Strengthening the role of education for sustainable development: Case studies of Croatia and Cyprus
|
|
Mira Zovko1,Vatroslav Zovko2, Nikolas Papanikolas21Institute of Tourism, Croatia 2University of Zagreb, Faculty of Teacher Education 3Ministry of Education, Cyprus |
|
vatroslav.zovko@ufzg.hr |
|
Education for sustainable development |
Number of the paper: 110 |
|
Abstract |
|
The global community agrees that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a social movement that should be encouraged and nurtured for the well-being and sustainable future of humanity. It can be agreed that ESD is extremely important in a rapidly changing world, so its evaluation and improvement represent a key prerequisite for development in line with upcoming challenges. Starting from the point of view that quality education should be focused on learning how to live sustainably, this paper investigates the ESD in context of current global challenges. It explores implementation and outcomes of teaching for ESD in Croatia and Cyprus in the contexts of transition towards sustainability. Based on the latest ESD guidelines, initial measures and key environmental, social and economic issues were identified in questionnaire and proposed to ESD teaching stuff and experts. The results indicate the challenges and specificities in fulfilling ESD in the context of the sustainable development of Croatia and Cyprus, and identify opportunities for further improvement. Accordingly, it is determined whether the applied forms of ESD are generally adequate for the sustainable development of each country. The aim of this research is to determine the prevalence of sustainable development topics in elementary school curriculum and consciousness of teaching staff related to importance of environmental issues to everyday life of elementary school pupils. Research is made on selected sample of elementary school teaching staff in both Croatia and Cyprus based on survey that was designed according to contemporary ESD framework. |
|
Key words |
|
curriculum; elementary schools; ESD framework; teaching staff |