Students’ qualification in environmental and sustainability education—epistemic gaps or composites of critical thinking?

ABSTRACT

In an ‘age of measurement’ where students’ qualification is a hot topic on the political agenda, it is of interest to ask what the function of qualification might implicate in relation to a complex issue as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and what function environmental and sustainability issues serve in science education. This paper deals with how secondary and upper secondary teachers in discussions with colleagues articulate qualification in relation to educational aims of ESD. With inspiration from discourse theory, the teachers’ articulations of qualification are analysed and put in relation to other functions of education (qualification, socialisation and subjectification). The results of this study show three discourses of qualification: scientific reasoning, awareness of complexity and to be critical. The discourse of ‘qualification as to be critical’ is articulated as a composite of differing epistemological views. In this discourse, the teachers undulate between rationalistic epistemological views and postmodern views, in a pragmatic way, to articulate a discourse of critical thinking which serves as a reflecting tool to bring about different ways of valuing issues of sustainability, which reformulates ‘matter of facts’ towards ‘matter of concerns’

KEYWORDS:

• Education for sustainable development
• socio-scientific issues
• qualification

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Helen Hasslöf is senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Society at Malmö University. Her research interests focus on complexity and purpose in science, environmental and sustainability education.

Iann Lundegård is senior lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Stockholm University. His research focuses on science education that addresses critical complex social problems and deliberations on sustainable development.

Claes Malmberg is associate professor in science education and PhD in education. He is currently working at School of Teacher Education at Halmstad University. His research interests are on cultural perspectives on science education, environmental education and education for sustainable development.