The political initiative of Taiwan’s education for sustainable development

Looking through the lens of Chinese legalism

Bibliographic Data

ID21728337
AuthorsYing-Syuan Huang (0000-0003-0148-6260, McGill University, corresponding author), Anila Asghar (0009-0001-6184-5870, McGill University)
Year2021
Volume19
Issue8
Pages925-949
Publication date2021-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolicy Futures in Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1478-2103 • E-ISSN: 1478-2103
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1478210321995650
OpenAlexW3135602774
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited65

This article examines the development of Taiwan’s Environmental Education Act and how Education for Sustainable Development was mainstreamed into the national policy framework within the country. The goal is to understand the policy tools and governing strategies that were used by the Taiwan government to develop and implement a nationwide environmental education policy for integrating environmental sustainability into all areas and levels of teaching and learning. Official documents related to national plans for ESD and environmental education policies were analyzed and examined. In particular, Chinese Legalism was used as a lens to interpret the government’s philosophy, assumptions, unspoken norms, legislative practices, and deliberate strategies. Several principles and techniques proposed by Chinese Legalists were used to examine the negotiation and formulation of Taiwan’s Environmental Education Act. This analysis contributes to our understanding of the ways in which UNESCO’s framework of ESD can be transferred into a national policy. A discussion of the Chinese Legalist philosophy also offers a cultural frame of reference to think about ESD politics and governance in other East Asian contexts

Corporate governance · Economics · Education for sustainable development · Education policy · Environmental education · Environmental governance · Higher education · Management · Negotiation · Philosophy of education · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Law · Public Administration · Socioeconomic Development in Asia

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Open DOIOpen Access