No Child in the Norwegian Woods. : A Study on Education for Sustainable Development in Norwegian Primary Schooling.

Abstract

This thesis is a study on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Norwegian Primary Schooling.It takes two different school types, State Schools and Steiner Schools, as to make this broad topic easier accessible. By means of observational fieldwork, in-depth interviews and document analysis I to investigated the status quo of ESD in Norway in 2010. Based on a systemic approach by Urie Bronfenbrenner and theories about the emergence of Environmental Citizenship Behaviour by Hungerford & Volk it looked at how ESD is approached and implemented. Several layers have been identified to contribute to ESD's implementation. On each level, crucial factors that either favour or exacerbate ESD have been identified. It has been shown that ESD is a phenomenon that is present at several political and social levels. The thesis argues that ESD is not given the priority that several international and national documents on the issue demand it to be, and both cultural, political, and social factors have been identified as having influence on this.