Research And Model Construction Of Sustainable Development Literacy Index For Middel School And Secondary School Students

Education for sustainable development is currently an important issue in basic education in countries around the world,with broad content is broad and many subject areas.Due to the relative lack of knowledge and values of sustainable development and the weak understanding of the relationship between human beings and nature,it is difficult to reach a consensus on some concepts and connotations,which hinders the promotion of sustainable development education.This study conducts an empirical study on the current situation of sustainable development literacy among middle school and secondary school students,constructs a model of sustainable development literacy,provides a basis for sustainable development education and evaluation,and has important theoretical and practical significance for the further deepening of sustainable development education.Based on the international consensus principle of sustainable values in Earth Charter,this study adopts a mixed quantitative and qualitative research method to analyze the learning objectives in geography curriculum standards of seven countries,including the United States,the United Kingdom,Singapore,Australia,Finland,Canada,and China by SPSS 20.0,WORDSTAT 8.0,and QDA MINER 5.0 software as the analysis tools.The learning objectives of geography curriculum in seven countries were quantitatively coded and qualitatively analyzed to assess the value and function of the geography curriculum for education for sustainable development.At the same time,in-depth interviews and expert consultations were conducted to screen out appropriate indicators of sustainable development literacy evaluation,a sustainable development literacy indicator system was constructed,which is applicable to middle school and secondary school students,a sustainable development literacy evaluation scale was compiled with high reliability and validity,and conducted a questionnaire survey accordingly with 539 secondary school students in middle school and secondary school in Shanghai.Based on the work above,the main findings of this study are as following:Firstly,a content analysis of the international geography curriculum was conducted to clarify the extent to which the geography curriculum embodies the connotation of sustainable development literacy and to analyze the basis for the construction of sustainable development indicators.The study shows that geography curriculum standards of seven countries as a whole embody the principle of ecological integrity,including the cultivation of ecologically relevant competencies for sustainable development such as the emphasis on environmental problem analysis and solution skills.In addition,the geography curriculum standards as a whole focus on the concept of human-earth coordination and the development of geographic skills,but slightly emphasize the importance of environmental ethics and sustainable development values.Secondly,the research on the current status of middle school and secondary school students’ found that: the overall level of school students’ sustainable development literacy in Shanghai is relatively high,among which the ability and attitude levels are high,but there is a disconnection between sustainability knowledge and sustainability behavior.The index system of students’ sustainable development literacy can be used as a basis for implementing ecological education.Different genders,grades,ages,and parents’ education levels have significant differences on the total score and factor levels of students’ sustainable development literacy.Thirdly,an empirical study was conducted in Shanghai middle school and secondary school students by using a self-administered scale to propose the main influencing factors of students’ sustainable development literacy.This study showed that sustainable development attitude and sustainable development ability significantly influenced students’ sustainable development literacy;knowledge of sustainable development did not have a significant effect on students’ sustainable development literacy;students’ sustainable development attitude had a direct positive effect on their sustainable development ability.This study also explores strategies and suggestions for implementing sustainable development literacy into the school geography curriculum.Combining the current characteristics of international education for sustainable development and taking the geography curriculum standards as the guide,a curriculum framework for sustainable development was proposed,as well as the path to integrate education for sustainable development into the school geography curriculum and the realization methods to be implemented in geography curriculum and teaching.