Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

As education for sustainable development learning outcomes are gaining traction in education, an integrated curriculum model that recognizes Indigenous cultural practices is imperative to align global development indicators with higher education curriculum. The study adopted a purposive sampling approach targeting 11 university students sharing their experiences on sustainability and core competencies. NVivo Version 10 was used for the narrative data coding and analysis with findings showing students’ ambivalence toward their curriculum outcomes and twenty-first-century skills development. In conclusion, as students exhibited high awareness about competency-based learning, curriculum developers in higher education institutions must be intentional about pedagogical approaches and sustainability targets.

Keywords

education for sustainable development competency-based education integrated curriculum model learning sciences higher education

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abu

(2012). Quality of Ghanaian education. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Quality-Of-The-Ghanaian-Education-251813

Adzahlie-Mensah

(2013). Being “Nobodies”: School regimes and student identities in Ghana. Sussex, England: Unpublished doctoral dissertation, the University of Sussex, UK.

Ames

M. A.

(2019). The charisma machine: The life, death, and legacy of one laptop per child. The MIT Press.

Ananga

E. D.

Anapey

G. M.

(2016). Career aspirations and employability skills development: Voices of Ghanaian university students. Ghana Journal of Higher Education, 2, 1–17.

Asante

M. K.

(1995). Afrocentricity: The theory of social change. Retrieved September 12, 2016, from https://www.google.com.gh/url?sa/Afrocentricity-The-Theory-Social-Change-0913543799-ebo

Atef

T. M.

Al-Balushi

. (2015). Entrepreneurship as a means for restructuring employment patterns. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 15(2), 73–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/1467358414558082

Bhabha

K. H.

(1994). The location of culture. Routledge.

Boyd

King

E. J.

(1995). The history of Western education. Barnes & Noble Books.

Calder

(2016). Resources. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408215625568

10.

Chambers

(1994). Origins and practice of participatory rural appraisal. World Development, 22(7), 953–969. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(94)90141-4

11.

Chatpinyakoop

Hallinbger

Showanasai

(2022). Developing capacities to lead change for sustainability: A quasi-experimental study of simulation-based learning. Sustainability, 14(7), 10563. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710563

12.

Cornelia

Inka

Kerstin

Kati

Robert

(2013). Outlook on research in education for sustainable development. Policy Futures in Education, 11(12), 115–127. https://doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2013.11.2.115

13.

Creswell

J. W.

Clark

(2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). Sage.

14.

Darkwa

Adu-Gyamfi

A. B.

(2015, July 26). Graduate unemployability in Ghana: Views of unemployed graduates. Retrieved 2015, from www.aau.org

15.

Dautremont-Smith

(2017). Higher education for sustainable development. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 11(1), 55–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408217694267

16.

Dei

G. S.

(2012). Indigenous anti-colonial knowledge as “heritage knowledge” for promoting Black/African education in diasporic contexts. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 102–119.

17.

de la Harpe

Thomas

(2009). Curriculum change in universities: Conditions that facilitate education for sustainable development. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 3(1), 75–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/097340820900300115

18.

Desha

Hargroves

K. C.

(2014). Higher education and sustainable development: A model for curriculum renewal. Routledge.

19.

Eagleton

(1991). Ideology. Verso.

20.

Fay

(1987). Critical social science. Cornell University Press.

21.

Fekih Zguir

Dubis

Koç

(2022). Integrating sustainability into curricula: Teachers’ perceptions, preparation, and practice in Qatar. Journal of Cleaner Production, 371, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133167

22.

Foucault

(1980). Power/Knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings 1972–1977. Pantheon Books.

23.

Freire

(1993). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury.

24.

Frimpong

(2016). Providing jobs for the people: GEA outlines skills improvement policies. Daily Graphic (20146), p. 34.

25.

Gwanfobge

M. B.

(2011). Africa’s triple education heritage: A historical comparison. In Nsamenang

A. B.

Tchombe

T. M. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of African educational theories and practices: A generative teacher education curriculum (pp. 39–54). Human Development Resource Centre (HDRC).

26.

Hardi

Y. M.

(2012). Solving graduate unemployment in Ghana .

27.

Holdsworth

Thomas

(2015). Framework for introducing education for sustainable development into university curriculum. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 9(2), 137–159. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408215588246

28.

IMANI Ghana. (2013, December 24). The state of education in Ghana: The forum for education reform. The Chronicle. Retrieved July 27, 2015, from http://thechronicle.com.gh/the-state-of-education-in-ghana-2/

29.

Khan

A. M.

Law

L. S.

(2015). An integrative approach to curriculum development in higher education in the USA: A theoretical framework. International Education Studies, 8(3), 66–76. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v8n3p66

30.

Knight

Yorke

(2004). Learning, curriculum, and employability in higher education. Routledge Falmer.

31.

Kvilhaugsvik

(2021). Bridging higher education and the world of work? Employer panels in Nordic university governance. European Journal of Higher Education, 12(2), 117–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2021.1886138

32.

Laurie

Nonoyama-Tarumi

Mckeown

Hopkins

(2016). Contributions of education for sustainable development (ESD) to quality education: A synthesis of research. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 10(2), 226–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408216661442

33.

MacBeath

(2010). Living with the colonial legacy: The Ghana story. Commonwealth Education Trust.

34.

McCown

(2015, January 5). How employable are African graduates in their countries? Retrieved September 28, 2016, from British Council: https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-employable-are-african-graduates-their-countrie

35.

Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education [MBSSE] (2020). National Curriculum framework and guidelines for basic education. The Republic of Sierra Leone.

36.

Morrison

K. R.

(1995a). Habermas and the school curriculum. Unpublished PhD thesis, School of Education. University of Durham.

37.

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment [NaCCA] (2018). National pre-tertiary education curriculum framework for developing subject curricula. Ministry of Education.

38.

Nsamenang

A. B.

(2005). The intersection of traditional African education with school learning. In Swartz

de la Rey

Duncan

(Eds.), Psychology: An introduction (pp. 327–337). Oxford University Press.

39.

Nyamnjoh

(2012). Potted plants in greenhouses: A critical reflection on the resilience of colonial education in Africa. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 1–26. Retrieved July 28, 2015, from http://jas.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/02/14/0021909611417240

40.

Oblinger

G. D.

(2012). Game changers: Education and information technologies. Under licensed by Creative Commons: EDUCAUSE.

41.

Ornstein

A. C.

Hunkins

F. P.

(2018). Curriculum foundations, principles, and issues. Pearson.

42.

Osokina

S. A.

(2022). University education for sustainability: Topics of foreign language teaching. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 22(7). https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v22i7.5270

43.

Schreiber

J.-R.

Siege

(2016). Curriculum framework education for sustainable development. Engagement Global GmbH.

44.

Shams

(2019). Managing academic identity tensions in a Canadian public university: The role of identity work in coping with managerialism. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 41(6), 619–632. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2019.1643960

45.

Shelly

G. B.

Cashman

T. j.

Gunter

G. A.

Gunter

R. E.

(2012). Teachers discovering computers: Integrating technology and digital media in the classroom (4th ed.). Thomson Course Technology.

46.

Sherry

M. D.

(2008). Postcolonialism. In Given

L. L.

(Ed.), The Sage encyclopaedia of qualitative research methods (pp. 650–655). Sage Publications.

47.

Simmons

Dei

G. S.

(2012). Reframing anti-colonial theory for the diasporic context. Postcolonial Directions in Education, 1(1), 67–99.

48.

Sterling

(2014). Education in change. In Desha

Hargroves

K. C.

(Eds.), Higher education and sustainable development: A model for curriculum renewal (pp. 18–39). Routledge.

49.

UNESCO (2019, June 25). First ever consensus on artificial intelligence and education published by UNESCO. Retrieved from UNESCO: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/first-ever-consensus-artificial-intelligence-and-education-published-unesco

50.

Wang

Zhou

Cui

(2019). Exploring education for sustainable development in a Chinese kindergarten: An action research. ECNU Review of Education, 2(4), 497–514. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531119897638

51.

Wyver

(2022). Australian preservice early childhood teachers’ considerations of natural areas as conducive and important to include in educational experiences. Education Sciences, 12(7). 481. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12070481

Achieving Education for Sustainable Education Learning Outcomes: An Integrated Model for Higher Education in the Global South

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References