What and how: extras in ESD communicated by teachers

Abstract In the debate of implementation of education for sustainable development content issues are generally treated as questions of including subject content from other subject areas than ecology within more interdisciplinary teaching approaches. The aim of this exploratory study is to enhance knowledge about content issues beyond the view of subject contents, by studying teachers' messages communicated to students. Ten upper secondary teachers are interviewed about their teaching and asked three curricular questions: What? (the content issues); How? (the methods) and Why? (the purposes of education). The results from this empirical study show that teachers are communicating different relations between their teaching content and e.g. the society, and other more general contexts for their teaching activities. Seven curricular questions are identified in this study, which can be helpful in visualizing the extras. Answers to these questions show important differences between teachers in environmental education compared to teachers with a more ESD like teaching approach. The result can be useful in a reflection-tool for teachers. The overall contexts, the extras, which teachers communicate, are also a democratic issue. Teachers need to be fully aware of all the content they communicate to students, whether it is explicit and/or implicit as well as intended and/or unintended