Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is recognized as “an integral element of quality education and a key enabler for sustainable development” (UN, n.d.). However, little is known about good practice that influences students’ ESD outcome (Laurie et al., 2016). This study highlights the self-conception of schools’ freedom and space as a predictor for students’ ESD outcome. The research question is to what extent does the differently perceived degrees of freedom at a private primary school and the lack of freedom at a state secondary school influence the possibility of developing an ESD-friendly school? Both schools are selected based on their curricular dedication to ESD. Guided in-depth group interviews with school staff, parents and students were conducted and analyzed. Participants were selected based on the principals’ suggestion; participation was voluntary. The interviews (two/three interviews at the private/state school, ca. 60’ each) were recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were deductively coded using MaxQDA. The qualitative content analysis follows mixed procedures of content structuring/theme analysis (Mayring, 2000; Rädiker/ Kuckartz, 2019). The results of the document analysis and the observation report are also included and underline the results of the interviews. At the state school a lack of freedom is examined: The need for freedom is reflected in the fact that the terms “free” and “space” appear 35 times in the interviews, mostly as something missing (“Yes, because without this freedom, and the freedom affects the teachers just as much as the students, it somehow remains very exhausting. (TR226765, Pos. 19)"). In contrast, the terms appear only 6 times within the private school interviews and then mostly framed positively as something that already exists ("So you are not so helplessly at the mercy of a system, but the freedom of this system also enables you to go other ways. (TR220623, Pos. 18)"). The two cases show clear differences in terms of freedom: While the private school already considers a strong perception of already existing freedom and developmental space as a success factor, the state high school seeks to increase the degrees of freedom because staff and students consider it as a crucial component for a successful ESD. The differences between the schools are striking. Further studies must reveal whether these differences are representative of state schools - and whether sufficient freedom in terms of interests and participation, personnel development and empowerment, school development and grading are actually predictive for an intended ESD outcome.

Laurie, R., Nonoyama-Tarumi, Y., Mckeown, R., & Hopkins, C. (2016). Contributions of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to Quality Education: A Synthesis of Research. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 10(2), 226–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408216661442 Mayring, P. (2000). Qualitative Content Analysis. FQS Forum: Qualitative Social Research Sozialforschung, 1(2), Article 20, 81–120. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190215491.003.0004 Rädiker, S., & Kuckartz, U. (2019). Analyse qualitativer Daten mit MAXQDA: Text, Audio und Video. Lehrbuch. Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-22095-2 United Nations (n.d.). SDG4. Education. https://sdgs.un.org/topics/education