Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is not only about teaching and learning for sustainable development but also it is about practicing sustainability principles at schools (UNESCO, 2020). It is important to put sustainability at the heart of the school education through organization, teaching and learning activities, school facilities and community engagement (Tilbury & Galvin, 2022). A whole school approach (WSA) to ESD is related to embedding sustainability in all aspects of school life from curriculum, pedagogical approaches, school management to school operations (Henderson & Tilbury, 2004). It also advocates learning outside the school and partnership with the local community (Tilbury & Galvin, 2022). Whole school approach was conceptualized in the academic literature and its core dimensions were determined. Several WSA models from the literature (Shallcross, 2005; Shallcross & Robinson, 2008; Wals & Mathie, 2022) guided to designing this study’s questions and analytical framework. For instance, in a recent WSA model Wals and Mathie (2022) described 6 core dimensions which are 1)instituonal practices, 2) capacity building, 3) pedagogy & learning, 4) community connections and 5) vision & ethos. The authors put vision, ethos and leadership in the center of the model. All dimensions of WSA model have numerous characteristics and interconnections and each dimension is essential for creating a sustainable school model. In this study, we have examined six aspects of WSA framework in order to explore schools’ ESD practices. These aspects are: school vision, teaching and learning, student engagement, community partnership, school leadership and institutional practices. While exploring teaching and learning aspect of WSA to ESD, we focused on three didactical questions (what, how and why) coming from the previous literature (Sund & Gericke, 2020).

Today, green school programs share a desire to transform education through WSA framework for being a model of sustainability (Gough, 2020). Green schools such as eco-schools can play an important role for increasing students’ willingness to take positive actions for sustainability (Scholz, 2011; Dzerefos, 2020). In this study, we examined one green school from Sweden and one green school from Turkey through WSA lens. Schools in Sweden actively participate in different green school programs like green flag eco-school and National Sustainable school award for a long time (Gericke, Manni & Stagell, 2020). In Turkish context, schools have engaged in eco-schools program since 1995 and recently, National Ministry of Education declared that they will make some regulations for integrating sustainable development goals in the whole school programs (MoNE, 2022). In the literature, there are several studies about the student-level impacts of these schools (eg., Olsson et al., 2016; Özsoy, Ertepınar & Sağlam, 2012). However, there is a need to examine how these schools embrace all aspects of WSA framework. In the policy level, after Green Deal was adopted by EU, the role of education towards a green transition was emphasized (Tilbury & Galvin, 2022). European Commission (2022) recommended to adopt WSA framework in education institutions and this new policy brought more opportunities for international cooperation in terms of advocating WSA  (Tilbury & Galvin, 2022). Through an international collaboration, this study provides a comprehensive perspective by examining different dimensions of WSA and identifying key drivers and barriers in implementing WSA to ESD in two green schools. Regardless of the previous literature, we aimed to explore two green schools’ ESD approach and implementations in two country contexts. Research questions of this study are:

• How key aspects of whole school approach to ESD appear at two green schools in Sweden and Turkey?
• What are the key drivers and barriers of influencing the use of whole school approach to ESD at two green schools in Sweden and Turkey? 

This is a multiple qualitative case study as case studies provide an intensive and holistic description of a bounded phenomena such as a program, an institution or an individual (Merriam, 1998). In this initial test of data within a international post doc collaboration project we have selected two schools which are currently implementing sustainability oriented programs. We identified these schools through contacting with green school organizations which are Keep Sweden Tidy and Turkish Environmental Education Foundation. Case school in Sweden is an ESD awarded secondary school (from 7th grade to 9th grade) and case school in Turkey is a green flag secondary eco-school (from 5th grade to 8th grade). We have collected data from three teachers and one principal in each country. In order to get a variety of perspectives related to ESD, teachers from different branches which were science, social science, art & design, language and home economics were interviewed. One green school coordinator from each school were also interviewed. Totally we have interviewed six teachers and two principals and interviews lasted about one hour. In order to collect data semi-structured interviews were used. We have prepared 16 interview questions for participating teachers and 11 interview questions for the principals. The interview questions focused on 6 dimensions of WSA to ESD. That is to say, we asked both teachers and principals about school vision, student engagement, community partnership and institutional practices. Separately, we asked teachers some questions about teaching and learning of ESD and we asked principals several questions about school leadership. Moreover, we examined schools’ websites and several school reports to validate interview responses. In order to analyze qualitative data, a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was conducted. Firstly a coding list were created based on the WSA framework derived from the relevant literature (eg., Shallcross & Robinson, 2008; Sterling, 2010; Wals & Mathie, 2022) and then, codes evolved from the data were added to this list. Six themes and 12 categories were identified during the data analysis. For instance, for the school vision theme, two categories were emerged 1) general awareness about sustainability 2) embedding sustainability into school subjects. Data from two schools were examined by the first author and then the second author. Both coders coded this data separately and coding process was compared. The themes and categories were discussed and after negotiations, inter-rater aggreement among the coders was found as %92.

This case study, a introductory test of data in a a larger international study, provided us some initial evidences how WSA to ESD is implemented in two green schools in two country contexts. We have presented results based on the six aspects of WSA. For instance, regarding teaching and learning of ESD, all subject teachers in both case schools teach sustainability subjects and develop extra-curricular activities. Cross-curricula collaboration is a common approach while teaching ESD in Swedish school as the national curriculum supports cross-curricula collaboration (Sund, Gericke & Bladh, 2020). However, in Turkish school, cross-curricula collaboration is limited because of intense curriculum content. In terms of community connection, in Swedish school, collaboration was developed with several organizations and students sometimes engaged in solving local problems in their community. In Turkish school, collaboration with the community mostly appeared with several activities such as tree planting, inviting organizatons for giving seminars. Principals and teachers in both schools highlighted environmentally focused practices such as reducing energy and water consumption, and recycling. In Turkish school, each year teachers and students work on a sustainability theme and eco-school coordinator voluntarily facilitate the process to ensure that sustainability is put into practice. In Swedish school, principal provided coordinator teacher to use 20% of her working hours to facilitate ESD activities at school. There are several committed teachers at local schools to push sustainability activities however, for a continious ESD implementation, all teachers and school staff should be encouraged and supported (Seiser, Mogren, Gericke, Berglund & Olsson, 2022). We will present detailed results to show how all aspects of WSA appear at two schools. Morever, we will discuss possible main drivers and barriers in realizing WSA to ESD based on the school contexts and country policies in the more extended international collaboration between Sweden and Turkey.

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