TY - CHAP

T1 - Assessment of Competencies for Sustainability in Secondary Education in Mexico

AU - Rodríguez-Aboytes, Jorge Gustavo

AU - Nieto-Caraveo, Luz María

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Given a conceptual model of competencies for sustainability, such as the generic competency for sustainability established in the secondary education latest reform in Mexico, an assessment of competencies for sustainability was conducted in order to determine, in an exploratory way, the level of achievement of those competencies in the students of the main high school institution in the city of Matehuala. Within the assessment process, an analysis of the institution curriculum was required, and interactions with and teachers through interviews, focus groups, and workshops. An assessment framework was constructed in order to design an instrument that generates the learning evidence regarding those sustainability competencies and, thus, to infer their levels of achievement. The instrument consisted of a performance task, and a knowledge and attitudes questionnaire. It was applied to 60 students, divided in 3 groups according to their level of instruction. Despite the small differences among the three groups, the results showed that all students have good attitudes towards sustainability and understand the basic terms related to it; however, their performance in systemic thinking, prospective thinking and the ability to propose strategies are not developed well enough to face the challenges that the environmental and civilization crisis demand nowadays.

AB - Given a conceptual model of competencies for sustainability, such as the generic competency for sustainability established in the secondary education latest reform in Mexico, an assessment of competencies for sustainability was conducted in order to determine, in an exploratory way, the level of achievement of those competencies in the students of the main high school institution in the city of Matehuala. Within the assessment process, an analysis of the institution curriculum was required, and interactions with and teachers through interviews, focus groups, and workshops. An assessment framework was constructed in order to design an instrument that generates the learning evidence regarding those sustainability competencies and, thus, to infer their levels of achievement. The instrument consisted of a performance task, and a knowledge and attitudes questionnaire. It was applied to 60 students, divided in 3 groups according to their level of instruction. Despite the small differences among the three groups, the results showed that all students have good attitudes towards sustainability and understand the basic terms related to it; however, their performance in systemic thinking, prospective thinking and the ability to propose strategies are not developed well enough to face the challenges that the environmental and civilization crisis demand nowadays.

KW - Assessment

KW - Secondary education

KW - Sustainability competencies

KW - Sustainability Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071583741&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-70560-6_13

DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-70560-6_13

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:85071583741

SN - 978-3-319-88961-0

SN - 978-3-319-70559-0

T3 - World Sustainability Series

SP - 199

EP - 216

BT - Sustainable Development Research and Practice in Mexico and Selected Latin American Countries

A2 - Filho, Walter Leal

A2 - Noyola-Cherpitel, Ricardo

A2 - Medellin-Milan, Pedro

A2 - Vargas, Valeria Ruiz

PB - Springer Verlag

CY - Cham

ER -