To Örebro University

Nordic exceptionalism conveys a perception of innocence whereby Nordic states are exemplary in regard to justice, as exemplary states, including a strong dedication in education to action competence around sustainable development. Yet, Nordic countries are embedded in, not outside, longstanding global power inequalities. This necessitates a critically reflective approach to global citizenship education (GCE). This paper explores corresponding tensions between action and reflexivity given researchers' concerns about solutionism. The authors consider how neoliberalism shapes the demand for action-oriented GCE. They identify opportunities to rethink the concepts of action and individual solutionism, underscoring the need for collective approaches in a world where injustice and multiple crises can render young people passive and disengaged. They argue critical reflexivity is particularly needed given how right-wing populist parties currently influence politics, challenging the premise the Nordic countries are losing their role as global 'good states'.

This paper revisits and expands a decade-old call to engage the political dimensions of environmental and sustainability education (ESE). With intensifying climate impacts and widening global inequities, global justice has become central to ESE. Climate change is not only a scientific concern but a lived reality shaped by colonial legacies, structural inequalities, and power imbalances. Drawing on critical global citizenship education (GCE) and educational philosophy, we examine the roles of educators amid interwoven environ-mental, social, and political crises. Teaching sustainability is not merely technical or scientific but also ethical, existential, and political. Inspired by recent scholarship across ESE, GCE, political science, and philosophy, we outline five interrelated educational guidelines for a global justice-oriented ESE. These guidelines support educators in critically addressing intersecting injustices through meaningful, critical engagement. We conclude that ESE’s future lies in creating transformative spaces that foster ethical responsibility, political awareness, and collective action for a just and sustainable world.

In this theoretical paper, we argue that ESE is caught between the existential dimension of its content and the instrumentalisation of the education system in which it operates. We argue that the tension between the existential dimension and instrumentalism manifests in five aspects of ESE, which direct ESE in profoundly different directions. We build our understanding of the existential dimension in ESE on Karl Jaspers’ (1883–1969) existential philosophy and prior research on the existential dimension in ESE. Drawing on a theoretical foundation from existential philosophy, we outline what it might mean when ESE teaching content becomes the student’s own existential question. Our view of instrumentalism in ESE is informed by recent work within educational philosophy on instrumentalism in education. The five aspects of ESE where the tension between the existential dimension and instrumentalism manifests are: (i) the aim of education, (ii) the role of knowledge, (iii) the role of students’ prior experiences, (iv) the role of emotions and (v) the role of time. In our closing discussion, we address the possibilities of making room for the existential dimension of ESE teaching content, given the dominant, and possibly hegemonic, position of instrumentalism in education today.

Miljö och hållbar utveckling hör till vår tids stora ödesfrågor, och mycket talar för att vi behöver förändra vårt samhälle och sätt att leva i grunden. Utbildningen spelar en nyckelroll i denna omställning som kräver nya kunskaper, synsätt och värderingar. Men att utbilda för förändring ställer också lärare inför nya didaktiska utmaningar. I denna bok presenteras didaktiska modeller som stödjer lärares arbete med miljö- och hållbarhetsutbildning. Modellerna utgör tankeverktyg som lärare kan använda vid val av innehåll och arbetsformer när de planerar sin undervisning. Innehållet i boken bygger på didaktisk forskning som författarna har bedrivit de senaste två decennierna, och lägger särskilt fokus på de etiska och politiska aspekterna av miljö- och hållbarhetsutbildning. Didaktiska modeller för miljö och hållbarhetsutbildning vänder sig till lärarstuderande, lärarutbildare och verksamma lärare som undervisar om miljö och hållbar utveckling på grundskolans högstadium, gymnasiet och inom högre utbildning och folkbildning.

Swedish students regularly take part in school partnership trips to Tanzania. Yet, little research looks at the extent to which these trips support global learning. This paper is interested in the discourses that enable and constrain ethical relationality in these educative encounters. It considers existing research on global citizenship education and school partnerships in relation to decolonial engagements then analyses interview data with four students who participated in an entrepreneurship themed trip to identify discourses available to them. Students articulated an overarching discourse of taken-for-grantedness. Several sub-discourses could enable but tend to constrain an ethical relationality in these educative encounters.

This article aims to identify and shed light on areas of possibility and barriers for teachers who want to take on a critical approach to global justice issues (GJI). Fifteen upper secondary school teachers from four schools in Sweden participated in focus groups and discussions during a workshop on decolonial and critical approaches to teaching GJI to explore possibilities and challenges. Participants understand critical approaches as those that challenge mainstream perspectives and see this as both difficult and necessary. They express that there are plenty of opportunities and support to take such an approach in the existing curriculum but also note school-level challenges such as a crowded curriculum and assessment-focused culture. Participants find it difficult to engage the current generation of students in recognising and interrogating mainstream approaches and also in linking local and global responsibilities and concerns whereby GJIs can feel either “too close” or “too far away.” Yet, these teachers are highly motivated to take up the challenge and innovate their teaching accordingly. The research contributes to understanding the possibilities and potential foreclosures regarding how teachers approach GJIs in their classrooms. Overall, our research highlights the need to support, develop and sustain reflexive approaches.

Gifted and talented children should be identified at an early stage and provided with opportunities to thrive, flourish, and develop in inclusive education. Inclusive education refers to a sense of belonging, and development to one’s fullest, including talent development. This international scoping review aims to investigate contextual and environmental factors contributing to well-functioning inclusive education, with a particular focus on early identification of gifted and talented children. The Bioecological model for human development and the Differentiating Model of Giftedness and Talent constituted the framework. Twenty-three (N=23) research articles were included and two thematical analyses were conducted. Regarding early identification, five influential factors (i.e., themes) were created: Knowledge about giftedness and talent; Opportunities for all children to demonstrate their abilities; Identification strategies; Collaborations; and Teacher education and professional development. Regarding well-functioning inclusive education, five factors (i.e., themes) were created, which, in addition to early identification, will also play a role; these were: Policies recognising inclusion and gifted and talented children; Appreciation of diversity; Additional educational provisions; Peer interactions and learning; and Home-school partnership. A factor model for early identification and well-functioning inclusive education targeting giftedness and talent is presented, and suggestions for practitioners and further research are provided.

Considering the current state of our planet, the need for a vibrant environmental and sustainability education (ESE) is arguably more pressing than ever. However, education at large has also become increasingly characterized by accountability, measurements, and high-stakes testing. Consequently, ESE presently finds itself caught in a tension between two competing educational logics, namely an existential one and an instrumental one.

There is undoubtedly a deeply existential dimension to ESE as the content of its educational practices have profound implications for continued human (and non-human) existence (Affifi & Christie, 2019; Vandenplas et al., 2023; Verlie, 2019). ESE involves issues about severe threats to our planet and the extinction of numerous species as well as vast global economic and social inequalities. As such, sustainability issues touch upon the very nerve of what it means to grow up in a society where dreadful visions of the future seem to be closing in. Such visions can spark strong moral emotions in students as well as ignite intense political discussions about the development of society (Sund & Öhman, 2014; Van Poeck et al., 2019). In short, the educational content of ESE carries profound existential implications for both teachers and students that need to be carefully handled in the classroom (Vandenplas et al., 2023).

At the same time, sustainable development is being taught within a broader system of schooling characterized by instrumentalism rather than devotion to existential concerns. Many European educational systems have moved in a direction of increased teacher accountability and a stronger focus on test results and measurable outcomes (Grek, 2020). Taken together, the changing institutional condition of schooling means that teachers and students today face a harsh educational reality where didactical autonomy is being reduced and knowledge requirements are to be met. This means that there is a risk that schoolwork is being presented to students in instrumental terms that encourages them to pursue good grades for the sake of personal benefit rather than a sincere commitment to the survival of life on earth. Put succinctly, teachers and students engaged in ESE are today caught in a tension between two fundamentally different logics – an existential and an instrumental – that pose a serious pedagogical challenge.

The aim of this paper is to theoretically specify the relation between the existential and the instrumental logic in ESE.