Empowering youths as lifelong learners through education for sustainable development : a critique from the perspective of Maltese youths

Abstract

This study aims to analytically investigate youths’ knowledge, awareness and skills and how these can serve as a catalyst to lifelong ESD. The study is motivated by the following research question: ‘To what extent does Education for Sustainable Development help youths develop knowledge, attitudes and skills to be lifelong learners?’ This research question serves as the underpinning of the quantitative methodology employed, which consists of 475 questionnaires distributed to youths from 18 to 30 years old, using proportionate stratified random sampling on the basis of gender and location. Results show that youths are fairly informed about sustainable development. Youths either defined it through previous renowned definitions or either gave a personalised one, depending on their ambiences or personal experiences. Overall, youths showed positive attitudes towards the environment, which are linked to the ideology of the emerging paradigm. Moreover, youths also believe that the little actions in everyday life followed by the attainment of various skills help in promoting ESD. Based on the results, an overview of some techniques and strategies is recommended in order to provide ESD opportunities for lifelong learning in formal, informal and non-formal settings. Hence, adopting lifelong learning opportunities within ESD requires a transformative and critical vision that teachers, ESD experts, youth workers and local councils might find useful in this paper.