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Bo Bo Lwin
(2024).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.00098089
Abstract
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a priority area for the United Nations and features in the Sustainable Development Goals. While Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have an important role in ESD, what ESD means and how it is integrated into HEIs requires further investigation in some contexts. Indeed, ESD in South-East Asian HEIs, including Myanmar, has rarely been studied. This research considers the conceptualisation of ESD in Myanmar HEIs’ context, desirable graduate attributes for the sustainable development of Myanmar, and factors that should influence the integration of ESD in, and the transformation of, Myanmar’s HEIs. An in-country scoping study helped formulate the research questions and design. All other data collection occurred remotely as first Covid-19, and then the Military coup, prevented in-country work.
A mixed methods approach was employed with qualitative data collected through key informant interviews (n=7) and two focus group discussions (FGD) with university teachers and students (n=19). A large survey (n=417) collected quantitative (and some qualitative) data on graduate attributes, triangulated by a follow-on survey with FGD participants (N=15).
Thematic analyses indicated that ESD can be viewed in two dimensions. First, desirable sustainable development for Myanmar can be reviewed through five thematic lenses: political, economic, sociocultural, environmental, and philosophical perspectives. Second, HEIs are expected to contribute to ESD by nurturing graduates with essential attributes, conducting locally relevant research and innovation, advocating for policy changes, and fostering learning hubs.
Statistical analyses highlighted the relative importance of graduate attributes for ESD, revealing some differences compared to UNESCO’s ESD competencies. The quantitative findings support the efficacy of the three pillars: Head, Heart, and Hand, in fostering graduate attribute development. The thematic analysis findings suggest an adapted ESD integration model as well as an adapted educational reconstruction model that can offer useful guidance for the transformation of Myanmar’s HEIs.
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