The role of environmental education in promoting sustainable living: Insights from Vhembe District, South Africa

Abstract

Environmental education (EE) is increasingly acknowledged as an essential teaching Environmental Education (EE) is increasingly recognised as a critical pedagogical avenue for advancing sustainable living. However, its enactment and assessment across South African schools and communities remain uneven and weakly institutionalised. This study examines how EE supports sustainable living in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, with specific attention to curriculum implementation, pedagogical practices, and the monitoring and evaluation of school- and community-based EE initiatives. Anchored in Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory and informed by principles of Education for Sustainable Development, the study employed a convergent mixed-methods design. Purposive sampling was used to select ten teachers responsible for EE-related subjects and ten municipal officials managing environmental projects, while 110 learners from ten secondary schools were selected through random sampling. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews, learner questionnaires, and document analysis, and were analysed thematically alongside descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings indicate that although EE is formally integrated into the curriculum, primarily through Natural Sciences and Life Orientation, its enactment remains largely theoretical, with limited experiential and community-based learning opportunities. Monitoring and evaluation systems are fragmented, weakly coordinated, and under-resourced, particularly at municipal level, thereby constraining accountability and pedagogical refinement. Consequently, EE’s potential to develop durable sustainable living practices among learners and communities is significantly curtailed. The study argues that effective EE requires deliberate alignment between curriculum intent, experiential pedagogy, and coherent governance and evaluation frameworks. The article contributes to scholarship in curriculum and pedagogy by foregrounding experiential learning and evaluative governance as central to strengthening EE implementation in rural and peri-urban contexts.