Education for Sustainable Development in Swiss Vocational Education and Training: A Curricular Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25321/prise.2024.1524Abstract
Background: The increasing ecological, economic, and social challenges have amplified the demand for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). A significant challenge in the field of ESD is the absence of universally understood definitions for key terms such as sustainability, sustainable development (SD), and ESD itself. In the Swiss context, SD competences are not uniformly integrated into vocational education and training (VET) curricula. The lack of comprehensive studies on this integration indicates a need for further research. This study aims to systematically analyze and identify SD competences, dimensions and topics integration in six selected Swiss VET curricula.
Methods: Educational curricula for six VET programs focusing on multi-faceted occupations (Building Services Technician, Electronics Technician, Geomaticist, Physics Laboratory Technician, Road Builder, Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Process Technologist) were systematically analyzed for ESD dimensions, topics and competences through a structured qualitative content analysis. The curriculum analyses followed a pre-structured deductive content-analytical design. Based on Switzerland-oriented SD competences and general SD dimensions and topics, 23 codes were defined and qualitatively coded by three independent coders in a high inferential analysis procedure.
Findings: The analysis shows a diverse integration of SD competences, dimensions, and topics, with great variation in how each profession emphasizes these elements. Competences such as “Responsibility”, ”Systems”, and “Act” stand out as most frequently identified across all professions. ESD topics are mainly grouped under environmental and societal dimensions, with “Climate and energy”, “Health and well-being”, and “Economic efficiency and value creation” being the most frequent topics across all occupations.
Conclusions: The study's findings indicate that while SD competences, dimensions and topics do appear in all analysed basic VET curricula, they are not labeled as such and are highly heterogeneous in terms of distribution and occurrence. Besides time to teach for an ESD, this makes it difficult for teachers to identify and integrate ESD and thus presenting a significant obstacle for the integration of ESD into basic VET. ESD may not be seen an add-on, it needs proper integration with existing content. The findings have been translated into profession-specific guidelines for VET teachers, school administrations, and professional organizations. These are intended to support VET teachers with concrete examples for their own teaching. Expanding the analysis to more basic VET curricula and examining ESD integration across different learning locations, including companies and inter-company courses, could provide a more comprehensive understanding of ESD's role in Swiss VET.
Keywords: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), ESD competences, ESD dimensions, ESD implementation, Vocational Education and Training (VET), curricula analysis, Switzerland
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