The global values within education for sustainable development : a case study of education for sustainable development in the Australian national curriculum.

Abstract

History shows that society looks to education to develop the values, knowledge and skills needed to address contemporary challenges and to create the kind of society and lifestyles that are appropriate to the time, place and context. This is particularly so in times of crisis and rapid change such as those encountered today. The inter-related issues of climate change, environmental degradation, globalisation and the global financial crisis (GFC), population explosion, growing intercultural and inter-religious conflict, and increasing social concerns and inequities, confront education with many complex challenges. This policy-oriented study examines the nature of these global challenges and ways of addressing them through values-based Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), with specific reference to key international documents and reports. It identifies the most commonly expressed values, knowledge and skills involved in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in a selection of United Nations (UN) documents and international agreements relevant to key socio-cultural, socio-economic, and environmental perspectives of sustainable development. These are collated, analysed and presented as a guide for schooling to address, while complementing local cultural and national values. The global values are compared to Australian values, with those in the National Framework for Values Education in Australian schools (NFVE), and in the Australian National Curriculum for schooling. From an extended examination of international and Australian documents, and the work of scholars in the field, this study reviews the educational thinking that led to current concepts of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), with particular emphasis on values. It is argued that schools operate in three ways, by what they teach, by how they teach and by the kind of place the school is, which are examined in this study in terms of quality and effectiveness for values-based teaching and learning for a sustainable future. An investigation of the Australian National Curriculum for Schooling is undertaken as a case study to test: (a) the global values for ESD identified from UN documents; (b) the knowledge and skills for ESD gleaned from relevant international and Australian documents; and (c) the quality characteristics of ESD identified in this study, to form evaluative criteria for implementing values-based ESD. The analysis examines the extent to which the Australian National Curriculum is designed to service the goal of sustainable development, with recommended modifications and adjustments. The Australian National Curriculum is also tested against a philosophical and values-based framework for its coherence, consistency and strength, and particularly, for its usefulness in creating a peaceful, just and sustainable society. It is argued that the issues addressed by Education for Sustainable Development are too important to be under-represented in the Australian National Curriculum, and merit serious and thorough consideration in the context of a rapidly changing world. Although this study discusses the nature of school-based Education for Sustainable Development, the underpinning principles and evaluative criteria for ESD may be extended to all levels of education. The Appendixes that accompany this study are contained in a separate volume for easy reference and are designed to be referred to alongside the text in this volume.