Students’ reflection on the contribution of common teaching methods and compulsory school subjects to sustainable development in Montenegro

Youth education is key to building skills and awareness for meaningful change that leads to a sustainable future. The main objective of the survey was to identify the most commonly used teaching methods and to explore Montenegrin students' reflections on the importance of and satisfaction with the teaching of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in 9-year compulsory school subjects. The data was collected between September and November 2022 using an online application, with 705 students responding. The results showed that traditional teaching methods, characterised by teacher-centred instruction and passive student engagement, are still the predominant approach in compulsory education, indicating a gap between current practices and the holistic learning objectives of the ESD guidelines. Secondly, the study showed that the Native language had the greatest influence on students' sustainable habits, followed by biology, geography, maths, and nature. This suggests that the number of lessons per week can influence students' ESD knowledge, although subjects with fewer lessons can still have an impact if they are centred on ESD topics. The third conclusion is that students were equally satisfied with the ESD knowledge acquired in all subjects. The results underline the urgent need for student-centred methods that focus on connecting students with nature, for more hours per week in ESD-related subjects, and for a stronger inclusion of ESD content in general-taught subjects.