From Sustainability Topics to Opportunities for Learner Action: A Cross-Grade Content Analysis of Indonesian Senior High School English Textbooks

Although sustainability has received increasing attention in English language teaching and textbook research, less is known about how sustainability-related content is pedagogically developed across consecutive grade levels in Indonesia’s current Merdeka Curriculum textbooks. This study examines how sustainability is represented and pedagogically developed across three official Indonesian senior high school English textbooks for Grades X–XII. Using hybrid deductive–inductive qualitative content analysis, guided by a study-specific coding framework and supported by descriptive quantitative summaries, 290 sustainability-related analytical segments were identified and examined in terms of thematic coverage and pedagogical depth. Sustainability was represented through social, environmental, and economic concerns, although thematic emphases varied across grades. The health and well-being theme was the most frequent overall, Grade XI showed the broadest thematic range, and Grade XII placed greater emphasis on energy, climate, digital responsibility, and economic participation. Of the 239 segments coded within the three pedagogical-depth categories, 45.2% were classified as Knowledge, 36.0% as Critical Reflection, and 18.8% as Opportunities for Learner Action. Separately, 51 of all 290 sustainability-related segments (17.6%) were classified as No Sustainability-oriented Pedagogical Demand (NPD). The cross-grade comparison did not reveal a cumulative progression toward increasingly reflective or action-oriented pedagogical demands. Instead, pedagogical depth varied unevenly across grades, indicating a need for stronger continuity among Knowledge, Critical Reflection, and Opportunities for Learner Action across the textbook series.