120 Theorising Education for Sustainable Development: Exploring Its Role in Formal Education Systems

Disciplines: – Education – Teaching and Learning

Programmes: – MA Education – MSc Education, Children & Youth

Student Engagement: 10 international, postgraduate students within the UCD School of Education in 2024/2025

Initiative Description

This module aims to help learners develop the ability to understand and articulate the role of education in addressing future sustainability challenges, recognising its transformative potential at local, national, and global levels. The case study provides a theoretical framing of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education, equipping future educators across multiple fields and levels with the knowledge to embed sustainability in their teaching practice. Students familiarise themselves with key theoretical frameworks and assessment approaches targeting sustainability competencies, enabling them to critically analyse existing educational practices. They also reflect on the importance of 21st-century skills—such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and digital literacy—and evaluate their relevance to advancing sustainability goals. By applying ESD principles, students analyse and design curricula that integrate sustainability in contextually appropriate and coherent ways, building both conceptual understanding and practical capacity for action.

Collaboration, Partnerships & Student Participation

Students actively shape the module through group discussions, independent assignments, and case analysis. Assignments encourage local-global application of concepts. While this initiative is primarily institutional, it is informed by global sustainability policy frameworks (e.g., SDGs, UNESCO, OECD).

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the case study the students are able to:

• Understand and articulate the role of education in addressing future sustainability challenges.
• Familiarise with theoretical frameworks and assessment methods targeting sustainability competencies.
• Critically reflect on the role of 21st-century skills in Education and their relevance to sustainability.
• Apply ESD principles in curriculum analysis and design.

Teaching and Learning Approach

The module adopts experiential learning, inquiry-based approaches, and student-centred methods. It incorporates real-world problem analysis, metacognitive skill development, and constructivist engagement with sustainability. Given that this module included postgraduate international students, their experiences and expertise are used as a basis for critical reflections, whole class presentations and discussions, as well as debates. Their reflexivity is also highlighted in a position paper produced by students as an individual task.

Assessment Strategy

The central assessment is a reflexive position paper where students critically examine one 21st-century skill (e.g., sustainability, digital literacy) and design a plan for its integration into national curricula. Assessment criteria include critical analysis of relevant theoretical frameworks, policy alignment, feasibility of implementation, and engagement with ESD theory.

Impact & Outcomes

Student reflections reveal a transformation in their understanding of sustainability—moving from a limited, environmentally-focused perspective to a broader, systemic and critical engagement with the concept. Through the module, students develop the capacity to interrogate how national curricula define and incorporate ESD, sustainability, and related competencies.

They become adept at articulating well-informed arguments for and against the integration of sustainability competencies within specific national and cultural contexts. The assignment design—which invites students to analyse education policies from their home countries—is a unique and empowering aspect of the module. It fosters a deeper connection to their own educational systems and encourages them to reflect on both global frameworks and local realities.

This reflective, comparative, and policy-oriented approach enhances students’ confidence in navigating complex educational debates. Feedback indicates that students value the space provided for critical thinking and self-reflection, and come away with a greater appreciation of how education can serve as a transformative force for sustainable development at multiple levels—individual, institutional, and societal.

Best Practices & Resources — Top Tips

• Clarify that ESD theory is complex and open to interpretation.
• Make content relevant to students’ lives, practices, and national contexts. Emphasise participation and students’ role in shaping the dialogue.
• Discuss critically the origins and implications of UN and EU ESD policies.