How do districts and schools respond to ecological crises? ‘Education for Ecological Transition’ as an interpretive process in the organizational and political contexts

Abstract This study seeks to connect national, local and school educational practices by examining local and school responses, based on national education policy, to the ecological crisis facing public schools in South Korea. Through interviews with 18 local administrators, policymakers, principals and teachers in two school districts, this study explores how educational policies are enacted as political and organizational products of the two regions and how these policies are implemented through teachers' instructional practices. The case of two politically and socioculturally distinct regions is important because it draws attention to individual understandings and perceptions of specific educational issues and related policies, as well as the organizational and political contexts that influence them. Given that local and teacher responses to ecological crises are central to educating students to achieve a more sustainable ecology, this review reveals a lack of quality environmental education.