How Does the Geography Curriculum Contribute to Education for Sustainable Development? Lessons from China and the USA

Sheng Miao, Michael E Meadows, Yushan Duan () and Fengtao Guo ()
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Sheng Miao: School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Michael E Meadows: Department of Environmental Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7701, South Africa
Yushan Duan: School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Fengtao Guo: School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-19

Abstract: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) must play an important part in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and, while it may be advanced through harnessing the unique advantages of the geography curriculum, connections between the geography curriculum and sustainable development competencies have not yet been systematically investigated in China and America. In order to explore the value of geography education in promoting learner competencies in sustainable development, we conducted a detailed analysis of China’s geography curriculum standards and American geography curriculum standards, and explored the potential contribution of the geography curriculum to ESD. Learning objectives in China’s geography curriculum standards for middle school (98 items) and high school (141 items), and American geography curriculum standards for middle school (80 items) and high school (85 items) were analyzed using content analysis supported by WordStat 8.0. Our findings suggest that geography education plays an important role in cultivating learners’ cognition and ability regarding sustainable development, although there remains much room for improvement in cultivating learner attitudes and values towards ESD.

Keywords: ESD; geography curriculum standards; content analysis; learner competencies; middle school; high school (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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