Sustainability forms one of the global social challenges that schools are called upon to address educationally, both in relation to the physical environment of schools, as organizational issues, and as teaching and learning practices. The aim of this paper is to discuss how education for sustainable development (ESD) is interpreted as pedagogical practice in schools in the light of the current comprehensive school reform in Denmark (Danish Ministry of Education, 2013). The study is a part of a larger research project (www.shs.au.dk) exploring translation processes of health education and ESD - from political intensions in global calls, national curriculum and local action plans - to school practices. The research is framed within a critical pedagogical conceptualizasion of health education and ESD (e.g. Reid et al, 2008), treating the school as an active player, rather than a passive receiver of externally defined goals, stressing issues of participation, ownership and social learning. The paper will first outline the main differences in the conceptualization of education for sustainable development between the previous and the current national curriculum. Then, based on a qualitative interview study, the understandings of the teachers and school principals will be discussed. The analytical focus will be on the similarities and differences in their perceptions of aims, approaches, content and contextualisations of education for sustainable development. One of the issues that the paper will raise is the importance of collective translation processes for the longer term anchoring of the field.

Danish Ministry of Education 2013. Danish Ministry of Education (2013). Lov om ændring af lov om folkeskolen og forskellige andre love. Lov Nr. 1640. [Reform of Act for Primary and Lower Secondary School]. Law No. 1640. Retrieved January 24, 2014, from http://www.uvm.dk/ Carlsson, M. S., & Simovska, V. (2012). Exploring Learning Outcomes of School-based Health Promotion: a multiple case study. Health Education Research, 27(3), 437-447. Reid, A., Bjarne B. J., Jutta, N. and Simovska, V. (2008) “Participation and Learning: Developing Perspectives on Education and the Environment, Health and Sustainability. In Alan R. et al. (eds.) Participation and Learning: Perspectives on Education and the Environment, Health and Sustainability. Springer.