A Curriculum Analysis: Evaluating the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals within the Nova Scotia Grade 10 Curriculum

Abstract

In recent years there has been attention around levels of education for sustainable development (ESD) in school curricula. Education for sustainable development has been a term used to describe curricula that involve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There have been a plethora of studies examining how the United Nations SDGs have been incorporated into school curricula; however, this type of study has not yet been performed in Nova Scotia. This study seeks to examine the extent to which United Nations SDGs are represented in the Nova Scotia grade 10 curriculum. This study was carried out using a qualitative content analysis. The results depicted that SDG representation among the grade 10 courses was disproportionate and that certain types of classes had higher representation than other classes. The results also show that certain SDGs are covered at higher frequencies than others. The discussion examines the discrepancies in SDG coverage that students are exposed to depending on what classes they choose to take. Additionally, the discussion investigates perceived barriers to implementing ESD into curricula. Lastly, there are suggestions for future studies and how the Nova Scotia high school curricula can better incorporate ESD into the various courses.