Imagine a world where there is no poverty and zero hunger. We have good health and well-being, quality education, and full gender equality everywhere. There is clean water and sanitation for everyone. Affordable and clean energy has helped to create decent work and economic growth. Our prosperity is fueled by investments in industry, innovation, and infrastructure and that has helped us to reduce inequalities. We live in sustainable cities and communities and responsible consumption and production is healing our planet. Climate action has capped the warming of the planet and we have flourishing life below water and abundant, diverse life on land. We enjoy peace and justice through strong institutions and have built long-term partnerships to achieve these goals. |
Teaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals in a Public Primary School in Shenzhen, China: A Case Study
This qualitative case study reports on the pilot implementation of curriculum designed to introduce the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to students in grades 3-6 in a public primary school in Shenzhen, China. The student and teacher resources were developed using a grant from the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau’s “Good Curriculum Design” Program with support from The World’s Largest Lesson. After editing and revising existing English-language student and teacher resources, the curriculum was translated into Simplified Chinese for use in local public schools. Consisting of nineteen chapters, one introductory chapter, one chapter for each SDG, and one final project, the curriculum is intended to provide students and teachers with an introduction to each the seventeen SDGs while creating pathways for further inquiry across the curriculum. Sixteen teachers and more than 800 students participated in piloting the curriculum over an 18-month period, with 40-minute classes meeting one or two times per week. Teachers were supported with one all-faculty training to gain a nascent understanding of the SDGs, global citizenship education, and education for sustainable development followed by intensive one-on-one meetings to prepare for specific lessons. At the conclusion of teaching each chapter, teachers and students completed a written qualitative survey and teachers engaged in a semi-structured interview to reflect on their experience teaching the lessons. Additional means of data collection included classroom observations and review of student work. In doing so, this study illuminates the perceptions of the teachers and students about SDG education who participated in this pilot project.
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This course on the Sustainable Development Goals has opened another window for me and our children. In the past, we paid more attention to the improvement of our professional achievements and the cultivation of arts and sports. Now, we read and pay more attention to social issues, economic issues, protecting our natural resources and other issues closer to peoples’ actual lives. This is not only a research topic for one person or a group of people, it will be the responsibility of our citizens as a whole. |
Initial findings show that the majority of teachers believe education for sustainable development and teaching about the SDGs is important and meaningful for students, specifically with regard to international understanding and social responsibility. However, some teachers said that the topics were too difficult for students and that they were uncomfortable with teaching a topic that was outside of their subject area of expertise. Teachers reported that some of the language contained within the SDGs is too difficult for younger students to understand. Participating teachers reported using an additional three to six hours outside of regularly scheduled meeting time to prepare for teaching each chapter. All teachers agreed more time is needed for teaching the course and agreed that they would like to have more supplementary materials such as videos, pictures, and websites.
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Students produced a large variety of works that demonstrated their ability to achieve lesson objectives including designing posters, writing and conducting community surveys, writing persuasive letters, advocating for social, economic, and environmental issues, conducting research, giving oral reports, and making pledges. While the quality of work varied, nearly all students in various assessment forms demonstrated at least introductory understandings of global competencies and being able to contribute to taking action on the SDGs in their community and with people from around the world. Furthermore, student surveys reveal that nearly all students who participated in the course have a basic understanding of the goal they studied. Perhaps in conflict with teacher opinions, many students demonstrated extensive pre-knowledge of the topics and demonstrated rigorous learning. Students also demonstrated their ability to inquire deeply about issues with some student questions robust enough to be the starting point and sustaining project based learning or additional research.
In addition to reporting on the teaching and learning outcomes associated with the implementation of this curriculum, this case study also highlights ways in which schools can leverage existing local grant programs and community and international resources for developing and implementing global citizenship education and education for sustainable development. By working within existing policy frameworks, this SDG curriculum was able to be integrated as a part of the routine teaching schedule in the school-based special interest curriculum timeframe. Furthermore, working with graduate students from a local university, more robust data collection and analysis was made possible outside of routine avenues afforded to a public primary school.
Taken together, these findings indicate that within the current policy framework this curriculum is an inspiring example of achieving the goals of China’s National Comprehensive Practice Curriculum and 21st century skills and shows potential for scaling up to the regional and national education system.
The findings in this research are limited by the relatively small scale of implementation and context-specific factors that do not yield generalizable results. Future research should include strategies for better familiarizing teachers with the SDGs in order to build confidence for teaching the SDGs. Additional research into co-creating curriculum using project-based learning techniques can be developed from initial student and teacher feedback.
Taken together, these findings indicate that within the current policy framework this curriculum is an inspiring example of achieving the goals of China’s National Comprehensive Practice Curriculum and 21st century skills and shows potential for scaling up to the regional and national education system.
The findings in this research are limited by the relatively small scale of implementation and context-specific factors that do not yield generalizable results. Future research should include strategies for better familiarizing teachers with the SDGs in order to build confidence for teaching the SDGs. Additional research into co-creating curriculum using project-based learning techniques can be developed from initial student and teacher feedback.