SUMMARY: THE IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION AND EDUCATION FOR

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS: A SYNTHESIS OF THE RESEARCH

(J. O'Flaherty, M. Liddy)

María Lucas Da Silva

September 18th, 2022

Numerous studies focus on the teaching of sustainable development, global justice, or

sustainability issues, but few are those that realize analysis of these texts, concerning about
examining its impact on learners, young people, and teachers.

By carrying out an analysis of several studies and literature, and realizing a qualitative synthesis
of them, J. O'Flaherty and M. Liddy answer this question to describe the nature of the evidence.

To complete a critical review, this analysis of literature was realized in educational databases, such
as ERIC, Scopus, or EBSCO. The criteria to select the literature was diverse, and it included: being
written in the chronological interval between 2000 and 2014, being published in refereed journals,
focusing on students and learners, and being written in English.

Following this selection criteria, the article focuses specifically on 44 studies, which are presented
in 3 sections: Forms of Learning Assessment/Assessment of Impact, Educational Content, and
Intervention Outcomes. Likewise, 26 of them are centre on education for sustainable development
or environmental themes; 12 on global citizenship; and 6 in intercultural education interventions.
The vast majority present data collection through pre-post surveys and questionnaires, which
permit make a comparison between learners' attitudes, understanding and comprehension before
and after the intervention.

To summarize, data is analysed resulting in the following conclusions: at least half of the studies
reported ‘positive impact’ by the deliberate educational intervention, which includes a change on
learners' perceptions and understanding about cultural beliefs and values, global responsibility,
awareness of global issues, and conceptualizations of global citizenship. Also, it is remarkable that
the impact is present in teachers, who obtained higher interest and confidence in teaching global
issues and using active learning methodologies.
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Despite the data collected, it is concluded that this impact requires more investigation to abode the
intricacy of Development Education, which is continually being studied nowadays.