ANALYSIS OF VIETNAM’S GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM 2018   FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Nguyen Thu Ha

Nguyen Thu Ha	hant@vnies.edu.vn	Vietnam Education Strategy and Policy Institute 101 Tran Hung Dao street, Cua Nam ward, Hanoi, Vietnam

Summary:

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has undergone a paradigm shift from a resource-centric view to an emancipatory approach that prioritizes learner autonomy and critical agency. As the primary vehicle for policy implementation, the national curriculum serves as a critical mechanism for institutionalizing ESD. This study evaluates the integration of ESD within Vietnam’s 2018 General Education curriculum, a landmark competency-based reform. Utilizing qualitative content analysis across subject-specific curricula, the research assesses ESD alignment across three dimensions: learning objectives, thematic content, and pedagogical approaches. The findings identify 193 ESD-related topics integrated through both vertical and horizontal modalities. While the curriculum demonstrates structural alignment with transformative pedagogical approaches, the findings reveal a pronounced imbalance across the three pillars of sustainable development: environmental themes predominate (44.4%), followed by social themes (37.4%), with economic themes markedly underrepresented (19.2%). The study concludes that although the 2018 General Education curriculum has established a structured framework for ESD integration, additional strategies are needed to achieve greater balance across the three sustainability pillars and to bridge the gap between policy design and classroom practice. These findings carry significant policy implications for curriculum revision, teacher professional development, and the establishment of monitoring mechanisms for ESD integration in Vietnam.

View file

Keywords:

analysis

education curriculum

education for sustainable development

General education curriculum 2018

Vietnam.

Refers:

[1] Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo. (2018). Chương trình Giáo dục phổ thông tổng thể (Thông tư số. 32/2018/TT BGDĐT). https://data.moet.gov.vn/index.php/s/ LETzPhj5sGGnDii#pdfviewer.

[2] Bùi Thị Thanh Nhàn, Hà Văn Dũng. (2024). Tích hợp giáo dục vì sự phát triển bền vững trong đào tạo giáo viên và trong dạy học ở trường phổ thông: Một nghiên cứu tổng quan. Tạp chí Khoa học Giáo dục Việt Nam, 20(S1), tr.9–17.

[3] Corres, A., Rieckmann, M., Espasa, A. & Ruiz Mallén, I. (2020). Educator competences in sustainability education: A systematic review of frameworks. Sustainability, 12(24), org/10.3390/su12239858. pp.1–24.

[4] Fredriksson, U., Kusanagi, K. N., Gougoulakis, P. & Matsuda, Y. (2020). A comparative study of curriculums for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Sweden. Sustainability, 12(3), pp.1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031123.

[5] Jickling, B. & Wals, A. E. J. (2012). Debating education for sustainable development 20 years after Rio: A conversation between Bob Jickling and Arjen Wals. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 6(1), pp.49–57.

[6] Lambrechts, W. & Ceulemans, K. (2013). Sustainability assessment in higher education: Evaluating the use of the Auditing Instrument for Sustainability in Higher Education (AISHE) in Belgium. In S. Caeiro, W. Leal Filho, C. Jabbour & U. Azeiteiro (Eds.), Sustainability assessment tools in higher education institutions, pp.157–174. Springer.

[7] Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Phuong Thao, Kieu Thi Kinh, Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen, Dang Tien Dung, Singer Jane, Schruefer Gabriele, Tran Ba Trinh, Lambrechts Wim. (2022). Assessing teacher training programs for the prevalence of sustainability in learning outcomes, learning content and didactic approaches. Journal of Cleaner Production, 365, Article 132786. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132786.

[8] Nguyen Phuong Thao. (2019). Searching for education for sustainable development in Vietnam. Environmental Education Research, 25(7), pp.991 1003. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2019.15692 02.

[9] Nguyễn Phương Thảo. (2022). Tích hợp các nội dung phát triển bền vững trong chương trình đào tạo giáo viên: Nghiên cứu tại ba cơ sở đào tạo giáo viên của Việt Nam. Tạp chí Giáo dục, 22, tr.1–8.

[10] Ofei-Manu, P. & Didham, R. J. (2012). Assessment of learning performance in Education for Sustainable Development: Investigating the key factors in effective educational practice and outcomes for sustainable development. Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. http://pub.iges.or.jp/modules/envirolib /view.php?docid=4172.

[11] Rickinson, M. & McKenzie, M. (2021). Understanding the research-policy relationship in ESE: Insights from the critical policy and evidence use literatures. Environmental Education Research, 27(4), pp.480–497. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350462 2.2020.1804531.

[12] Rieckmann, M. (2018). Learning to transform the world: Key competencies in ESD. In A. Leicht, J. Heiss & W. J. Byun (Eds.), Issues and trends in education for sustainable development, pp.39–60. UNESCO Publishing.

[13] Rodrigo Lozano, M. B.-G. (2021). Developing sustainability competences through pedagogical approaches: Experience from international case studies. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64965 4.

[14] Stough, T., Ceulemans, K., Lambrechts, W. & Cappuyns, V. (2018). Assessing sustainability in higher education curricula: A critical reflection on validity issues. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, pp.4456–4466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.20 17.02.017.

[15] Thủ tướng Chính phủ. (2017). Quyết định số 622/QĐ TTg về việc Ban hành kế hoạch hành động quốc gia thực hiện Chương trình nghị sự 2030 vì sự phát triển bền vững.

[16] UNECE. (2009). Learning from each other: The UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

[17] UNESCO. (2014). Shaping the future we want: UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014) final report. UNESCO. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0023/002301/230171e.pdf.

[18] UNESCO. (2017). Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning objectives. UNESCO. https://doi. org/10.54675/MXSR4722

[19] UNESCO. (2020). Education for sustainable development: A roadmap. UNESCO. https://doi.org/10.54675/ DNWC7714.

[20] Vare, P. & Scott, W. (2007). Learning for a change: Exploring the relationship between education and sustainable development. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 1(2), pp.191–198.

[21] Wals, A. E. J. (2011). Learning our way to sustainability. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 5(2), pp.177–186. org/10.1177/097340821100500208.

[22] WCED. (1987). Our common future: A report from the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford University Press.

[23] Wiek, A., Withycombe, L. & Redman, C. L. (2011). Key competencies in sustainability: A reference framework for academic program development. Sustainability Science, 6(2), pp.203–218. https://doi. org/10.1007/s11625-011-0132-6.

Journal:

No. 9, September 2026

VIETNAM JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

THE VIETNAM NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

ANALYSIS OF VIETNAM’S GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM 2018 FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT