Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Sweden: A study of ESD within a transition affected by PISA reports

Abstract: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been called for playing a crucial role in integrating principles,values, and practices accorded with sustainable development. Holistic approach, ethical values, norm transitionand behavior changes are required to achieve the aim of ESD. However, while both external and internal impactsof the Swedish education system have affected its fundamental values and aims, core elements of ESD inSwedish curriculum were also influenced. This paper analyzes, in particular, the changes that PISA reportsbrought in the Swedish curriculum at the discourse level, and its potential effects on ESD. Discourse analysiswas mainly used for comparing two curricula and two syllabi. With the help of situational contexts of PISA andthe curriculum of 2011, a transition observed from text analysis was interpreted and the final discussion wasanchored with social contexts from educational discourses. The result indicated that influences from PISA in thenew curriculum and syllabus were observed in corresponded aims and goals. Situational and social contexts alsopointed to the same direction of transition due to the previous goals-oriented curriculum that made a wide rangeof teaching. Thus, fundamental values, aims and goals were changed into providing clearer guidelines forteaching scope and gradings as well as into focusing literacy skills and knowledge of concepts. In the process ofthe transition, holistic approach, ethical and democratical values, as well as focus on cultural aspects and pupils’ attributes were removed or shrunken, which implied negative impacts on ESD. On the other hand, emphasis onliteracy skills of students in the new curriculum was expected to bring positive achievement for ESD.Furthermore, in order to achieve the norm transition toward sustainable development, those lost immeasurable values are suggested to be addressed in future Swedish education.