Journal of Social Work and Science Education
Vol. 7 No. 3 (2026): Journal of Social Work and Science Education

Cultivating Sustainability Awareness through Critical Pedagogy: Perspectives of English Education Master’s Students in Indonesia

Rio Magsilang Reyes (Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, West Java, Indonesia)
Ahmad Buhkori Muslim (Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, West Java, Indonesia)
Nita Novianti (Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, West Java, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
05 Sep 2026

Abstract

Education for sustainable development (ESD) has gained increasing attention in English Language Teaching (ELT), particularly in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. While critical pedagogy (CP) offers a generative framework for cultivating sustainability awareness, its convergence with ESD in postgraduate ELT contexts remains underexplored, especially in Indonesia. This qualitative study examines how five English Education master’s students at an Indonesian public university use a critical pedagogy lens to shape their sustainability awareness. Data from semi-structured interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings reveal three key patterns: (1) participants demonstrated broadened conceptualizations of sustainability encompassing social justice, cultural preservation, and community solidarity beyond environmental concerns; (2) while CP principles were present in the program, they remained largely implicit and lecturer-dependent; and (3) engagement with CP fostered transformative teaching visions, yet institutional constraints, material scarcity, and knowledge gaps limited pedagogical enactment. Theoretically, the study extends CP scholarship by demonstrating how conscientization operates in a specific postgraduate ELT setting; practically, it offers teacher educators and curriculum designers concrete directions for embedding CP in graduate coursework, and signals to policymakers the need for institutional support, such as dedicated materials development and structured mentoring, to develop critically conscious, sustainability-oriented language teachers in non-Western higher education contexts.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

jswse

Publisher

Subject

Religion Economics, Econometrics & Finance Education Environmental Science Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

The Journal of Social Work and Science Education (JSWSE) is firmly established as an authoritative voice in the world of social work and science education with E-ISSN: 2723-6919 and P-ISSN 2746-0827. JSWSE publishes scholarly papers that focus on the social science, teaching and learning, science in ...