In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This is considered the most comprehensive development action plan to date and includes 17 general and 169 concrete Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The purpose of the master’s thesis was to identify operational objectives related to the 17 CTRs in the curricula of compulsory primary school subjects. The study included the curricula of compulsory primary school subjects from grade 1 to grade 9. By means of qualitative content analysis and qualitative research method, data were obtained on which curricula of compulsory primary school subjects contain operational objectives linked to the 17 CTRs. The curricula were reviewed in two ways, first by identifying the presence of certain keywords in the operational learning objectives and by an analysis based on the previous theoretical discussion of 17 CTRs, which we referred to when identifying the operational learning objectives.
The results of the survey showed that operational learning objectives related to the contents of 17 CTRs appear in the curricula of subjects: English, Biology, Homeland and Civic Culture and Ethics, Society, Physics, Geography, Household, Chemistry, Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, Natural Sciences and Engineering, Environmental Cognition, Techniques and Technology, History and Sports Education. However, they do not appear in the following subjects: Slovene, Mathematics, Italian, German and Music Art. Most often, CTR content occurs in geography and environmental awareness. The content of Goal 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities and Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production is the most common in the curriculum.
The research contributes to the understanding of how CTRs are integrated into primary education and shows which CTRs should be more integrated into the educational process in the future. The results obtained reflect the current state of integration of sustainable content and allow the development of strategies for renewal and updating of existing curricula. CTR content should be integrated into the curricula of primary education subjects, and cross-curricular integration of content should be encouraged. In foreign language curricula, the content of sustainable development could be introduced through listening and reading comprehension. We also see the opportunity for discussion in the context of natural science, technical, cultural and sports days and schools in nature. Themes could also be addressed as part of elective courses. In this way, education for sustainable development can be promoted, which is crucial for the formation of responsible and informed future generations.
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