
Education for Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media and Government Policy Documents
Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 2022, 18(2), e2266, https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11519
ABSTRACT
This qualitative study examines the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s policy of integrating Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into the Saudi education system under the country’s Vision 2030 sustainable development strategy. The study specifically asks: how is the policy of integrating ESD in the Saudi education system presented in the discourses of the Saudi government policy documents and the written media? The study examines two types of documents, namely official policy documents published by the governmental entities involved in the planning and/or the execution of the ESD integration policy, and newspaper articles collected from the three top-ranked Saudi newspapers (Arab News, Asharq Al-Awsat, and Al Riyadh). Thematic coding was used to identify themes and sub-themes in the collected documents. In addition, Fairclough’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was employed to offer a deeper understanding of whether Saudi Arabia meaningfully aims at integrating sustainable development into its education planning in Vision 2030. Results suggest that Vision 2030 does not consider ESD as a main tool to achieve sustainability and preserve the environment. The analysis reveals that there are very limited discussion of ESD integration in Vision 2030, both in the media coverage as well as the government official documents. Moreover, the CDA of the collected data shows there is a great generalism in the language used in presenting the road map to implementing ESD, and considerable vagueness on the proposed procedures for integrating ESD into the Saudi education system. Consequently, there is a lack of a comprehensive strategic plan with pre-determined steps. The findings of the study suggest that despite statements to the contrary, the Saudi government is not taking the plan of ESD integration into education seriously.
KEYWORDS
CITATION (APA)
Essa, S., & Harvey, B. (2022). Education for Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media and Government Policy Documents. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 18(2), e2266. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11519
Harvard
Essa, S., and Harvey, B. (2022). Education for Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media and Government Policy Documents. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 18(2), e2266. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11519
Vancouver
Essa S, Harvey B. Education for Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media and Government Policy Documents. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2022;18(2):e2266. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11519
AMA
Essa S, Harvey B. Education for Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media and Government Policy Documents. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2022;18(2), e2266. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11519
Chicago
Essa, Shaemaa, and Blane Harvey. "Education for Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media and Government Policy Documents". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education 2022 18 no. 2 (2022): e2266. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11519
MLA
Essa, Shaemaa et al. "Education for Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media and Government Policy Documents". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, vol. 18, no. 2, 2022, e2266. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11519
SUPPLEMENTARY FILES
REFERENCES
- Al-Dosary, R. (2016). Waqi’ attarbiah fi atta’alim ela’am fil mamlakah [The reality of environmental education in public education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]. Educational Journal of Al-Azhar University, 2(167), 391-420.
- Allmnakrah, A., & Evers, C. (2020). The need for a fundamental shift in the Saudi education system: Implementing the Saudi Arabian economic vision 2030. Research in Education, 106(1), 22-40. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034523719851534
- Al-Riyadh. (2020). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Riyadh_(newspaper)
- Alshuwaikhat, H., & Mohammed, I. (2017). Sustainability matters in national development visions-evidence from Saudi Arabia’s vision for 2030. Sustainability, 9(3), 408. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9030408
- Alsuwaida, N. (2016). Women’s education in Saudi Arabia. Journal of International Education Research, 12(4), 111-118. https://doi.org/10.19030/jier.v12i4.9796
- Arab Forum for Environment and Development. (2019). Environmental education for sustainable development in Arab countries: Annual report. http://www.afedonline.org/en/reports/details/environmental-education-for-sustainable-development-in-arab-countries
- Arab News is most widely read English daily in the Arab world: Survey. (2015). Arabnews. https://www.arabnews.com/news/779336
- Arab News. (2020). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_News
- Asharq Al Awsat. (2020). About us. https://english.aawsat.com/home/page/1005421
- Asharq Al-Awsat. (2020). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asharq_Al-Awsat
- Bieler, A., Haluza-Dela, R., Dale, A., & McKenzie, M. (2017). A national overview of climate change education policy: Policy coherence between subnational climate and education policies in Canada (k-12). Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 11(2), 63-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408218754625
- Bowen, A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27-40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027
- Braun, S. (2020). Climate change: Will Saudi Arabia derail G20 climate-led recovery? DW. https://www.dw.com/en/will-saudi-arabia-derail-g20-climate-led-recovery/a-55672691
- Cartea, P. A. M. (2005). In praise of environmental education. Policy Future in Education, 3(3), 284-295. https://doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2005.3.3.6
- Clean Development Mechanism Designated National Authority. (n.d.). Paris Agreement. https://www.cdmdna.gov.sa/page/20
- Cooke, K. (2019). Saudi Arabia worst performing country battling climate change. Middle East Eye. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/saudi-arabia-worst-performing-country-battling-climate-change
- Economy of Saudi Arabia. (2020). Fanack. https://fanack.com/saudi-arabia/economy//
- Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/97802
- 03697078
- Fairclough, N., & Wodak. R. (1997). Critical discourse analysis. In T. Van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse as social interaction (pp. 67-97). SAGE.
- Fattah, H. (2005). Spreading the word: Who’s who in the Arab media. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/weekinreview/spreading-the-word-whos-who-in-the-arab-media.html
- Global Foorprint Network. (2020). Ecological footprint. wwf.panda.org. https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/all_publications/ecological_footprint2/
- Global Footprint Network. (2020). Home. https://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/
- Huang, Y.-S., Harvey, B., & Asghar, A. (2021). Bureaucratic exercise? Education for sustainable development in Taiwan through the stories of policy implementers. Environmental Education Research, 27(7), 1099-1114. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2021.1926431
- Hubbard, B., & Kelly, K. (2017). Saudi Arabia’s grand plan to move beyond oil: Big goals, bigger hurdles. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/world/middleeast/saudi-arabias-grand-plan-to-move-beyond-oil-big-goals-bigger-hurdles.html
- Hume, T., & Barry, J. (2015). Environmental education and education for sustainable development. In J. D. Wrigt (Ed.), International encyclopedia of social and behavioral sciences (pp. 733-739). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.91081-X
- Jong-Wha, L. (2014). Why we must invest more in education. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/09/invest-in-education-income-inequality/
- Khalifeh, J. (2017). Education policy and newspapers: A critical discourse analysis [Doctoral dissertation, DePaul University]. https://via.library.depaul.edu/soe_etd/132
- McKeown, R. (2009). Education for sustainable development toolkit. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000152453_ara?posInSet=1&queryId=af01be65-8032-4167-b70e-2fedc45a530e
- Nevin, E. (2008). Education and sustainable development. Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review, 6, 49-62.
- Ozturk, I. (2008). The role of education in economic development: A theoretical perspective. Journal of Rural Development and Administration, XXXIII(1), 39-47. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1137541
- Rana, D., & Alayed. R. (2018). Green business: Sustainability within Saudi vision 2030. International Journal of Advance Study and Research, 1(9), 2581-5997. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2532182
- Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2020). CO2 and greenhouse emissions. OurWorldInData.org. https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/saudi-arabia
- Rogers, R., Malancharuvil-Berkes, E., Mosley, M., Hui, D., & Joseph, G. O. (2005). Critical discourse analysis in education: A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 75(3), 365-416. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543075003365
- Saab, N. (2012). Arab environment *5 survival options: Ecological footprint of Arab countries. https://www.footprintnetwork.org/content/images/article_uploads/SurvivalOptions_Eng.pdf
- Saiyid, A. (2021). Saudi Arabia recommits to 50% renewable power by 2030. IHSmakit. https://cleanenergynews.ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/saudi-arabia-recommits-to-50-renewable-power-by-2030.html#:~:text=The%20country’s%20National%20Renewable%20Energy,and%2058.7%20GW%20by%202030
- Saldana, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. SAGE.
- Saudi Arabia committed to achieving sustainable development goals, says envoy to UN. (2019). The Arab news. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1528436/saudi-arabia
- Saudi Arabia. (2020). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia
- Saudi Arabia: Give women equal opportunities to education & end male guardianship over women. (2011). Equality Now. https://bit.ly/3wMS7SN
- Saudi Arabia: Media market description. (2008). World Association of Newspaper. https://web.archive.org/web/20130921062852/http://www.ihudaif.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/WORLD-ASSOCIATION-OF-NEWSPAPERS-%E2%80%93-WORLD-PRESS-TRENDS-2008.pdf.
- Saudi education system. (2018). UKEssays. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/the-saudi-education-system-education-essay.php?vref=1
- Taher, N., & Hajjar, B. (2014). Environmental challenges, regulations and institutions in Saudi Arabia. In N. Taher, & Hajjar, B. (Eds.), Energy and environment in Saudi Arabia: Concerns & opportunities (pp. 1-26). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02982-5_1
- Tatweer Education Holding. (n.d.). About us. https://www.tatweer.sa/en/about-tatweer/?lang=en
- Tayan, B. (2017). The Saudi Tatweer education reforms: Implications of neoliberal thought to Saudi education policy. International Education Studies, 10(5), 61-71. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v10n5p61
- Taylor, S. (2002). Critical discourse analysis in education policy research—to what ends? [Paper presentation]. Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Annual Conference, Brisbane. https://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/2002/tay02215.pdf
- U.S energy information administration: Independent statistics and analysis. (2017). Country analysis brief: Saudi Arabia. https://www.eia.gov/international/content/analysis/countries_long/Saudi_Arabia/saudi_arabia.pdf
- United Nations (UN). (2021). Key aspect of the Paris agreement. https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement/key-aspects-of-the-paris-agreement
- United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). (2009). The UNECE strategy for education for sustainable development. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/798ece5.pdf
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2015). UNESCO and sustainable development goals. https://en.unesco.org/sustainabledevelopmentgoals
- Wagon, D., Carey, E., & Cooke, D. (2019). Policy pathways to meet Saudi Arabia’s contribution to the Paris agreement. KAPSARC Analysis. https://doi.org/10.30573/KS--2018-DP49
- Wals, A. E. J., & Benavot, A. (2017). Can we meet the sustainability challenges? The role of education and lifelong learning. Eurapean Journal of Education, 52(4), 404-413. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12250
LICENSE

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.