Moral impasses in sustainability education? Empirical results from school geography in Austria and Germany

Abstract

The expert-driven and normative character of sustainability education aims to promote societal transformation and global change. While some authors underline the ethical claims of education, others have criticized that there is a problematic tendency to prescribe certain actions beyond ethical education. The article aims to provide an empirical contribution, including students’ and teachers’ perspectives, and geography textbooks, to the debate. Based on the results of an empirical study with 1001 secondary school students in Austria and Germany, we discuss the “ethical turn” and the moral code in sustainability education. The questionnaires are completed with students’ drawings, qualitative interviews with geography teachers and an analysis of geography textbooks. We argue that most students have a precise idea what sustainability and sustainable behavior means, but they harbor right-wrong binary perceptions of sustainable lifestyles. Many students lack knowledge of the interdependence of consumption and production networks, which impedes the understanding of complex sustainability patterns. Therefore, we recommend pluralistic and interconnected perspectives in sustainability, in the frame of school geography. A more democratic classroom contributes to develop an own moral compass. Additionally, passion and participatory approaches can help students reflect on their affective relationships with consumer goods and consider alternative consumption-production paradigms.

Keywords:

• Resources
• consumption
• sustainability education
• moralization
• values education

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank all the young people and teachers who participated in this study and their schools for letting us visit them. We are particularly grateful to Simon Batterbury (Lancaster University) and Philippe Hertig (HEP Vaud) for fruitful input, comments and discussions, and to Alexander Cullen (University of Melbourne), Scott Robertson (Australian National University), Jan Florin (University of Vienna) and Noah Johnston (Montclair State University) for proof reading.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthias Kowasch

Matthias Kowasch is currently an Assistant Professor at department of Geography and Regional Science, University of Graz (Austria). His research focuses on education for SD (ESD), geographical education, political ecology, mining governance, resources, consumption and indigenous people. Starting in October 2018, he will be a Professor at University College of Teacher Education Styria (Austria).

Daniela Franziska Lippe

Daniela Franziska Lippe is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and a Master’s degree to teach Geography and English at secondary schools. Her main research interests include sustainability and education for SD.