Dissertation - Details
Dissertation of Marco Rieckmann
“The Global Perspective of Education for Sustainable Development – an Intercultural Delphi-Study on Key Competencies for Thinking and Acting Globally in the World Society” (working title)
Short description:
Background and research objectives
The accelerating process of globalisation is resulting in an increasing complexity of our current society; almost all ecological, social and economic challenges have a global dimension. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and global education aim at developing (key) competencies which enable individuals to understand global relationships and to shape the (world) society they live in for sustainable development.
In Germany, the development of “Gestaltungskompetenz” (“shaping competence”) is discussed as the central learning target of education for sustainable development. Besides this competence concept, other approaches have been developed in the context of global education. On the international level, the OECD project “Definition and Selection of Competencies” (DeSeCo) has developed a framework for defining relevant competencies for living in an interdisciplinary and international knowledge society. However, it can be stated that neither in Germany nor in the international ESD debate does there exist an agreement about a competence concept for global education/education for sustainable development.
Against this background, the objective of the study is to develop an interculturally acceptable framework of key competencies relevant for global thinking and acting in the world society, and thus to contribute to the elaboration of the global perspective of education for sustainable development. Given this goal the study asks: Which individual key competencies are crucial for understanding the central challenges of the world society and for shaping it in terms of sustainable development?
Empirical design
The empirical design of the study is related to a Delphi-study, an approach that is very appropriate for group communication, among other things because it can prevent opinion leadership. In a multi-round questioning procedure – using an internet-based questionnaire – the relevant key competencies for the research question will be defined by ESD/global education experts from Europe (Germany, United Kingdom) and Latin America (Ecuador, Chile, Mexico). The survey will be carried out in English, Spanish and German.
On the basis of the results of the Delphi-study, on the one hand a framework will be defined for key competencies for global thinking and acting in the world society, and on the other hand it will become apparent which cultural or regional particularities have to be taken into account.
Funding: doctoral scholarship of the Heinrich Böll Foundation (September 2007-August 2009)
First Reviewer: Prof. Dr. Gerd Michelsen, Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication, Leuphana University of Lüneburg
Second Reviewer: Prof. Dr. Ute Stoltenberg, Institute for Integrative Studies, Leuphana University of Lüneburg
Third Reviewer: Prof. Dr. Annette Scheunpflug, Chair in Pedagogy I, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg