scholarly journals The political initiative of Taiwan’s education for sustainable development: Looking through the lens of Chinese legalism

2021 ◽  
pp. 147821032199565
Author(s):  
Ying-Syuan Huang ◽  
Anila Asghar

This article examines the development of Taiwan’s Environmental Education Act and how Education for Sustainable Development was mainstreamed into the national policy framework within the country. The goal is to understand the policy tools and governing strategies that were used by the Taiwan government to develop and implement a nationwide environmental education policy for integrating environmental sustainability into all areas and levels of teaching and learning. Official documents related to national plans for ESD and environmental education policies were analyzed and examined. In particular, Chinese Legalism was used as a lens to interpret the government’s philosophy, assumptions, unspoken norms, legislative practices, and deliberate strategies. Several principles and techniques proposed by Chinese Legalists were used to examine the negotiation and formulation of Taiwan’s Environmental Education Act. This analysis contributes to our understanding of the ways in which UNESCO’s framework of ESD can be transferred into a national policy. A discussion of the Chinese Legalist philosophy also offers a cultural frame of reference to think about ESD politics and governance in other East Asian contexts.

Impact ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (4) ◽  
pp. 8-9
Author(s):  
Yuto Kitamura

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) empowers learners to take informed decisions and responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society, while respecting cultural diversity. Professor Yuto Kitamura, Graduate School of Education, University of Tokyo, Japan, is investigating how ESD affects the perception, consciousness and attitude of students and teachers. The goal is to develop a common framework and indicators to effectively monitor and assess the impacts of ESD at the school and institution level. Research at the Center for Advanced School Education and Evidence-based Research (CASEER) entitled 'Strengthening Social Resilience through Education for Sustainable Development-Building a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and improvement mechanism' is seeking to enhance the quantity and quality of ESD. To do this, Kitamura and the team are exploring education policies in developing countries, with a focus on Southeast Asia where countries are starting to recognise the importance of ESD but have yet to implement them sufficiently. Therefore, the research of Kitamura and the team can assist with effectively incorporating ESD into teaching and learning activities. It will also help with monitoring and evaluating the impacts of ESD, which is something with which some countries in Southeast Asia are struggling. The goal of the research is to present a standard model consisting of a set of indicators and a questionnaire survey that can shed light on the present situation as well as future developments. When being implemented, the model can be modified according to the country and society in question.


Author(s):  
Shachi Shah ◽  
V. Venkat Ramanan

Growing planetary challenges demand environmental consciousness and energetic workforce. The environmental education and education for sustainable development are essential for the knowledge workers so as to intellectually empower them with cognitive skills, analytical abilities and problem solving capabilities leading to the efficient development and implementation of sustainable development policies and programmes. Increasing Access through Mobile Learning for EE and ESD is the need of the hour, especially for developing countries where the use of mobile technology is increasing at a phenomenal rate. Mobile learning will augment the efficacy of participatory teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behaviour and take action for environment and sustainable development. M-Learning enables learners to merge their learning experiences in a shared collaborative environment. This paper shows how mobile learning can transform the delivery of EE and ESD.


Author(s):  
Rachel Bolstad

This article examines the place of environmental education/education for sustainable development (EE/ESD) in the school curriculum. Despite international calls for EE/ESD to form the pillar of a re-oriented approach to school curriculum, teaching, and learning, in most schools the principles of EE/ESD are poorly understood, and it occupies a marginal place in curriculum and teaching practice. This article considers the “place” of EE/ESD in the New Zealand curriculum, and the potential to align EE/ESD with a “place-based” education (PBE) approach in New Zealand schools. Current directions from the New Zealand Curriculum Project may create new possibilities for this to occur.


2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-43
Author(s):  
Barry Kentish ◽  
Ian Robottom

AbstractThe discourse of sustainability is promoted internationally, with the United Nations declaring 2005-2014 as a Decade for Education for Sustainable Development. There is discussion concerning the nature, status and significance of Education for Sustainability and its relationship with the somewhat established discourse of environmental education. This debate requires continuing theorising and one approach is to reflect critically on specific examples of sustainability within specific communities. This article seeks to promote further discussion about sustainability, and to contribute to ongoing theorisation about Education for Sustainability, by considering a particular instance – that of environmental sustainability in the Ballarat region of Victoria. The case study suggests that implementation of this local environmental sustainability strategy was dominated by technocratic and individualistic ideologies.


Author(s):  
Shachi Shah ◽  
V. Venkat Ramanan

Growing planetary challenges demand environmental consciousness and energetic workforce. The environmental education and education for sustainable development are essential for the knowledge workers so as to intellectually empower them with cognitive skills, analytical abilities and problem solving capabilities leading to the efficient development and implementation of sustainable development policies and programmes. Increasing Access through Mobile Learning for EE and ESD is the need of the hour, especially for developing countries where the use of mobile technology is increasing at a phenomenal rate. Mobile learning will augment the efficacy of participatory teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behaviour and take action for environment and sustainable development. M-Learning enables learners to merge their learning experiences in a shared collaborative environment. This paper shows how mobile learning can transform the delivery of EE and ESD.


Author(s):  
Yuto Kitamura

A new approach to education has been proposed, called Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), with the goal of developing education in order to foster individuals who will contribute to the realization of a socially, economically, and environmentally more sustainable society. From the beginning of the 21st century, this has given rise to discussions and practices on related themes all over the world, including in Asia. While the environment surrounding education is markedly changing in Asian societies, with educational reforms actively pursued in many Asian countries and regions, their situations greatly differ depending on the context in which they find themselves. Today, departing from the conventional modes of teaching and learning that focus on the acquisition of an already systematized body of knowledge and skills, the field of education the world over is now shifting its focus to what is called key competencies, adopting and experimenting with new teaching and learning styles to develop abilities referred to as 21st-century skills. Based on these theoretical and conceptual discussions, a number of initiatives have been adopted as policies, school curricula, and educational practices in order to promote ESD in Asian countries. It is possible to divide Asian countries into three groups based on the place of ESD in their countries, as well as their degree of socioeconomic development and the popularization of school education: (a) countries that have accumulated experience in the practice of environmental education or development education; (b) countries that have been witnessing growing environmental consciousness and its rapid institutionalization in recent years, with varying degrees of implementation of environmental education; and (c) countries in which the elimination of poverty and inequality remains the most pressing issue and ESD is promoted in connection with development issues. Although the introduction of ESD is greatly affected by each country’s socioeconomic situation, it is important for all countries in Asia to promote equitable and sustainable education in order to realize a sustainable society. Thus, Asian countries need to form a social consensus to promote ESD, which requires the participation and responsibility of the whole of society.


Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 972-978
Author(s):  
Manisha Jetly ◽  
Dr. Nandita Singh

Education for sustainable development (ESD) enjoys a huge momentum worldwide in which the role of teachers for making sustainable development goals a reality has been recognized significantly. Teachers through their knowledge, attitudes and skills can bring the learning about these concepts to the curriculum and class room interaction and are in a position to influence their students. Therefore it is pertinent, that teachers are sensitised towards these issues, so that they prepare and nurture their students for making appropriate and responsible choices which contribute to a sustainable future. At this juncture it becomes crucial to understand their priorities and awareness level in context of the sustainable development. The present research paper aims to analyse the perception of forty post graduate pre-service teachers of the Chandigarh region, towards ESD through the dimensions of economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, social sustainability and cultural sustainability. For this researchers have adopted qualitative content analysis methodology for an in-depth study of the subjective responses through an open ended question. The findings suggest that most of the respondents associated the perception of ESD strongly with environmental sustainability. It is noted that the pre-service teachers lack a holistic approach towards ESD. On the basis of the findings it is recommended that there is an urgent need of integrating the concept of ESD consciously and conscientiously in India’s teacher education programmes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-22
Author(s):  
Bernhard Ohlmeier

Abstract Education for sustainable development (ESD) often fails to consider the political dimension. To address this gap, this paper focuses on a specific political approach to ESD. The model presented is derived from the four sustainable growth targets of German Development Policy. Instead of relying on a neo-classical or neo-liberal economic paradigm, however, the goals of social justice, environmental sustainability, economic productivity and good governance are interpreted using a sustainability model. This model is anchored in a steady-state economy that has overcome the myth of unlimited material growth and seeks to stay within the limits of the planet's resources. The preconditions of good governance are outlined, and it is described how the state and civil society can contribute to this normative goal. In addition to social, ecological, economic and political components, the presented model for civic education for sustainability considers conflicts between different development components and the need for horizontal and vertical coherence. In conclusion, the paper shows that civic education for sustainability must aim to produce informed and empowered global citizens. Citizens should have the ability to employ their knowledge and skills responsibly through local and global civic involvement while also remaining aware of their own interests. Furthermore, it falls to educational policy makers to create national as well as international organisational structures that facilitate civic ESD.


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