Investigating sustainability education in the science capital teaching approach: Competence development and pillar considerations

Abstract

This research explores the role of the 12 sustainability competences outlined in the European GreenComp and three sustainability pillars within the practice of the science capital teaching approach. This study considers the dimensions constituting an individual’s science capital which shape the approach’s pedagogical foundation. We conducted a document study of the science capital teaching approach, comprising six modules, by analyzing 208 documents for the presence of the GreenComp sustainability competences and three sustainability pillars: environment, society, and economy. The data revealed a distribution pattern describing the teaching approach’s efficacy, indicating eight competence trends differentiated into three extracted levels and four trends related to the pillars. A subsequent thematic analysis of five semi-structured interviews helped to identify decisive categories defining the derived trends. Overall, the results showed a consistent presence of sustainability competences, with some deviations, and the integration of all pillars, despite an irregular distribution unfavorably affecting the economic perspective.