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30 SES 05 A: Off the Beaten Paths: Methodological Approaches to Critical and Situated Research in Education for Sustainable Development
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30. Environmental and Sustainability Education Research (ESER)
Research Workshop Off the Beaten Paths: Methodological Approaches to Critical and Situated Research in Education for Sustainable Development 1: Ludwigsburg University of Pedagogy, Germany; 2: University of Applied Science, Zittau-Görlitz, Germany Presenting Author:Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is widely positioned as a key driver of socio-ecological transformation and as a central means for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (UNESCO, 2017; United Nations, 2024). Over the past decades, ESD has been strongly shaped by international policy frameworks, competency models, and normative expectations regarding education’s transformative potential. While these frameworks have contributed to the institutionalisation and global visibility of ESD, they have also been increasingly criticised for simplifying complex sustainability challenges, marginalising alternative epistemologies, and privileging technocratic or depoliticised approaches to learning (Vare & Scott, 2007; Tikly, 2023). Recent scholarship highlights fundamental tensions embedded in sustainability discourses, such as conflicts between ecological limits and economic growth, global policy agendas and local lifeworlds, or universalising narratives and situated experiences (Blühdorn et al., 2020; Henkel et al., 2023). These tensions become particularly visible in educational contexts, where ESD is expected to address environmental crises, social inequalities, colonial legacies, and questions of justice simultaneously. As a result, critical perspectives increasingly call for research approaches that go beyond established pedagogical logics and outcome-oriented models, advocating instead for reflexive, situated, and politically engaged forms of educational inquiry (Hamborg, 2017; Hutchinson et al., 2023). Against this background, the proposed Research Workshop focuses on methodological questions related to researching ESD from critical, relational, and transdisciplinary perspectives. Sustainability is not treated as a coherent or uncontested concept, but as a problem-oriented and societally embedded field that requires the integration of heterogeneous forms of knowledge and actor perspectives (Mittelstraß, 2002; Pohl & Hadorn, 2007; Hirsch Hadorn et al., 2008). The workshop foregrounds marginalised, critical, and “off the beaten path” perspectives that challenge dominant narratives of sustainability and education, with education serving as a central site where sustainability is negotiated, contested, and enacted. The workshop builds on insights from critical sustainability studies, decolonial theory, and transformative learning, while explicitly addressing the methodological implications of these perspectives for educational research. Particular attention is paid to qualitative and interpretive methodologies—such as situational analysis, discourse-oriented approaches, ethnographic research, and participatory methods—that are capable of capturing complexity, contradiction, and power relations in ESD practices. Emphasis is placed on reflexivity, positionality, and the production of situated knowledge (Haraway, 1988). Designed as an interactive and practice-oriented Research Workshop, the session combines short theoretical inputs with collaborative analytical activities. Participants work with empirical vignettes, mapping tools, and methodological prompts to reflect on how research designs can make tensions, silences, and exclusions visible. By doing so, the workshop aims to foster methodological exchange across disciplinary boundaries and research traditions, addressing researchers at different career stages who are interested in critically examining their methodological choices in sustainability-oriented educational research. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The Research Workshop follows a qualitative, participatory, and reflexive methodological design. It is grounded in interpretive research traditions that conceptualise knowledge production as situated, relational, and shaped by power relations. In addition, the workshop explicitly draws on principles of transdisciplinary research, which conceptualise research as a collaborative process across disciplinary and societal boundaries, oriented towards real-world problems and the reflexive integration of heterogeneous forms of knowledge (Pohl & Hadorn, 2007; Hirsch Hadorn et al., 2008). The workshop is structured in three phases. First, participants are introduced to key methodological challenges in researching ESD, particularly those arising from competing sustainability narratives (Tikly, 2023), tensions between instrumental and transformative learning (Vare & Scott, 2007), and critiques of dominant competency-based frameworks. These challenges are discussed in relation to broader debates on transdisciplinarity as a reconfiguration of scientific knowledge production beyond disciplinary logics (Mittelstraß, 2002). Second, participants engage in hands-on analytical activities using selected empirical materials, such as short case descriptions, interview excerpts, or policy documents. Working in small groups, they apply mapping techniques inspired by situational analysis and discourse mapping to identify actors, discourses, material conditions, and power relations within specific ESD contexts. This approach enables participants to experiment with methodological tools that allow for the analysis of complexity and contradiction without enforcing premature coherence. Third, the workshop foregrounds reflexivity as a central methodological principle. Participants are invited to reflect on their own positionalities, disciplinary backgrounds, and normative assumptions regarding sustainability and education. Guided discussion prompts support critical examination of how research questions, methods, and analytical categories shape what becomes visible or invisible in ESD research. Plenary discussions connect the practical exercises to broader methodological debates, including issues of decolonisation, power, and knowledge hierarchies in educational research. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The Research Workshop contributes to methodological debates in educational research on sustainability by foregrounding complexity, reflexivity, and critical engagement. By focusing on methodological approaches “off the beaten paths,” the workshop challenges dominant research paradigms that tend to universalise sustainability or reduce it to measurable outcomes and competencies. Participants are expected to gain a deeper understanding of how qualitative, interpretive, and transdisciplinary methodologies can be used to investigate contested, politically charged, and socially embedded processes of Education for Sustainable Development. The practical mapping exercises function not only as methodological training but also as a means of fostering critical dialogue about the epistemological and ethical dimensions of sustainability-oriented educational research. Within the context of ECER, the workshop contributes to broader discussions on how educational research can respond to socio-ecological crises without reproducing technocratic or depoliticised solutions. By drawing on transdisciplinary research principles, the workshop highlights the need for educational research to engage with societal actors, contested knowledge claims, and normative tensions inherent in sustainability-related fields (Pohl & Hadorn, 2007; Hirsch Hadorn et al., 2008). The workshop outcomes will inform the development of a collaborative position paper that synthesises the discussed methodological perspectives and identifies open questions and future research pathways. Rather than offering definitive answers, the paper will articulate tensions and possibilities, serving as a starting point for further collaborative research and publication activities. References Battiste, M. (2013). Decolonizing education: Nourishing the learning spirit. Purich Publishing. Blühdorn, I., Butzlaff, F., Deflorian, M., Hausknost, D., & Mock, M. (2020). Nachhaltige Nicht-Nachhaltigkeit. transcript. Hamborg, S. (2017). Critical perspectives on education for sustainable development. In M. Brodowski (Ed.), Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (pp. 15–31). Logos. Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599. Henkel, A., et al. (Eds.). (2023). Dilemmata der Nachhaltigkeit. Nomos. Hirsch Hadorn, G., Biber-Klemm, S., Grossenbacher-Mansuy, W., Hoffmann-Riem, H., Joye, D., Pohl, C., Wiesmann, U., & Zemp, E. (2008). The emergence of transdisciplinarity as a form of research. In G. Hirsch Hadorn et al. (Eds.), Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research (pp. 19–42). Springer. Hutchinson, Y., Ochoa, A. A. C., Paulson, J., & Tikly, L. (Eds.). (2023). Decolonizing education for sustainable futures. Bristol University Press. Mittelstraß, J. (2002). Transdisciplinarity – New structures in science. In Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (Ed.), Innovative structure in basic research (pp. 43–54). Pohl, C., & Hadorn, G. H. (2007). Principles for designing transdisciplinary research. Oekom. Tikly, L. (2023). Decolonizing education for sustainable futures. In Y. Hutchinson et al. (Eds.), Decolonizing education for sustainable futures (pp. 19–48). UNESCO. (2017). Education for sustainable development goals: Learning objectives. United Nations. (2024). Goal 4: Quality education. Vare, P., & Scott, W. (2007). Learning for a change. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 1(2), 191–198. | ||