Teaching for sustainability in Brazilian higher education from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals

Silva, Nilton Oliveira da; Freire, Fátima de Souza

doi:10.1590/S1413-24782023280080

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Article • Rev. Bras. Educ. 28 • 2023 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782023280080 copy

Teaching for sustainability in Brazilian higher education from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals

ENSINO PARA A SUSTENTABILIDADE NA EDUCAÇÃO SUPERIOR BRASILEIRA NA PERSPECTIVA DOS OBJETIVOS DE DESENVOLVIMENTO SUSTENTÁVEL

ENSEÑAR PARA LA SOSTENIBILIDAD EN LA EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR BRASILEÑA DESDE LA PERSPECTIVA DE LOS OBJETIVOS DE DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

The study verified how teaching for sustainability has been applied in the learning of Brazilian higher education students. From the perspective of the Second Best Theory, the presence of themes related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Exame Nacional de Desempenho dos Estudantes was analyzed. It presents a qualitative and quantitative approach using content analysis techniques. The documentary research method helped in the collection of ordinances and guidelines of the Ministry of Education, as well as the tests applied in the period from 2004 to 2018. It is concluded that there was already a concern with the topic in the Exame Nacional de Desempenho dos Estudantes tests and that students should have an ethical profile committed to social, cultural, and environmental issues. Although it is difficult to measure the consolidation of student thinking and skills acquired in the years of study, the research contributed to reinforce that the actions of educational institutions are relevant in expanding the commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

KEYWORDS
higher education; sustainability; sustainable development; SDG; ENADE

Goal number	Outline description
1.	No Poverty End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2.	Zero Hunger End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3.	Good Health and Well-being Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
4.	Quality Education Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5.	Gender Equality Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6.	Clean Water and Sanitation Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7.	Affordable and Clean Energy Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8.	Decent Work and Economic Growth Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9.	Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10.	Reduced Inequalities Reduce income inequality within and among countries
11.	Sustainable Cities and Communities Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12.	Responsible Consumption and Production Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13.	Climate Action Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy
14.	Life Below Water Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15.	Life on Land Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reversing land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16.	Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, inclusive institutions at all levels
17.	Partnerships for the Goals Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

SDGs Categories (Initials)	Student profile categories (finals)
End poverty in all its forms, everywhere (SDG 1)	I - ethical and committed to social, cultural, and environmental issues
End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (SDG 2)
Ensure a healthy life and promote well-being for all, at all ages (SDG 3)
Reducing inequality within and between countries (SDG 10)
Conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (SDG 14)
Protecting, restoring, and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests, combating desertification, halting, and reversing land degradation and halting the loss of biodiversity (SDG 15)
Ensure reliable, sustainable, modern, and affordable access to energy for all (SDG 7)	II - Humanist and critical, supported by scientific, social and cultural knowledge, historically constructed, that transcend the proper environment of its formation
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels (SDG16)
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development (SDG 17)
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (SDG 4)	III - protagonist of knowledge, with a vision of the world in its diversity for literacy practices, aimed at the full exercise of citizenship
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (SDG 5)
Ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG 6)
Build resilient infrastructures, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation (SDG 9)
Ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns (SDG 12)
Promote sustainable, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all (SDG 8)	IV - Proactive, supportive, autonomous and conscientious in making decisions based on the contextualized analysis of available evidence
Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable (SDG11)
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (SDG13)

Year of Application	Student profile categories according to the survey
Year of Application	Category I	Category II	Category III	Category IV	Total
2004	1	−	1	2	4
2005	2	−	−	2	4
2006	2	1	1	−	4
2007	3	−	−	−	3
2008	2	1	2	−	5
2009	1	−	1	3	5
2010	2	1	2	1	6
2011	1	−	2	1	4
2012	1	2	−	2	5
2013	1	−	2	−	3
2014	1	1	1	1	4
2015	−	−	3	1	4
2016	3	1	1	−	5
2017	3	1	1	−	5
2018	2	−	1	2	5
Total questions	25	8	18	15	66

ENADE issues identified with a sustainability theme		Student profile categories	Facility index ^a a percentage of correct answers to the question: very easy (≥0.86), easy (0.61 until 0.85), medium (0.41 until 0.40), difficult (0.16 until 0.40) and very difficult (≤0,15).	Discrimination index ^b b power of discrimination: weak (≤0.19), medium (0.20 until 0.29), good (0.30 until 0.39) and very good (≥ 0.40). Retrieved from http://portal.inep.gov.br/web/guest/relatorios
Year of Application	Issue Number	Student profile categories
2014	Issue 3	I	medium	very good
2014	Issue 6	III	medium	very good
2015	Issue 3	IV	easy	very good
2015	Issue 7	III	difficult	very good
2016	Issue 1	I	medium	very good
2016	issue 5	III	very difficult	medium
2017	Issue 2	I	medium	very good
	Issue 5	III	medium	very good
	Issue 8	II	medium	very good

Documents	Assumption about education for sustainable development
The Basic Education Guidelines Law - LDB (Lei No. 9394/96 — Brasil, 1996BRASIL. Presidência da República. Lei n.º 9.394, de 20 de dezembro de 1996. Estabelece as diretrizes e bases da educação nacional. 1996. Available at: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l9394.htm. Accessed on: Mar. 19, 2019. http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/lei... )	Art 43, VI - to stimulate the knowledge of the problems of the present world, in particular the national and regional ones, to render specialized services to the community and to establish with it a relation of reciprocity.
Parecer 776/97 – Conselho Nacional de Educação It guides the curricular guidelines of the courses of University graduate (Brasil, 1997BRASIL. Conselho Nacional de Educação. Parecer CNE nº 776/97 de 03 de dezembro de 1997. Orienta para as diretrizes curriculares dos cursos de graduação. 1997. Avaliable at: http://portal.mec.gov.br/setec/arquivos/pdf_legislacao/superior/legisla_superior_parecer7769.pdf. Accessed Mar. 20. 2019. http://portal.mec.gov.br/setec/arquivos/... )	Encourage a solid general education, necessary for the future graduate to overcome the challenges of renewed conditions of professional practice and production of knowledge, allowing different types of training and differentiated qualifications in the same program; To induce the creation of different formations and qualifications for each area of knowledge, making it possible to define multiple professional profiles, guaranteeing a greater diversity of careers, promoting the integration of undergraduate and postgraduate education, privileging, in the profile of its graduates, intellectual abilities that reflect the heterogeneity of social demands.
Instruments of Institutional External Evaluation (INEP, 2017cINSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ESTUDOS E PESQUISAS EDUCACIONAIS ANISIO TEIXEIRA (INEP). Instrumento de Avaliação Institucional Externa. Brasilia: INEP, 2017c. Available at: http://inep.gov.br/web/guest/documentos-e-legislacao17. Accessed on: Mar. 23, 2019. http://inep.gov.br/web/guest/documentos-... )	The contextualization of the higher education institution (HEI) should contain the following information … o) existence of projects and actions to promote social and environmental sustainability in the management of HEI and in teaching, research and extension activities; Social responsibility refers to the actions of the institution (with or without partnership) that contribute to a more just and sustainable society, considering works, actions, activities, projects, and programs developed towards the community, aiming at social inclusion, economic development and improving the quality of life and local infrastructure; The socioenvironmental dimension, in teaching, research, extension and management activities, is aimed at the conservation, recovery and improvement of environmental, social and existential conditions, promoting the participation of the entire IHE community, in the design, planning, implementation and evaluation activities and their indicators, which should be included in their Institutional Development Plan.
National Environmental Education Program (ProNEA — Brasil, 2018BRASIL. Ministério do Meio Ambiente e Mudança do Clima. Educação Ambiental Por um Brasil Sustentável: ProNEA, Marcos Legais e Normativos. Brasília, 2018. Availablet at: https://www.icmbio.gov.br/educacaoambiental/politicas/pronea.html. Accessed on: Mar. 19, 2019. https://www.icmbio.gov.br/educacaoambien... )	To stimulate the inclusion of approach and methodological content of environmental education in higher education curriculum; To integrate environmental education in higher education, in a transversal, inter and transdisciplinary way, in the different areas and courses; Encourage the creation and strengthening of articulated research and extension groups and groups in higher education that strengthen studies and the field of environmental education at all levels and modalities of education, enabling the integration between formal and non-formal education; Foster higher education institutions to implement extension projects linked to teaching and research, focusing on environment, environmental education, sustainability, and citizenship; To stimulate research in environmental education in the spaces of primary education schools, articulating professionals of basic and higher education.

ANPEd - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Educação Rua Visconde de Santa Isabel, 20 - Conjunto 206-208 Vila Isabel - 20560-120, Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brasil, Tel.: (21) 2576 1447, (21) 2265 5521, Fax: (21) 3879 5511 - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil
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[1] Nilton Oliveira Silva is a doctoral student in Accounting Sciences from the Universidade de Brasília (UnB). E-mail: niltonos2@gmail.com