A Whole-School Approach to Building Communities of Practice of ESD: A Case Study of Two Japanese High Schools

The study aims to elucidate the structure and requirements of educational strategies that foster Communities of Practice (CoP) for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). It examines two Japanese high schools that are implementing ESD through a ‘Period of Integrated Studies’. Both schools are located in depopulating mountain areas and are facing closure due to youth migration. High School A redesigned its learning project to prioritise ESD, while High School B initiated ESD as a volunteer project by teachers and introduced an original ‘environment’ subject. The study analyses the transformation of their practices and CoP formations. It highlights the challenges: maintaining the transformative aspect of ESD, adapting to uncertainty, fostering critical perspectives, involving stakeholders and maintaining a consistent approach. Despite the difficulties of local-global linkages, a different perception of practice ‘failure’ proves to be significant. In this chapter, requirements for the establishment of CoPs were outlined, emphasising the interconnectedness of formal, non-formal and information education in a Whole-School Approaches to ESD.