IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i20p9104-d1771068.html

Pedagogical Strategies for Teaching Environmental Literacy in Secondary School Education: A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Ziyin Xiong

    (School of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China)

  • Yuye Song

    (School of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China)

  • Ruizhi Zhu

    (School of International Organizations, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing 100089, China)

Abstract

Environmental literacy is essential for preparing students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to address pressing environmental challenges. This systematic literature review examines how pedagogical approaches used in secondary education foster students’ environmental literacy. The review enriches the current literature by shifting attention away from the predominant focus on higher education and providing new empirically grounded insights into the effectiveness of classroom practices in enhancing students’ environmental literacy at the secondary education level. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, 22 peer-reviewed studies published between 2010 and 2024 were identified through Web of Science, Scopus and ERIC. The analysis is guided by Joyce and Calhoun’s taxonomy of teaching models and the conceptualization of environmental literacy developed by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). Findings show that strategies grounded in the social family and information-processing models of teaching were most frequently used, reflecting a pedagogical shift toward collaboration, critical thinking, and active engagement, yet a significant gap remains in cultivating environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). The review highlights the need for pedagogical designs that support the integration of every dimension of environmental literacy. It further emphasizes culturally responsive approaches and systematic investment in teacher professional development as critical conditions for pedagogical success.

Suggested Citation

  • Ziyin Xiong & Yuye Song & Ruizhi Zhu, 2025. "Pedagogical Strategies for Teaching Environmental Literacy in Secondary School Education: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-23, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:20:p:9104-:d:1771068
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/20/9104/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/20/9104/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marcellus Forh Mbah & Chidi Ezegwu, 2024. "The Decolonisation of Climate Change and Environmental Education in Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-25, April.
    2. Mahima Kalla & Micheal Jerowsky & Benjamin Howes & Ann Borda, 2022. "Expanding Formal School Curricula to Foster Action Competence in Sustainable Development: A Proposed Free-Choice Project-Based Learning Curriculum," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-16, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Samantha Tshabalala & Wilfred Lunga & Caiphus Baloyi, 2025. "Climate Change Education: Preparing African Youth for Future Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-19, May.
    2. Atif Saleem & Philip Saagyum Dare, 2023. "Unmasking the Action-Oriented ESD Approach to Acting Environmentally Friendly," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-22, January.
    3. Marcellus Forh Mbah & Chidi Ezegwu, 2024. "Impactful Methodological Considerations for Knowledge Co-Creation in Sustainable Development Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-29, December.
    4. Redhwan Qasem Ghaleb Rashed & Aliyu Alhaji Abubakar & Osman Madani & Yaser Hasan Al-Mamary, 2025. "Enhancing Student Engagement and Motivation for Sustainable Education: The Role of Internship and Institutional Support," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-22, June.
    5. Lin Qu & Jiwei Shi & Zhijian Yu & Cunkuan Bao, 2025. "Understanding Paradigm Shifts and Asynchrony in Environmental Governance: A Mixed-Methods-Study of China’s Sustainable Development Transition," World, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-28, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:20:p:9104-:d:1771068. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.