Promoting environmental and sustainability education in the Caribbean: research imperatives to inform practice

Abstract

Within the Caribbean region, issues such as pollution, habitat destruction, and crime and violence, alongside global phenomena such as climate change and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, pose challenges to sustainable development. Within this context, Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) becomes a critical imperative for the region’s populace to engender knowledge, values and attitudes, and behaviour consistent with sustainability. ESE initiatives in the region have gained momentum in the past decades. So too has the research to undergird the practice. Despite this, the published work of regional scholars is not as prominent as the work of those in other parts of the world. This Special Issue on ESE in the English-speaking Caribbean, therefore, seeks to help redress, in part, this gap by highlighting work from both established and emerging scholars in the field. These theoretical and empirical contributions focus on ESE and curricula, teacher education, ESE and values education, ESE and faith systems, sustainability and assessment and other areas of inquiry. The current global ESD for 2030 Framework offers an opportune moment to highlight, reflect on and offer recommendations on ESE research in the region, in order to further inform practice in both the formal and non-formal realms.

Keywords:

• Environmental education
• sustainability education
• sustainable development
• Caribbean

Background

The Caribbean region is comprised of the largest number of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) globally, alongside mainland nations inclusive of Belize, Guyana and Suriname (Rhiney 2015). The region is one beset by a complex interplay of sustainability issues due to the inextricable connection between environment and development. ‘The close linkages between the state of the environment and development in the Caribbean … are a result of the unique conditions that exist there, including: a heavy dependence on their limited natural resource base; susceptibility to the vagaries of international trade; high transportation and communication costs; grave vulnerability to natural disasters; small domestic markets; and high import content and dependence on a narrow range of export products, among others’ (Heileman 2004, 1). The region has rich and diverse natural biodiversity, which simultaneously underpins its major economic industries whilst being under threat from sometimes mismanaged tourism and mining interests, pollution, habitat destruction and natural hazards, as some examples (Heileman 2004). The region is also amongst those most vulnerable to the phenomenon of climate change, which again underscores this paradoxical interplay: the climate that underpins climate-sensitive industries such as agriculture and tourism is at the same time what makes the region most vulnerable (Climate Studies Group Mona 2020). Social issues such as crime and violence (Down 2015) also pose challenges to sustainability in the region given their potential to deter economic and social investments, impede educational progress and outcomes, and negatively impact health and well-being. The global COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing stresses, vulnerabilities and inequalities (ECLAC, 2020). As a result of the pandemic, areas and issues such as education, food security, and gender-based violence have been even more affected (ECLAC, 2020).

Positioning the environment and sustainability in education globally

Environmental education (EE) emerged on the global scene through major conferences such as the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972 alongside other intergovernmental conferences in Belgrade in 1975, Tbilisi in 1977 and Thessaloniki in 1997 as some examples (John Frank, Jeong Robinson, and Olesen 2011). John Frank, Jeong Robinson, and Olesen (2011) highlight the rise of EE at the higher education level with respect to factors such as an increase in environmental degree programmes globally, programmes in EE specifically, and more student participation in EE. Bromley, Meyer, and Ramirez (2011) highlight the emergence of the global environmental regime from the 1950s onwards with its accompanying attention to political and legislative systems, as well as attention paid to EE, with ‘environmental exploitation … framed as a global problem to be addressed by raising environmental consciousness worldwide’ (520). Additionally, they further propose that ‘the main themes of environmental education tend to be universal doctrines rather than reflections of immediate local circumstances’ (523). Whilst they articulate this point in relation to their exploration of the environmental content of national textbooks from across the world, the point is relevant to this Special Issue (SI) given that one of the aims of the SI is to offer a look at sustainability education that is grounded in and relevant to the Caribbean local context. In keeping with the historical contexts that John Frank, Jeong Robinson, and Olesen (2011) and Bromley, Meyer, and Ramirez (2011) offer, it is important to note that there has been a transition from EE to education for sustainable development (ESD), in keeping with the rise to prominence of the term ‘sustainable development’.

At this juncture, we pause to indicate that we use two terms in this Editorial, one being Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) and the other being ESD. There are three main reasons for this. Firstly, ESD is the nomenclature most widely used by entities such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and we acknowledge their role in promoting ESD globally by utilising this nomenclature. Secondly, a number of scholars working in the region draw on this terminology – ESD – as well and we utilise this to respect their naming of the field within which they are situated. At the same time, though, we also recognise critiques of the terminology ESD given its framing with the notion of ‘sustainable development’. Stahelin (2017) offers a helpful, succinct summary of some of these critiques inclusive of the ‘conceptual muddle’ that the term represents (Jickling 1994; Stahelin 2017), the contradictory nature of the term and its seeming bias towards the economy. Further to this, the notion of ‘development’ itself is a concept that carries its own implicit tensions and biases for a region such as the Caribbean, which has suffered injustices due to the realities and legacies of slavery and colonialism. Consequently and thirdly, we also pay homage to the term ESE which has opened up the SI to a wider range of researchers who may be working under this umbrella term, some of whom are also featured in this SI.

That being said, it is important to acknowledge that within a context such as that outlined earlier for the Caribbean region, ESE is not only important, it is critical. As outlined by UNESCO, (ESD) ‘empowers learners with knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to take informed decisions and make responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society empowering people of all genders, for present and future generations, while respecting cultural diversity’ (UNESCO, 2020, 8). They further voice that ‘ESD is a lifelong learning process and an integral part of quality education that enhances cognitive, social and emotional and behavioural dimensions of learning. It is holistic and transformational and encompasses learning content and outcomes, pedagogy and the learning environment itself’ (UNESCO, 2020, 8). ESD, therefore, is meant to support a holistic perspective by engendering knowledge, awareness, values and attitudes, skills, and behaviours that support sustainability. Given the particular characteristics of the region, phenomena such as climate change and crime and violence, and other sustainability issues such as biodiversity loss, pollution, and waste management, there is a need for ESE that is responsive and relevant to the cultural, environmental, economic and social realities of the Caribbean.

Environmental and sustainability education in the Caribbean

Within the region, global initiatives and frameworks such as the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD) and the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD (2015-2019) helped to propel momentum on ESD in both formal and non-formal education (e.g. Down and Nurse 2007; UNESCO, 2014) and build on a foundation that was already being paved as a result of global forums and initiatives from the 1980s onward (Collins-Figueroa et al. 2008). The initiatives during the UN DESD and beyond include the development of national action plans, new curricula, the revision of curricula to facilitate EE and ESD infusion, and enhancing and supporting teacher education and professional development for instance through publications (Bynoe and Hale 1997; Bynoe and Simmons 2014; Collins-Figueroa 2012; Ferguson and Bramwell-Lalor 2018; UNESCO, 2008, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 2012).

Education is critical in achieving sustainability as it empowers people to acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that are necessary for addressing the social, economic and environmental challenges of the twenty first century. Education can also foster learners’ innovation, as well as creativity and resilience among learners that will enhance their ability to contribute meaningfully to society (UNESCO, 2020). A good education system therefore benefits the society.

The Caribbean region has made progress in educational reforms which prepares citizens for the challenges and opportunities of a globalised world (ECLAC, 2022). However the region has faced challenges such as access, equity, completion rates, lifelong learning and quality education due to the model inherited from its colonial past (Nazir 2021; UNESCO, 2022).

There are different levels of the education system (primary, secondary, post-secondary) in the Caribbean with curricula that are not always harmonised. At the primary level, individual countries have their own curricula, while at the secondary level the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), a regional organization, provides a common set of syllabi in a range of discrete subjects for the upper secondary level grades (11 to 13; approximate ages 15 – 19) in participating countries (https://www.cxc.org/about/about-cxc/). The administration of high stakes examinations for progress from primary to secondary to post-secondary levels is a feature of Caribbean countries and instructional strategies largely tend to focus on the acquisition of facts (Maharaj-Sharma 2015; Nazir 2021).

There has been a more focused approach to including ESE into formal education in the region with the urgency of issues such as climate change, pollution, habitat destruction and depletion of natural resources (Bekele and Ganpat 2016; CXC, 2018; Nazir 2021). Additionally, efforts were also made in non-formal education at engaging youth and civil society in promoting local solutions for sustainable development. For example, Sandwatch, an initiative developed in the Caribbean and launched in 2002 has been considered a flagship programme of the UN DESD (UNESCO, 2010). There is a need to determine whether these initiatives are influencing ESE consciousness, practices and behaviors in the region. According to results from an international survey conducted among scientific and education experts in higher education institutes and UNESCO commissions, the goals of the UN DESD have not been deeply anchored in the Latin America and Caribbean region (Brunold and Ohlmeier 2022). Brunold and Ohlmeier (2022) further noted that ESE implementation processes in the Latin America and Caribbean region seem to be limited in comparison to other regions.

The current global ESD for 2030 Framework offers an opportune moment to highlight, reflect on and offer recommendations on ESE research in the region, in order to inform practice in both the formal and non-formal realms. With this in mind, this SI on ESE in the English-speaking Caribbean is critical as it prioritises, highlights and provides further impetus for ESE in the region.

Others working in the region, inclusive of the broader Latin American and Caribbean context, have highlighted the need for more research (e.g. Briggs, Trautmann, and Fournier 2018; Collins-Figueroa et al. 2008; Ferguson 2020; Gonzalez-Gaudiano and Lorenzetti 2013). In a 2020 Editorial in this journal (Ferguson 2020), the significance of ESE for the Caribbean was highlighted and an overview of research in the area of ESE in the region was offered. That earlier Editorial proposed that more research was needed to further ESE in the region and offered four critical areas of inquiry – climate change education, the environment and violence nexus, teacher education, and universities as models of and for sustainability – ‘ripe not only for deeper inquiry but of urgency too, given the current global and regional issues at play, as well as the acknowledged role of HEIs in supporting and advancing this work’ (Ferguson 2020, 768). That Editorial ended by issuing a call for a SI on ESE in the Caribbean centred on the four critical areas of inquiry and/or other areas, which could ‘serve as a springboard for increasing research dialogue and collaboration amongst those working in the field’ (Ferguson 2020, 768). This current 2023 SI builds on the imperatives outlined in the earlier Editorial and adds some additional ones, featuring both theoretical and empirical papers that speak to ESE and curricula, teacher education, ESE and values education, ESE and faith systems, sustainability and assessment and other areas of inquiry. Indeed, the SI has already served to enhance research dialogue and collaboration as several of its contributors have already joined together to organise and deliver a Symposium session at the 2022 North American Association for Environmental Education annual Conference.

The ‘Caribbean-ness’ of this special issue

What makes this a ‘Caribbean’ SI? Firstly, it is important to note that whilst the region is comprised of many nations that speak diverse languages (for example, Dutch, English, French and Spanish), this issue focuses primarily on the English-speaking Caribbean, simply because of the need for a convenient framework in which to limit the scope of the SI. Beyond this, this Issue is ‘Caribbean’ in several respects. Firstly, its two co-Editors identify themselves as Caribbean citizens and scholars, with the first born in Guyana and residing and working in Jamaica for over 20 years, and the second born, residing and working in Jamaica. Each of us has a long-standing interest in one or more of the following areas: ESD/ESE, EE, climate change education and peace education, and have engaged in research, teaching and public awareness focused on these fields. Secondly, the SI houses articles focused on ESE research and practice in various countries, including, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Thirdly, the contributors either are those who self-identify as Caribbean scholars working in Caribbean country contexts or are those who are non-Caribbean by birth but have an interest in ESE in the region. Important to note is that four of these articles are emanating from and/or inspired by completed or near completed doctoral research at the time of writing. Thus, the contributions in this issue are from both established and emerging scholars in the field.

According to key informants, Latin America and the Caribbean gave great attention to the environmental dimension of ESD during the UN DESD. In higher education institutions disciplinary boundaries have been identified as barriers to exploring more complex issues (UNESCO, 2014). The SI represents an attempt to strengthening the Caribbean ESE research agenda by facilitating authors of different disciplines who have explored a range of issues. The articles provide insight with respect to aspects such as curricula development, teacher education and assessment, and non-formal ESE education through the practices of, for instance, NGO-groups.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this is a ‘Caribbean’ issue because the practices, research findings, and recommendations have applicability to the region – both English-speaking nations and beyond.

Introduction to the special issue papers

The first two articles in the SI focus on different aspects of environmental knowledge, awareness and practice. Rasheda Moody-Marshall undertakes survey research to examine environmental awareness and practice amongst a sample of undergraduate university students in Belize. Her research finds low levels of environmental awareness and poor environmentally responsive practice, thus highlighting the need for more exposure to ESD and the role for higher education institutions to take up a more cogent role in advancing ESD. In their article, Momoe Kanada, Paul Norman, Naoko Kaida and Steve Carver explore the linkages between ‘place’ and environmental behaviour. Drawing on the results of a nation-wide survey of secondary students in St. Lucia, the authors find that place, as typified in urban-rural dichotomies, does directly impact students’ knowledge and indirectly affects students’ attitudes and actions, thus signalling the need to close the ‘urban-rural’ gap in environmental education.

The next article by Joanne Nazir and Sharmila N. Harry focuses on the infusion of ESE in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) English Literature syllabus. Taking an ecocritical approach to two West Indian novels - For the Life of Laetitia and Breath, Eyes, Memory - the authors demonstrate opportunities for the teaching of ESE through Caribbean literature. This holds implications for moving ESE beyond what might seem the ‘traditional’ subjects of social studies and science to the more interdisciplinary focus that ESE necessitates. Similarly, Miguel Ison and Sharon Bramwell-Lalor’s article focuses on pedagogy at the undergraduate level with students from various disciplines engaged in making artistic products which successfully assisted with tapping into the less-focused on affective domain.

The next two articles focus on issues of faith systems and values with respect to ESE. First, Romina De Angelis draws on an ethnographic study of ESD in a Jamaican school and community and illustrates, with specific reference to Rastafarianism, how a spiritual ethos can be integrated into ESD. Her discussion underscores the importance of continued consideration of the integration of faith systems into formal and non-formal ESD in order to awaken individuals’ thinking about the linkages between the individual, social and ecological spheres, and contribute to deeper transformative learning. Denise Minott and Garth Minott’s article highlights the need to focus on teacher education, particularly preservice teachers. They argue that this sector of the population play a key role in accomplishing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially if there is focus on developing their critical consciousness which would in turn enhance the practice of values individually and through their students.

In the article that follows, Carol Hordatt Gentles similarly argues that teacher education lies at the heart of promoting sustainability. She identifies crime and violence as a coalescing issue around which there should be a deliberate and focused development of the ideology of caring which would be evident in teachers’ pedagogy and practice.

Clavia T. Williams-McBean recognises the widespread practice of teaching to the test and the strong influence of high stakes examinations in the English-Speaking Caribbean. She argues that assessment practices such as school-based assessments could be capitalised on to develop students’ sustainable development competencies.

The final article in the issue by Therese Ferguson capitalises on the current ESD for 2030 framework in order to reflect on regional progress in the field of ESD to-date, current challenges and future prospects. Drawing on qualitative interviews with seven individuals working in formal and non-formal ESD in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the author shares the insights offered by these experts. Interviewees offer thoughts with respect to the need to redefine ‘education’ in the region to truly support ESD, draw on indigenous and traditional knowledge systems and pursue coherent ESD efforts across the region. The retrospective views of the field offers current and future scholars an important foundation on which to move ESD forward.

Implications for the future

These scholarly inputs in the SI highlight a number of critical points with respect to ESE in the region. Firstly, the findings suggest that the link between lower and higher-level education cannot be overlooked. It is important to pay attention to providing ESE to students from an early age at which they may have strong intrinsic motivation for environmental action which may decrease at higher levels of schooling. In addition, more attention should be paid to introducing ESE to students in higher education from non-science backgrounds. Secondly, they point to the need to draw on a range of sources and stimuli for ESE, inclusive of the arts and faith, particularly given the fact that both of these traditionally have been strong influences in the region’s development. Thirdly, the need to consider the assessment processes utilised in formal education to ensure that assessment strategies cater to the sustainability (and ESD) competencies envisioned for students. Fourthly, contributions underscore the critical role that teachers and, by extension, teacher education, play in ESE as they are critical agents who interact with students in the classroom. Finally, work in this SI outlines a trajectory with respect to progress and possibility in the region, as well as gaps and weaknesses to be addressed.

The range and focus of articles in this SI signals the development and deepening of the existing corpus of work and offer significant insights that will inform both formal and non-formal ESE education. Notwithstanding this, the Guest Editors still note the need for more critical ESE that touches on areas either notably absent from or not centralised in this compilation, for instance, early childhood, informal and non-formal education, climate change education and peace education, as some examples. Future studies could focus on other aspects of education such as policies that influence the operations of the educational system.

The studies in the SI were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic. As stated earlier, the pandemic has changed the educational landscape in numerous ways, increasing the challenges for educational systems in Latin America and the Caribbean to achieve the targets of the 2030 Agenda (ECLAC, 2020). The long-term impacts of issues related to the emergency transition from in-person classes to remote learning, Internet connectivity issues and access to educational materials on learning, attitudes and behaviours must be studied especially among the most disadvantaged groups (UNESCO, 2022).

Thus, this SI should be seen as an impetus for continued work in the areas featured and further and new work in areas that need additional research and inquiry. The Guest Editors hope that this SI will also stimulate further studies from non-English speaking Caribbean nations which were not the main focus of this SI and perhaps stimulate future SIs focused on the region in this more robust and representative manner.

Finally, whilst the SI is focused on the Caribbean region, the insights and lessons to be garnered are not relegated to the Caribbean region. Given the environmental and sustainability issues faced by various regions and countries globally, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, water degradation, and crime and violence, as only some examples, the possibilities highlighted in this SI with respect to, for instance, arts-based EE, the integration of faith and values into ESD/ESE, the importance of teacher education and issues surrounding assessment, can also be useful for different country and institutional contexts. Thus, it is our hope that the SI will be meaningful for all those working in the field and perhaps even spur on cross-country collaboration to explore facets that are critical for the future of the planet and humanity.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.