Role of the English teaching hidden curriculum in sustainability education: the case of Japan

What is it about?

This research involved a content analysis of a corpus of 3837 English language teaching materials from Japan. Results indicated that they promoted many forms of unsustainable behavior such as consumerism and pleasure travel to stereotypical tourist locales. This research is important because it documents a disconnect between explicit Japanese government goals for education to promote sustainability versus unsustainable behaviors valorized via the hidden curriculum.

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Photo by Zbynek Burival on Unsplash

Photo by Zbynek Burival on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This research pulls together three important issues: English language teaching (ELT), the hidden curriculum, and behavioral norms for sustainability. It suggests that current practices in ELT in Japan are actually promoting unsustainable behaviors.