Sustainability and Curriculum Studies in the Philippines

In the Philippine context, most studies focused readily on how the curriculum would directly impact the praxis. As such, the common themes in the umbrella of curriculum development are curriculum design and curriculum reform. In addition, there are limited studies that highlight and discuss the identity of curriculum studies that exist in the Philippine education system. Further, that predicament extends to the understanding of sustainability that is contextualized. With that, the lack of narrative of curriculum studies in the Philippines poses a challenge in understanding the SDG 4 target: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030” (Ridge N, Kippels S, Cardini A, and Yimbesalu JP, Developing national agendas to achieve gender equality in education (SDG 4), 2030 Agenda Sustain Dev, 2019: 1). In that sense, issues of context in the definition of equality can be attributed to Target 4.1 “Universal primary and secondary education”; Target 4.3 “Equal access to technical, vocational, and tertiary education” (Ridge N, Kippels S, Cardini A, and Yimbesalu JP, Developing national agendas to achieve gender equality in education (SDG 4), 2030 Agenda Sustain Dev, 2019: 5); and Target 4.7 “Education for sustainable development and global citizenship” (Ridge N, Kippels S, Cardini A, and Yimbesalu JP, Developing national agendas to achieve gender equality in education (SDG 4), 2030 Agenda Sustain Dev, 2019: 5). The narrative of curriculum studies in the Philippines is crucial in developing a holistic understanding of SDG 4 that is context-driven and indigenous.