Water from the Perspective of Education for Sustainable Development: An Exploratory Study in the Spanish Secondary Education Curriculum

Abstract

Current educational curricula in Spain contain few references to sustainability topics, so there is insufficient coverage of these issues in the classroom. Notably, there is a lack of reference to the concept of water from a sustainable perspective. The key aim of this study was to analyze the presence of the concept of water in the curriculum that regulates secondary education in Spain using a previously established system of categories. An exploratory and descriptive research methodology was followed, in which we carried out a qualitative lexicographical analysis of the concept of water in the Spanish secondary education curriculum. An analysis of the cognitive demand required of students to learn about water, according to Bloom’s taxonomy, was also conducted. The results show that the concept of water appears moderately in the curriculum focusing on some aspects of Sustainable Development. Likewise, the analysis of the cognitive demand required of students for learning about water reveals that lower levels of knowledge and comprehension predominate based on Bloom’s taxonomy. We consider that teaching water from a sustainable perspective can generate in students awareness and values about nature and the environment, knowledge that contributes to sensible use of water and involvement for sustainable development.