An Analysis of the Explicitness, Progression, and Action Orientation of Sustainability Agendas in Uzbekistan’s Grades 3-6 Science Curriculum Reform

This study examines how sustainability-related content was reorganized in the transition from a separated science-related subject system to an integrated science curriculum in Uzbek primary and lower secondary education, focusing on Grades 3-6 textbooks. The analysis compares the former system, which distributed relevant content across Nature Study, Geography, and Botany, with the newer integrated Science curriculum. A qualitative content analysis was employed as the main research design, supplemented by descriptive quantitative analysis of category frequency and distribution. The findings show that sustainability-related content was more extensive in the new system than in the old one. While environmental themes remained dominant in both systems, the new textbooks presented sustainability more explicitly and more systematically. In addition, the new system moved beyond explanatory and normative descriptions toward more active forms of learning. Nevertheless, the analysis also indicates that the curriculum remains strongly environment-centered, while social and economic dimensions are expanded only to a limited extent. The study suggests that Uzbekistan’s science curriculum reform represents a meaningful structural shift toward more integrated sustainability education, but it is still an ongoing process requiring further refinement in curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment.

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