Access to Sustainability Education in Civics Classes in Lebanon: Teacher Choices and Influential Factors

In its Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) from 2005-2014, the United Nations emphasized the importance of education for achieving sustainable development and positive change. Under sustainability,... [ view full abstract ]

In its Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) from 2005-2014, the United Nations emphasized the importance of education for achieving sustainable development and positive change. Under sustainability, environmental protection is an essential feature as are social development and economic growth, necessitating equitable access to quality education. Today, with the conclusion of the DESD, the Lebanese National Curriculum has yet to see any significant revisions in the learning and teaching of environmental sustainability. We found that, in the national curriculum, environment-related topics are presented mostly in the civics textbooks. The grade eight civics textbook includes four one-hour lessons on environment. Teachers, however, do not always cover these lessons because they are excluded from the official exams. This, coupled with other shortcomings like outdated textbooks from 2004, a civics program designed primarily to promote social cohesion, and lack of student practice in the exercise of citizenship, highlight the importance of the teacher’s role in integrating environmental sustainability in the classroom. We explore the extent to which civics teachers in Lebanon following the Lebanese National Curriculum incorporate environmental sustainability themes in their classes and examine factors that influence related teacher choices. We argue that official exams, ministerial bureaucracies and traditions of didactic learning in Lebanon have limited access to learning about environmental sustainability and prevented the enhancement of a curriculum for sustainable citizenship.