerately through considering upcoming generations. Education and sustainable development go hand in hand because they are interrelated concepts.For this reason, teachers are the pioneers to teach these crucial concepts to the promising generations. Teacher education plays a key role to teach and transmit the importance of sustainable development and global citizenship. In such a fast-changing world, EFL learners ought to gain a number of crucial skills such as critical thinking skills and Global Citizenship skills. Today’s needs are easily comprehended by learners who are aware of these critical issues.Critical thinking skills and sustainable development issues are inseparable from one another. In other words, critical thinking skills and Global Citizenship traits work mutually. Teachers, as forerunners of the transformative education, have the responsibility of sharing these concepts with their learners. For this reason, this paper highlights the significance of teacher education for Sustainable Development
Integrating the Objectives of Sustainable Development Into Teaching
2020
The approval in September 2015 of the 2030 Agenda and the sustainable development goals (SDG) by the General Assembly of the United Nations will change the work paradigm in countries, companies, and citizens. The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. Universities cannot be excluded from these changes. Thus, the agreement signed among different Spanish universities and the Department of Transparency, Social Responsibility, Participation and Cooperation of the Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) promotes greater knowledge of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs by the university community. This paper describes the project carried out by the educational innovation group of the Jaume I University of Castellón to integrate the objectives of sustainable development into teaching. Paper shows the general and specific objectives of the project, the work plan developed, the indicators used to measure the success of the project, and the results achieved. The benefits of the project are summarized in (1) the identification of the necessary skills for sustainability both in teachers and students, (2) the evaluation and comparison of teachers and students' sustainability and SDG knowledge through a questionnaire, and (3) the redesign of the curriculum of different subjects.
Santalka, 2012
The article attempts to present and discuss practical implementation of the objectives of the project Sustainable Living Environment carried out at the Faculty of Environmental Engineering of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU). The project is a response to a commonly articulated and acknowledged need to infuse sustainable development principles into traditional curricula of all levels of education to pursue goals of sustainable development. Thus, the present study aims to take an account of the increasing role of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in a globalized world and define how the implimentation of the ESD objectives changes teaching/learning patterns at a university of technology. Moreover, it offers an interdisciplinary curriculum scheme for teaching/learning English as a second language for Environmental Engineering as an efficient means to integrate principles of sustainable development into language classroom.
Promoting Education for Sustainable Development at the University of Prishtina, Kosovo
Kosovo Education for Sustainable Development—KESD is a local NGO which is one of the first organizations dealing with matters of education for sustainable development in Kosovo. The purpose of KESD is to help Kosovo in sustainable development in all aspects including education. KESD has played a major role not only in increasing citizens’ awareness about Education for Sustainable Development, but has also influenced the Faculty of Education at the University of Kosovo. Bearing in mind that the Faculty of Education is the only institution that prepares future teachers; it is a great way to influence in general, with ESD through professional development, future teachers about the role and importance of the education for sustainable development and the use of the teaching methodologies that support ESD. In this paper we will present current situations about ESD, our country, achievements, challenges and obstacles, KESD’s contribution in raising awareness of Kosovo citizens for ESD, in order to understand their role in developing ESD. The methodology used in this paper is a case study methodology. Through different activities which are mainly organized on a voluntary basis, KESD has been able to promote Education for Sustainable Development through various projects from preschool education toUniversity level. However one of the greatest achievements is involvement of a course which is called Education for Sustainable Development and which will be part of elective courses taught at the Faculty of Education of the University of Prishtina. It is the first time that the Faculty of Education has organized a course like this which is very important for the future generations, particularly the future teachers. Through the education of students, KESD aims to increase the role and the importance of the sustainable education to new generations in our country and beyond. Increasing the awareness means more attention will be given to teaching methodologies, and teaching contents, climatic change, economic development, and protection of the environment inside of the Framework of reference of Sustainable Development Goals—SDG’s 2015–2030 and Green Economy. Keywords:Education Sustainable development Social inclusion Curricula Green economy
Perceptions of Iraqi EFL Pre-service Teachers of Sustainable Development
Journal Of Educational and Psychological Researches, 2023
Sustainable development (SD) is an improvement that meets present needs but jeopardizes the ability of new populations to do the same. It is vital to acquaint EFL students with the terminology and idiomatic expressions of this discipline. Nowadays, sustainable development and the environment have been prioritized in every aspect of life. Since culture and the teaching of Foreign language English cannot be separated, the English language becomes the mean of communication in health, economics, education, and politics. Thus, integrating sustainable development goals within language learning and teaching is very important. This descriptive quantitative study aims to investigate the perception of EFL pre-service teachers of sustainable development. Students in their fourth year at the "College of Education for Women" for the academic year 2021-2022 are selected as the study sample and Balakrishna et al (2020) questionnaire is adopted and modified to be used as the study tool. The validity and reliability of the study tool have been ascertained by using face validity and the Alpha Cronbach formula respectively. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, weighting means, percentages) are used to find the results. The results indicate that EFL student-teachers' perception of sustainable development is moderate in their perception of sustainable development. Accordingly, suitable recommendations and suggestions are set forward.
Language Education for Sustainable Development
Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education, 2016
Nowadays, education for sustainable development starts covering wider and wider spheres of interest and human activity. Out of the three main spheres of interest, such as environmental, economic, and socio-cultural, the first two mentioned here seem to be given more attention than the sphere of socio-cultural activity. In this respect, the aim of the present paper is to redirect the concern of administrators, researchers and educators preoccupied with sustainability to issues such as equal opportunity, tolerance, respect, and especially foreign language education, being component parts of the socio-cultural sphere. Undoubtedly, competence in the socio-linguistic field becomes the decisive element in negotiations and international contacts which require from the language user to be tactful and tolerant. Since sustainability is not a local issue, all sustainability related problems ought to be discussed on the macro scale, which requires an internationally shared means of communicatio...
Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education, 2011
Perspectives of Education for Sustainable Development - Understanding and Introducing the Notion in Polish Educational Documents The aim of this article is to present an analysis of formal educational documents in the context of the sustainable development notion. This goal was realised by an analysis of the National Curriculum Framework documents from 2002 in comparison with the newest document from 2008. In addition, seven teaching programmes were analysed. On the grounds of the sustainable development definition and in the context of UNECE Strategy of Education for Sustainable Development, a list of direct and indirect linguistic indicators was created. To count the key words, the text editor Adobe Reader 9.0 was used. In the oldest version of the National Curriculum Framework, the key words defining sustainable development or their components occurred 119 times, in the newest - 165 times. The new version covers the scope of sustainable development in a wider range.
2020
After the end of the first Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development, coinciding with ongoing international evaluation processes, questions about the implementation of the Education for Sustainable Development programs and assessments continue to be raised. The present study examined Education for Sustainable Development implementation at the local (teachers’) level, assessing what teachers think and know about Education for Sustainable Development and how they implement it in secondary school classes in Baden‐Wuerttemberg, Germany. By providing novel data from a teacher survey in 2019, this study revealed that Education for Sustainable Development in some aspects still lacks concrete structural implementation in educational contexts. Using a longitudinal approach, we additionally compared data from an earlier representative assessment in 2007 to the data from 2019. In reference to the preceding evaluation report, the present study showed, for example, that teachers’ attitudes towards Sustainable Development Goals were significantly higher in 2019 compared to 2007. This study provides clarification of the needs and achievements of the Education for Sustainable Development implementation process. In sum, our analysis found that from the teachers’ perspective, more abstract policies are not needed, but instead teachers ask for very concrete support that is close to teaching and the schools’ objectives. The results of our study help, in a larger sense, to navigate society towards a more sustainable direction and towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by highlighting the remaining challenges of these broad objectives.
Sustainable Development in Education from Students' Perspective-Implementation of Sustainable Development in Curricula, 2022
Education for sustainable development is a method of teaching aimed at developing awareness, competence, knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the field of environmental protection in such a way that each activity related to its operation supports the satisfaction of the needs of future generations. In the face of environmental and social challenges, these are key competencies that require significant changes in university curricula, supporting a sustainable and innovative economy. This article aims to present the results of a study on young people’s awareness of sustainable development and their opinion on the implementation of SDGs in curricula. The publication responds to the demand of technical students for educational content related to sustainable development and a greater integration of economic, social, and environmental issues. The analysis carried out as part of the EnAct-SDGs project at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow (Poland) shows that students are increasingly aware of the importance of sustainable development in various aspects of their lives, both in their education, in their professional work and in their lives, as part of an awareness-raising society. The conducted analyses allowed us to define the directions of necessary changes in the didactic process as an essential set of skills and knowledge for future graduates of raw materials faculties.