Sustainability competences in primary school education – a systematic literature review

Abstract

Education for sustainable development is needed at all school levels. The aim of this systematic literature review is to increase knowledge on sustainability competences in the context of primary school education for sustainable development. The sustainability competences considered in this study are systems thinking competence, futures thinking competence, values thinking competence, collaboration competence and action-oriented competence. The systematic search was based on PRISMA guidelines, and it was conducted using following databases: ERIC, Scopus, Web of Science and the LUC Finna international e-materials database. The search yielded 14 of 93 articles. The research findings show that systems thinking competence and collaboration competence were the most common of the sustainability competences studied, followed by action-oriented competence and values thinking competence, leaving futures thinking competence less investigated. Furthermore, the findings show that the learning of sustainability competences is based on children’s dialogue and collaboration with other pupils and teachers using their imagination to achieve common environmental goals in their daily lives.

Keywords:

• Sustainability competences
• education for sustainable development
• primary school
• environmental education
• school

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marjo Vesterinen

Marjo Vesterinen is a Doctoral Candidate at the Faculty of Education at the University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland.

Ilkka Ratinen

Ilkka Ratinen is a Professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland.