| Abstract [eng] |
With the growing global environmental and social challenges, sustainable fashion is becoming not only an alternative to fast fashion but also an integral part of education, contributing to the development of a responsible and conscious young generation. Sustainable fashion is based on five core dimensions: ecological responsibility, ethics and social responsibility, durability, conscious consumption, and recycling. There is an increasing demand to integrate these values into general education curricula in order to develop students’ sustainability competences. Although sustainability is recognized as an important topic, it remains unclear to what extent these themes are consistently integrated into the education content and how they are perceived by students themselves. This thesis aims to examine how sustainable fashion characteristics are represented in Lithuania’s lower secondary education curricula and how students in grades 9–12 perceive these topics. The object of the research is the expression of sustainable fashion characteristics in general curricula and in students’ attitudes. The aim is to analyze how the values of sustainable fashion are reflected in the curriculum and which characteristics are most appreciated by students. The objectives: (1) to analyze the concept of sustainable fashion and its main characteristics; (2) to justify the research methodology based on student attitudes and curriculum content; (3) to analyze student attitudes in relation to the five dimensions of sustainable fashion and provide recommendations for improving education. A mixed-methods research design was applied in this master’s thesis, including a document analysis of the national curriculum and a quantitative written survey of students in grades 9–12. The results revealed that sustainable fashion topics are integrated into the curriculum only fragmentarily, especially lacking a consistent focus on conscious consumption and recycling. Students most positively evaluated the principles of durability and ecological responsibility, while they showed limited practical skills and motivation regarding reuse and mindful consumption. Based on the findings, recommendations are provided for strengthening sustainable fashion education through practical activities, interdisciplinary integration, and fostering students’ critical thinking and personal responsibility. The thesis structure consists of an introduction, theoretical analysis, methodology, research results, conclusions, recommendations, references, list of abbreviations, and appendices. Total length – 72 pages. |
