Social justice, equity, and agency: global challenges linking health, wellbeing and sustainability education

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Overview

Global environmental changes in conjunction with substantial social justice issues are impacting the health and wellbeing of us all, raising significant concerns related to how education can address these sustainability challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted our close links with natural environments and a long-standing concern for the physical, mental and emotional well-being of children and young people. UNESCO policy stresses the need for education to prepare students for addressing problems of environmental degradation/destruction, emerging related diseases, and resulting health and wellbeing inequities in the present as well as in the future. Previous research findings within the related areas of health, wellbeing and sustainability education indicate cultural contextual differences in how inequalities and social justice issues are understood. However, a broader discussion about social justice and equity in relation to how health, wellbeing and sustainability challenges are addressed in education has been relatively absent, especially one that takes into account the agency of children and young people.

The aim of the special issue is to highlight how social justice and equity perspectives can qualify and deepen our understanding of how health, wellbeing and sustainability challenges are addressed in education in different cultural contexts in a way that supports the agency of children and youth. Furthermore, the aim is to create greater awareness of the potential in linking health, wellbeing and sustainability in educational research and practice.

Against this background, we welcome contributions of current research on conceptualizations of health, wellbeing and sustainability education from a social justice and equity perspective. Contributions are also welcome focusing on analytical problematisations of traditional health, wellbeing and sustainability education policies and interventions in schools and the way these efforts position those most marginalised in society. Specifically, we call for papers on research and critical debates:

• examining culturally-relevant and responsive health, wellbeing and sustainability approaches in schools, and the agency of children and young people from a variety of socio-cultural, political, and economic settings.
• contributing to the design and enactment of innovative health, wellbeing and sustainability curriculum, and pedagogical initiatives that seek to reduce inequalities and promote inclusion.
• exploring the pedagogies and educational approaches that are conducive to the development of students’ critical inquiry and action-oriented skills needed to advance equity and social justice.
• inquiring into the challenges/barriers and the potential for schools to engage with issues of health disparities, environmental and climate in justice, power imbalances, oppression and hegemony.

The special issue highlights how social justice, equity and agency perspectives can be drawn upon to qualify and deepen our understanding of how sustainability challenges are addressed in education in different cultural contexts, and of the interconnection between health, wellbeing and sustainability education.

Indicative list of topics and key themes

• conceptualisations of health, wellbeing and sustainability education from a social justice and equity perspective.
• sustainability policy, as it plays out in, for example, food, consumption, diversity and other pedagogies.
• analytical problematisations of traditional health, wellbeing and sustainability education policies and interventions in schools and the way they position those most marginalised in society.
• design and enactment of innovative health, wellbeing and sustainability curriculum, and pedagogical initiatives that seek to reduce inequalities and promote inclusion.
• pedagogies and educational approaches that are conducive to the development of students’ critical inquiry and action-oriented skills needed to advance equity and social justice.
• potentials and barriers for schools in engaging with issues of health disparities, environmental and climate injustice, power imbalances, oppression, hegemony.
• health, wellbeing and sustainability in relation to agency of children and young people from a variety of socio-cultural, political, and economic settings.
• culturally-sensitive and responsive health, wellbeing and sustainability approaches in schools.
• voices of children and young people, especially those most marginalised, and ’seldom heard’ in research outputs

Submission information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts.

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title Social justice, equity, and agency: global challenges linking health, wellbeing and sustainability education at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to "Please select the issue you are submitting to". 

Author guidelines are available on the journal webpage and must be strictly followed.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else while under review for this journal.

Key dates

Submission opens: 1 August 2023

Submission closes: 21 November 2023