Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives on Integrating Education for Sustainable Development in the Chilean Curriculum

Education for sustainable development (ESD) has been UNESCO’s response to the climate crisis, promoting a reframing of what, where, and how students learn so they can act on environmental challenges. In Chile, while several initiatives have aimed to promote environmental education, their impact has been limited, lacking depth in terms of curricular content and teaching practices. When analysing the Chilean national curriculum, there remains a significant gap in how sustainability-related content is delivered to students. This study explores why this gap exists and examines teachers’ and students’ perceptions regarding the integration of ESD in the curriculum. To achieve this, interviews and a focus group with teachers were conducted, alongside questionnaires for both teachers and students. Findings indicate a lack of teacher preparation in ESD: many teachers report having taught related topics without feeling adequately equipped to do so. Although the current Chilean curriculum includes references to sustainability, and upcoming updates are expected to strengthen this focus, teachers require targeted professional development to effectively implement ESD in practice. Additionally, most students surveyed expressed interest in learning more about sustainability and the climate crisis and believe these topics should be more present in the curriculum. However, results suggest that curriculum adjustments and teacher training alone are insufficient. For ESD to be fully integrated, support must also be extended to school leadership teams, and structural school conditions must be addressed. Further research is needed to explore the views of other key educational actors regarding the integration of sustainability into Chilean education policy and practice.