Education for sustainable development in China: experiences from school teachers’ perspectives and enactments

Abstract Given the rapid development of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the global north and south, the status of ESD in Chinese primary education remains underexplored. Teachers, who play a critical role as education stakeholders in enacting and spreading the influences of ESD, have been largely overlooked in ESD research focusing on China. This paper therefore aimed to narrow this research gap and provide an empirical snapshot illustrating the progress of ESD through the eyes of Chinese primary school teachers. Drawing on an analysis of 151 questionnaires and 25 semi-structured interviews, the study finds that ESD is primarily interpreted as environmental education and often linked through the literal connections of 'sustainability', 'education', and 'development'. ESD is enacted mainly through school activities, policies, curricula, and extracurricular opportunities, though inconsistencies in implementation are evident. The findings provides empirical evidence of ESD in Chinese primary education and build foundations for further investigation into how ESD can be more effectively integrated and practiced within China’s educational system.