Nuances in the embedment of ESDGC in the regional curriculum of the Azores

International Conference: A Child's World - Working Together for a Better Future, 27 June 2012 - 29th June 2012.Since sustainable development and Azoreaness are the transversal themes of the Regional Curriculum of the Azores (RCA), every curricular area is supposed to contribute to their promotion. Given the specific characteristics of each area, it is interesting to investigate the extent to which there is some variation across areas in terms of approaches to education for sustainable development (ESD). Furthermore, considering the geographical remoteness of the Azores, it is important, in the age of globalisation, to analyse the relationship between Azoreaness and the cosmopolitan idea of global citizenship in the light of wider discussions on the relationship between the local and the global. Since the official documents that convey the most recent version of the RCA - a decree and a guide - were published very recently (in the summer of 2011), there is no empirical data related to the curriculum's implementation available at this time. Accordingly, this paper is based on the analysis of the above mentioned documents. The text was thoroughly scrutinised in the light of an emergent set of categories that describe: (1) different kinds of approach to ESD across curricular areas and (2) different kinds of relationship between the local and the global. Most of the results of the analysis in terms of different kinds of approach to ESD are not surprising. ln some curricular areas there is an orientation towards the development of competencies directly related to ESD, whereas the contribution of the competencies to be developed in other areas, especially Portuguese Language and Foreign Languages, to sustainable development is more indirect. However, there are some surprising results in terms of lack of clarity in some areas. The analysis disclosed five kinds of relationship between the local and the global: inclusion, specification, perspective, influence and comparison. The most recent version of the RCA is conveyed by recent official documents, which are more complete and complex than older documents that represented previous versions. This fact suggests consolidation, but research on the implementation of the curriculum in classrooms is needed in order to build knowledge on its real impact. That necessity notwithstanding, my analysis of the above-mentioned documents has highlighted the fact that messages calling for ESDGC are strongly embedded in the formal curriculum. Given the geographical isolation of the Azores, the highlighted connections between Azoreaness and global phenomena are especially noteworthy