From theory to practice: Developing and applying educational indicators for Just Transition pedagogy

This study develops and applies educational indicators for Just Transition pedagogy, addressing the lack of tools that connect education to struggles for both social justice and critical environmental concerns. Drawing on literature in Just Transition, critical pedagogy, and sustainability education, thirteen indicators were created across three constructs: critical thinking, coexistence, and student agency. These were applied to analyze two graduate-student lesson plans on Indigenous peoples and sustainable tourism in Taiwan. Strong intercoder reliability between human and AI-assisted coders confirmed the robustness of the indicators as tools for curriculum analysis. The analysis showed that the lesson plans encourage learners to think critically, foster coexistence, and strengthen agency in resisting injustice within the context of Just Transition. Yet, a central challenge persisted: local issues were insufficiently connected to global concerns. This underscores the need for education to link local and global struggles, making visible the importance of transnational solidarity as a cornerstone of Just Transition, while the theoretical framework developed here highlights the potential of Just Transition pedagogy to serve as a site intersecting environmental issues and social justice.