Education for Sustainable Development Report 2015: Contribution to Quality Education in Australian Schools

Karen Malone, Margaret Somerville

Research output: Book/Research ReportResearch report

Abstract

There are many definitions of sustainable development, and it can be better understood as an emerging vision, rather than a neatly defined concept or model. It is not a fixed notion, but rather a process of change in the relationships between social, economic, and natural systems and processes. Many schools and school systems that have embraced the concepts of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) through their policies, practice and curricula have reported improvements in student academic achievement, attendance, student intellectual engagement and student/student, student/teacher relationships. At the same time, some school systems have been reluctant to include ESD in their programs fearing that this may dilute or interfere with their current program focus aimed narrowly at improving students’ test scores. This project, conducted in Australia and in a number of countries overseas, is the initial phase of an ongoing project to explore the relationship between ESD and the pursuit of quality education. It is an attempt to better understand the potential synergy in merging these two goals and to realise the opportunities that exist to share common goals.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationPenrith, N.S.W.
PublisherWestern Sydney University
Number of pages45
ISBN (Print)9781741083705
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Bibliographical note

This work may be reproduced for private study, research or educational purposes and as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 of the Commonwealth of Australia. Commercial copying, sale, hiring or lending is prohibited. Apart from the permitted uses as stated above no part of this work may be reproduced by any process without the written permission of Western Sydney University. Any permitted reproduction must include a copy of this copyright notice and must acknowledge the sponsors.

Keywords

  • Australia
  • education
  • environmental education
  • sustainable development

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