All discourses are equal but some discourses are more equal than others: Exploring ESD in English education using 'Animal Farm'

摘要

This qualitative study aimed to explore how the United Nations education for sustainable development (ESD) could (potentially) relate to secondary English education (in Toronto, Ontario) by using narratives of George Orwell's (1989) Animal Farm to introduce sustainable development (SD) in secondary English schooling. This study revealed that the education system ultimately influenced SD's introduction in secondary English. Six influences which emerged from this research: (1) Curriculum Resources, (2) Schooling for Certainties, (3) Classroom Efficiencies, (4) Prescribed Curriculum, (5) Psychological Narratives and (6) Apolitical Narratives. Secondly, narratives of Animal Farm were used to explore dominant policy statements of UN ESD. This study revealed three (potential) parallels between Animal Farm and UN ESD policy: (1) Shared Concerns, (2) Universal Solutions (To These Shared Concerns) and (3) Hope for a Common Future. This research also enabled me to explore, what I am calling the "Myth of Reorientation".