Holst, Jorrit and Brock, Antje and Grund, Julius and Schlieszus, Ann-Kathrin and Singer-Brodowski, Mandy (2025) Whole-school sustainability at the core of quality education: Wished for by principals but requiring collective and structural action. JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION, 519: 145897. ISSN 0959-6526, 1879-1786
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In the face of global challenges, sustainability has become a defining concern of the 21st century and hence a critical pillar of quality education. Principals, as pivotal actors in school development, can provide important perspectives on the current state and future developments of whole-school sustainability. However, while their role in promoting sustainability is widely recognized, systematic, national-scale insights concerning their views on sustainability in schools and the school system remain scarce. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of 80 semi-structured interviews and a representative survey (n = 1310) with principals in Germany, the article provides an in-depth and large-scale assessment of leaders' perspectives on the current and wished-for status, challenges, and drivers of sustainability at schools. We find that 80 % of principals wish for sustainability to be a core element of school education, yet 62 % describe the current status quo as non-existent, isolated or an occasional add-on. Perceived challenges include a lack of resources, structural integration, as well as prevailing rule-systems and mindsets that hinder sustainability (e.g., normality of unsustainability, strong performance- and grade-orientation, systemic inertia). To overcome current challenges, the principals point to a need for considerably higher prioritization of sustainability by decision-makers at all levels. Overall, the findings indicate that sustainability in school education is currently limited by a system in which sustainability is an additive, not a default, and where responsibility for sustainability is often individualized, fragmented and diffused. In light of the findings, we discuss the relevance of more collective, structure-oriented and political sustainability learning, which is prioritized as a core feature of quality education.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | IMPLEMENTATION; LEADERSHIP; Sustainability education; School development; Whole institution approach; Whole school approach; Leadership; Quality education |
| Subjects: | 300 Social sciences > 370 Education |
| Divisions: | Human Sciences > Institut für Bildungswissenschaft > Lehrstuhl Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung - Prof. Dr. Mandy Singer-Brodowski |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Jun 2026 05:19 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Jun 2026 05:19 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/67107 |
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