Science process skills and education for sustainable development competences: A review through the lens of critical realism

Leonard Molefe; Rob O’Donoghue

doi:10.29333/ejmste/18519

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Leonard Molefe ¹ ^* , Rob O’Donoghue ²

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¹ University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, SOUTH AFRICA² Environmental Learning Research Center, Rhodes University, Makhanda, SOUTH AFRICA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This review is developed as a treatise on how scientific process skills and the associated competences are currently inscribed in the curriculum. It is developed around the developing imperatives for the curriculum sciences to take up education for sustainable development around global concerns for biodiversity loss, environmental pollution and climate change. It draws on critical realism as a vantage point on scientific processes to open up some tools for reinscribing science process skills and competences as pertinent necessities of curriculum-activated processes of transformative learning.

Keywords

critical realism
education for sustainable development
in-service teachers
logic of scientific discovery
science process skills

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Review Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 22, Issue 5, May 2026, Article No: em2835

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18519

Publication date: 05 May 2026

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Article Downloads: 16

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How to cite this article

APA

Molefe, L., & O’Donoghue, R. (2026). Science process skills and education for sustainable development competences: A review through the lens of critical realism. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 22(5), em2835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18519

Vancouver

Molefe L, O’Donoghue R. Science process skills and education for sustainable development competences: A review through the lens of critical realism. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2026;22(5):em2835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18519

AMA

Molefe L, O’Donoghue R. Science process skills and education for sustainable development competences: A review through the lens of critical realism. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2026;22(5), em2835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18519

Chicago

Molefe, Leonard, and Rob O’Donoghue. "Science process skills and education for sustainable development competences: A review through the lens of critical realism". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2026 22 no. 5 (2026): em2835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18519

Harvard

Molefe, L., and O’Donoghue, R. (2026). Science process skills and education for sustainable development competences: A review through the lens of critical realism. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 22(5), em2835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18519

MLA

Molefe, Leonard et al. "Science process skills and education for sustainable development competences: A review through the lens of critical realism". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 22, no. 5, 2026, em2835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18519