Research approaches in ESD/ESE: reflections of Swiss researchers

Abstract

The trilogy of research approaches presented in this text shows how ESD can be approached in different ways. Framing is crucial to challenge the underlying paradigms in our societies, mixed methods are a necessity to address the complexity that characterises the implementation of ESD in schools, and participatory components are particularly coherent to foster an articulation between academic and practical epistemologies. Finally, Swiss researchers favour collaboration rather than competition, which echoes the issues mentioned in the ESD research literature.

Keywords:

• Research
• ESD
• framing
• methods
• participation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The Chamber of HEP is a structure bringing together the rectors of the Swiss HEP, that means the Swiss Universities of Teacher Education.

2 This text is also a follow-up to a symposium held on September 7^th 2021 as part of the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER).

3 The information presented in this paragraph is based on page 31 of Hefel’s book (2017), originally published in German. The author has provided all translations. It’s worth noting that page 31 discusses the “history of Syria” for the use of teachers working with Aufbrechen Ankommen Bleiben.

4 https://blog.hepfr.ch/transformations/thematiques/