Abstract

Sustainability is one of the most important challenges for present and future societies, which needs to be urgently and adequately addressed from Education. This study qualitatively analyses the curricula of primary and secondary education in Spain and Portugal, with the objective of assessing how sustainability is addressed across compulsory education in both countries. The results show a limited presence of sustainability in the curricula of both countries, the coexistence of different and sometimes inconsistent conceptions of sustainability, deficiencies in the inclusion of the social and economic dimensions, and a questionable technological optimism as the solution to sustainability problems. Such findings provide with a basis to improve curricula, also in other countries. Future curricular designs should seek a more ambitious approach to sustainability based on the equal importance of its three dimensions, an effective cross-curricular character, critical thinking, and an ecocentric ethics.

摘要

可持续性是当前和未来社会最重要的挑战之一，需要从教育中得到紧急和充分的解决。本研究定性分析了西班牙和葡萄牙的小学和中学教育课程，目的是评估这两个国家的义务教育如何解决可持续性问题。结果表明，两国课程中可持续性的存在有限，可持续性的不同甚至有时不一致的概念并存，社会和经济层面的纳入不足，以及作为解决可持续性问题的技术乐观态度值得怀疑。这些发现为改进课程提供了基础，在其他国家也是如此。