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The Opinion of University Students and Teachers of Education on Degrowth: A Mixed Exploratory Study
Enrique Javier Díez Gutiérrez 1,
Luisa María García Salas 2,
Sara Aguilar Moya 3,
Kelly Romero Acosta 4,
Antonio Pérez Robles 5,
José Jesús Trujillo Vargas 6,* ,
Ignacio Perlado Lamo de Espinosa 7 and
Luis Miguel Mateos Toro 8
1
Departamento de Didáctica General, Específicas y Teoría de la Educación, Facultad de Educación, Universidad de León, 24071 León, Spain
2
Departamento de Psicología, Centro de Magisterio Virgen de Europa, Universidad de Cádiz, 11300 La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz), Spain
3
Colegio Salesiano María Auxiliadora, 11203 Algeciras (Cádiz), Spain
4
Education Department, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7, Canada
5
Departamento de Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales y las Matemáticas, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain
6
Departamento de Educación, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain
7
Departamento de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de Alcalá, 28801 Madrid, Spain
8
Departamento de Didáctica, Centro de Magisterio Virgen de Europa, Universidad de Cádiz, 11300 La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz), Spain
*
For correspondence.
Academic Editor:
Received: 21 January 2025 Accepted: 4 April 2025 Published: 16 April 2025
Abstract
Degrowth is proposed at a scientific and theoretical level as a possibility to curb climate change and thereby prevent a potential collapse. Educating about degrowth, therefore, emerges as an academic and social alternative for raising awareness among teachers and future generations. The objective of this mixed exploratory study is to understand the opinion of 419 university students and teachers with Education-related degrees (Bachelor’s and Master’s) regarding the climate crisis and degrowth education. A Likert-type questionnaire was used, which, as a pilot construct through the Delphi technique and the judgment of specialists and experts, enabled two analyses: one statistical-descriptive and the other content-based. In general terms, the results indicate that the participating students and teachers are partially aware of the need for a paradigm shift, recognizing that the future will involve experiencing a situation of planetary depletion and unsustainability. It is concluded that: a) the questionnaire surpasses its exploratory validation phase and maintains a correct relationship of relevance between items; and b) the educational opinion affirms that education on degrowth, as a cross-disciplinary content, is a key factor in counteracting collapse.
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Copyright © 2025
Díez Gutiérrez et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use and distribution provided that the original work is properly cited.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Cite this Article
Díez Gutiérrez, E. J., García Salas, L. M., Aguilar Moya, S., Romero Acosta, K., Pérez Robles, A., Trujillo Vargas, J. J., Perlado Lamo de Espinosa, I., & Mateos Toro, L. M. (2025). The Opinion of University Students and Teachers of Education on Degrowth: A Mixed Exploratory Study. Highlights of Sustainability, 4(2), 108–121. https://doi.org/10.54175/hsustain4020007
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