The Connecting Classrooms Project: The Role of School Leadership in Implementing Education for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development is recognized as a fundamental component of Sustainable Development Goals, and its concept holds greater significance within Educational Systems. The effective implementation involves all stakeholders’ collective motivation and efforts. The school leadership plays a critical role to promote a sustainable school culture. This research study is based on the Connecting Classroom Project for Education for Sustainable Development. The purpose of this case study was to explore the role of school leadership in effective implementation of Connecting Classroom Project for ESD in private secondary schools in Karachi. The purposive sampling comprised 18 participants. The data were collected through in-depth face-to-face interviews. For thematic analysis, the study incorporated the coding process using transcribed data from audio recordings. The results indicated that school leadership is a crucial component in building and maintaining ESD practices. The best approaches found for successful implementation were collaborative, distributed and context-sensitive leadership approaches. In addition, curriculum integration, teacher capacity building, international cooperation, resources, monitoring mechanisms and institutional support were found to be important factors that impact the implementation of ESD. The study suggests that within the realm of ESD, these dimensions can be strengthened to enhance the effectiveness of ESD in schools and that they can help to create responsible, reflective and active citizens who can help to tackle local and global sustainability issues.