Sustainability competencies in education are regarded as crucial both politically and educationally, to empower new generations to contribute effectively to a sustainable society (UNESCO, 2017). In education, a competence-driven approach to learning has gained prominence, indicating a shift from what is taught to what is learned. This process has been referred to as "The Competence Turn" in education (Vare, 2022), suggesting a move from a content-focused approach towards more competence-driven education. This shift has also impacted Environmental and sustainability education (ESE), where key competencies for sustainability have been promoted as learning objectives in policy and by many researchers (Rieckmann, 2018; Wiek et al., 2011; Brundiers et al., 2021).

Competencies encompass cognitive, affective, volitional, and motivational elements (UNESCO, 2017; Brundiers et al., 2021) and cannot be taught, but rather must be developed by the students themselves (UNESCO, 2017). Several competencies are identified as specific to ESE, predominantly discussed in the context of higher education (Brundiers et al., 2021; Rieckmann, 2012; UNESCO, 2017; Wiek et al., 2011). There is little consensus on which competencies are necessary, how they are defined, and whether some are more important than others (Mochizuki & Fadeeva, 2010; Rieckmann, 2012). Generally, only brief descriptions of the competencies are provided, but Brundiers et al.’s (2021) Delphi study offers more in-depth insights. In this study, we rely on the descriptions by Brundiers et al. (2021) and consider the following competencies: systems-thinking, futures-thinking, values-thinking, strategic- thinking, problem-exploration, implementation, and collaboration. However, we have chosen to separate critical thinking as its own competency and replace problem-solving competency with problem-exploration competency, in line with Authors (2022).

Brief descriptions of sustainability competencies: Systems-thinking competencies involves the ability to analyze complex systems across domains in time and space, uncovering effects and responses (Wiek et al., 2011); Futures-thinking competencies is the ability to analyze, evaluate, redefine, and continuously refine one's own future thinking, while recognizing how today's societal functions influence future thinking (Brundiers et al., 2021; Wiek et al., 2011); Values-thinking competencies involves mapping, applying, and negotiating sustainability values, principles, and goals (Wiek et al., 2011), with a focus on one's own and society's values (Brundiers et al., 2021). Strategic-thinking competencies involves developing strategies for sustainable actions (Wiek et al., 2011), as well as recognizing the background for the lack of sustainability, resistance to, and barriers to change (Brundiers et al., 2021). Problem-exploration competencies involves integrating and combining steps in the problem exploration process by building on disciplines and interdisciplinarity (Authors, 2022). Implementation competencies is the ability to participate in or lead change processes that disrupt or disturb existing patterns of action. Collaboration competencies emphasizes, among other things, motivation for collaboration with others and insight into one's own role, as well as awareness of one's own emotions (Authors, 2022). Critical thinking competencies is the ability to question norms, practices, and opinions; reflect on one's own values, perceptions, and actions; and take a position in the sustainability discourse (UNESCO, 2017).

A analysis of the “Country” curriculum conducted by Authors (2022) revealed that both the general and the subject-specific curricula had few codes related to the sustainability competencies of futures-thinking, strategic-thinking, and implementation. This may suggest that teachers themselves need to be mindful of incorporating these into their ESE.

This study will therefore examine which sustainability competencies students apply after completing instruction related to sustainability issues in secondary school. The research questions are: RQ 1: Which sustainability competencies do students apply? and RQ 2: How frequently do students use the various sustainability competencies?

The study is a document analysis (Bowen, 2009) of student texts from 18 students (11 boys and 7 girls) in a secondary school in a Norwegian municipality with approximately 5,000 inhabitants. The sample is a convenience sample since the student texts were readily available to the researchers (Cohen et al., 2018). The students participated in lessons with many different approaches to plastic. The student texts in this study were produced at the end of the educational program on plastic, where sustainable development was a central theme. They consisted of a scientific report expanded with two questions: Can we live without plastic? and Is plastic sustainable? The responses to these two questions form the basis for the analysis. The data material was analyzed deductively using two analytical tools: indicators of achievement for sustainability competencies and dispositions and skills in critical thinking (Authors, 2022, appendices 1 and 2). Considering the nature of the assignment given to the students, we deemed it unsuitable to analyze their texts for collaboration and problem-exploration competencies. Consequently, these competencies have been excluded from further analysis in this study.

The students are capable of recognizing the complexity within a system and understanding that multiple factors influence each other. They also incorporate both values-thinking and, to a certain extent, futures-thinking. The students largely engage critically with the issues and propose strategies to address them. However, what is lacking is implementation competencies, which is the final step toward taking action. When we analyzed how the students achieved the various competencies, we identified significant potential for guiding them towards a deeper understanding of sustainability issues. This could be accomplished by providing feedback on their use of sustainability competencies, for example. While the task texts were limited, we observed that they provided opportunities for students to delve deeper and incorporate more aspects of future-thinking and values-thinking. If you are going to work towards something, you need a clear goal in mind, such as future scenarios to aim for, as described in the future-thinking competencies. This study suggests that teachers need to work more explicitly on futures-thinking competencies when exploring sustainability issues. Students should be able to participate in or lead change processes that break away from or disrupt established patterns of behavior in our society (Authors et al., 2022), which also requires an increased focus on strategic-thinking and implementation competencies. Allowing students to try out different projects in practice by including all sustainability competencies, where they gain experience with implementation and evaluate which strategies are effective and what is needed to carry out different measures in the most effective way, can therefore be beneficial for them to make informed decisions on complex sustainability issues. By emphasizing and providing guidance on sustainability competencies, we believe this approach can foster a more nuanced understanding of ESE.

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