Fostering Sustainable Futures: The Contribution of Environmental Education to Sustainability Competencies and Sustainable Lifestyles among Middle Stage School Students

Abstract

  As environmental degradation, climate change and resource depletion are growing in scope, education is becoming a key opportunity for change towards sustainable development. The significance of EE in schools is recognized, but there is a lack of clarity regarding its conceptualization as sustainable living skills and sustainable competencies in daily life, especially in Middle Stage (Classes VI – VIII) of the school. In this conceptual paper an integrated framework is presented where EE is the independent variable that affects the Sustainable Lifestyles (sustainable diet, eco-mobility, sustainable consumption, waste management and recycling, energy conservation, water conservation) and Sustainability Competencies (Cognitive, Emotional and Social). The paper is based on the paradigm of Education for Sustainable Development, supported by the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Social Cognitive Theory, Value-Belief-Norm model and Ecological Systems Theory, and concludes that there are indirect relationships between Environmental Education and Sustainable Lifestyles via Sustainability Competencies, and also a direct pathway was identified. Some essential findings and propositions are given, and suggestions to curriculum, pedagogy, teacher preparation and policy are offered at the Middle Stage, especially in the context of the National Education Policy 2020 in India. This publication contains: Environmental Education; Sustainable Lifestyles; Sustainable Competencies; Education for Sustainable Development; Middle Stage Schooling; Adolescents.