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Revealing education for sustainable development (ESD) enactments by school stakeholders : a case study in two Chinese primary schools
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Zhou, Ronghui (Kevin) (2022) Revealing education for sustainable development (ESD) enactments by school stakeholders : a case study in two Chinese primary schools. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b3985237
Abstract
The importance of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been gradually recognized on the global agenda over the past three decades, and ESD plays a crucial role in achieving the UN Agenda 2030. However, ESD remains underdeveloped and under-researched in China. Despite ESD being introduced in China nearly three decades ago, there are still no official ESD policies. Empirical evidence on ESD implementation, especially in primary education, is inadequate, and the roles of educational stakeholders, such as school principals and teachers, are often overlooked in the existing literature. Therefore, this thesis investigates the enactment of ESD policies by school principal and teachers and how they interpret and enact the ESD concept in two primary schools in China.
This case study employs Ball et al.’s (2012) theoretical framework - ‘policy enactment’ - to uncover how school principals and teachers interpret and enact ESD. A total of 20 interviews (comprising 2 principals and 18 teachers) were conducted, and 86 questionnaires were collected from teachers in two public primary schools in China. The study reveals that while the ESD policies are enacted similarly in both schools, the outcomes differ. Factors such as school intake, educational philosophy, infrastructure, resilience to external influences, internal policy flow, sociocultural elements, and decisions made by school principals are identified as key determinants in the enactment of ESD policy in the selected primary schools. Furthermore, school principals and teachers have varied interpretations of ESD. Notable discrepancies exist between the conceptualisation of ESD by school stakeholders, the domestic discourse on ESD, and the UNESCO framework of ESD. School stakeholders’ enactments of their interpreted ESD in their educational philosophy and practices are limited. This thesis provides valuable empirical insights for the development of ESD in Chinese primary education and offers a theoretical contribution by adapting the concept of ‘policy enactment’ to an Eastern context.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1501 Primary Education L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2361 Curriculum |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Sustainable development, Sustainable development -- Study and teaching -- China, Education, Primary -- China, Environmental policy -- China, Environmental responsibility -- China, Environmental ethics -- China | ||||
Official Date: | September 2022 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Centre for Education Studies | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Lee, Nick, 1968- ; Wyness, Michael G. | ||||
Format of File: | |||||
Extent: | xii, 272 pages : illustrations | ||||
Language: | eng |
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