Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Its Incorporation Into Formal Education in Japan: An Explanatory Case Study

Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is vital to create sustainable societies. Successive governments in Japan have advocated the incorporation of ESD into its education system. This paper investigates teachers’ understandings of Sustainable Development (SD) and ESD and the extent to which ESD has been incorporated into lessons. The current work is an explanatory case study, conducted in a private senior high school. Data collection involved a literature review, looking at international iterations of ESD and its interpretation by relevant Japanese ministries; an interview with the school’s curriculum coordinator; and finally the collection of quantitative data. The instrument was designed by the author. The results indicate teachers view SD primarily through an environmental lens. They consider it of vital importance; however, the majority of respondents find ESD difficult to understand. ESD-related themes are integrated into lessons, although this varies by department and its inclusion is determined by the content of textbooks. Inter-disciplinary learning is largely absent. Respondents supported the development of ESD’s core competences and values; however, many of the pedagogies used do not aid that development, even though greater use is being made of Active Learning. To implement ESD more effectively, the school needs to adopt a holistic approach. Teachers must be better acquainted with ESD literature and greater use must be made of active learning methods.



Author Information
Aric Denfield, Nichidai Sakuragaoka High School, Japan

Paper Information
Conference: ACEID2022
Stream: Teaching Experiences

This paper is part of the ACEID2022 Conference Proceedings (View)
Full Paper
View / Download the full paper in a new tab/window


To cite this article:
Denfield A. (2022) Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Its Incorporation Into Formal Education in Japan: An Explanatory Case Study ISSN: 2189-101X – The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022 Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-101X.2022.7
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-101X.2022.7


Virtual Presentation


Comments & Feedback

Place a comment using your LinkedIn profile

Comments

Share on activity feed

Powered by WP LinkPress

Share this Research

Posted by James Alexander Gordon