Abstract

In this qualitative case study, we adopted theories of street-level bureaucracy and policy entrepreneurship to examine formation processes of environmental and sustainability education (ESE) policy at school and local government level. We focused on teachers’ and urban government ESE officials’ motives for initiating ESE programs, the support systems they have in place for developing them, and the ways they recruit or repurpose budgets for them. We identified three main motives that induced actors to initiate ESE programs: social, rebranding and environmental. Additionally, we identified three patterns of support that administrators provided in the implementation process: initiating, allowing and adopting. We discuss the connections between budget types, motives and support patterns. A major implication is that following ESE dedicated policies conceals the ESE implementation processes that formal education undergoes. ESE policy research will benefit from understanding local educational government structure and programs, and their role in shaping ESE policy in practice.

摘要

在此定性案例研究中，我们采用了街头官僚主义和政策企业家精神的理论，以研究学校和地方政府一级环境与可持续性教育（ESE）政策的形成过程。我们重点关注教师和城市政府ESE官员发起ESE计划的动机，他们为开发ESE计划而建立的支持系统以及他们为他们招募或重新使用预算的方式。我们确定了促使参与者发起ESE计划的三个主要动机：社会，品牌重塑和环境。此外，我们确定了管理员在实施过程中提供的三种支持模式：启动，允许和采用。我们讨论了预算类型，动机和支持模式之间的联系。一个主要的含义是，遵循ESE专用政策会掩盖正规教育所经历的ESE实施过程。ESE政策研究将受益于对地方教育政府结构和计划的了解，以及它们在实践中形成ESE政策的作用。