Education for Sustainable Development: A critical approach from Pedagogy

  • Tania Alonso-Sainz Universidad Europea de Madrid
Keywords: global education, educational research, international organisations, educational theory, aims of education

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. The sustainability paradigm and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been a priority focus on international agendas, as well as in educational research, trying to achieve the SDGs. The aim of this article is to discover the treatment of Education for Sustainable Development in Spanish educational research, paying special attention to the lack of a critical vision in its approach. METHODOLOGY. A literature review of educational research in the Spanish panorama is carried out from the DialnetPlus database, between 2015 and 2019, taking into account the topics of the articles, their approach and their methodology. Then a critical analysis of the question is made. RESULTS. From the selection criteria, 34 articles have been found, of which the majority dealt with the themes of the SDGs and university and school and teacher education, aimed at proposals to improve the implementation of the SDGs framework through training. The perspective of most of the articles was theoretical and descriptive in approach, that is, they assumed the SDGs framework as a paradigm to achieve. DISCUSSION. In the light of the results, it is discussed that: (i) educational research tends to rename and adjectivate education, in this case “education for sustainability”, forgetting the intrinsic value of education as human development and (ii) research education often behaves as a fashion victim of the tendencies and trend from the International Organizations, assuming their agendas in an uncritical way. CONCLUSION. It seems appropriate to rethink the SDGs as a tool at the service of education and its immanent assets, instead of reducing education to a kind of instrument for the achievement of the SDGs, because it has the risk to crystallize education into goals and standards.

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Published
2021-04-07
How to Cite
Alonso-Sainz T. (2021). Education for Sustainable Development: A critical approach from Pedagogy. Revista Complutense de Educación, 32(2), 249-259. https://doi.org/10.5209/rced.68338
Section
Articles