Sustainability in Academic Education?
An Initial Approach to Its Measurement
Keywords:
Education, Sustainability, Data management, Curricula, Organizational learningAbstract
This paper, which arises from the Area of Curriculum Design and Development (ADDC) of the Directorate of Education (DE) of the University of Technology of Uruguay (UTEC), presents the results of an exploratory study that has tried to investigate sustainability as a transversal approach in the curricula of the educational offerings of the institution.
It has started from a perspective that emphasizes the importance of the use of data for obtaining meaningful information. The purpose of this has been, on the one hand, to contribute to the promotion of improvement mechanisms that lead to a qualitative, sustained and reflective revision of curricula within the reference educational community. On the other hand, it must also be an empirical basis to consider in terms of decision-making for the implementation of possible strategies of academic innovation and institutional organization.
Thus, through the use of the documentary content analysis technique, this work has collected and processed empirical evidence of the curricula of the four educational levels (continuing education, undergraduate degree, academic degree and graduate degree) managed by UTEC. From this, it has been possible to know, in an approximate and not exhaustive way, to what extent UTEC includes in its curriculum design, the aspects of sustainability in a cross-cutting way as one of the dimensions that affect the training of its students in the various careers it offers.
The result has revealed that the educational entity has a sustainable vision with regard to the profile of those who graduate from the various training offers that it provides. However, the challenge going forward is to maintain and contribute to an epistemological surveillance of the academic curriculum, in line with the educational premises stipulated by UNESCO and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To this end, the work concludes with a series of conclusions regarding the need to draw future lines of research, which can be developed from a broadening and deepening of the analysis of the curricula.
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