TY - JOUR T1 - Ecopedagogy in Educational Research with Reflections for ELT: A Bibliometric Analysis AU - Dağtaş, Aysun PY - 2025 DA - October Y2 - 2025 DO - 10.14686/buefad.1638367 JF - Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education JO - BUEFAD PB - Bartin University WT - DergiPark SN - 1308-7177 SP - 1129 EP - 1142 VL - 14 IS - 4 LA - en AB - Protecting the environment has become a prominent issue globally in recent years. It is now obvious that careless use of environmental resources will result in social, economic, and environmental problems. At this point, it is important to integrate environmental issues into education. Therefore, by conducting a bibliometric analysis of the literature on ecopedagogy , the purpose of this study is to review and determine the significance of ecopedagogy in the field of education, particularly language teaching. This study adds significantly to the existing research on ecopedagogy by analyzing the current situation, pointing out areas that requires improvement, and outlining potential directions for future research. The study entailed keywords related to the ecopedagogy and English language teaching during the period of 2014 to 2024 in the Web of Science platform (SSCI, SCI, SCI-E, and AHCI). Data was gathered by a data extraction table from 374 articles. This extended bibliometric analysis reveals notable insights in the field of ecopedagogy. The findings indicate that ecopedagogy is crucial for equipping students to address global challenges, including biodiversity loss, environmental justice, and climate change. The study highlights the need for interdisciplinary collaboration, and that an actual collaboration of pedagogy, environmental science, social studies and languages can contribute considerably to improvement of ecopedagogical research and practice. Nonetheless, the analysis also reveals regional and thematic gaps in ecopedagogy research suggesting a need for more studies exploring ecopedagogical theories and practices in different cultural and socioeconomic contexts. This type of research would provide further evidence for the worldwide effectiveness of ecopedagogy to encourage students to actively engage in sustainability and social justice issues in their communities. KW - ecopedagogy KW - critical pedagogy KW - sustainability KW - biblometric analysis CR - Anyolo, E. O., Karkkainen, S., & Keinonen T. (2018). Implementing education for sustainable development in Namibia: School teachersí perceptions and teaching practices. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 20( 1), pp. 64-81. https://doi.org/10.2478/jtes-2018-0004 CR - Bekteshi, E., & Xhaferi, B. (2020). Learning about sustainable development goals through English language teaching. Research in Social Sciences and Technology, 5(3), 78-94. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.03.4 CR - Boetto, H., & Bell, K. (2015). Environmental sustainability in social work education: An online initiative to encourage global citizenship. International Social Work, 58(3), 448–462. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872815570073 CR - Chen, F. , & Abdullah, R. (2024). Scientific mapping of research on English as a foreign language (EFL) reading instruction: A thirty-year perspective. Heliyon 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25217 CR - Dana, B. G. & Saraclı, S. (2019). Environmental education and student’s perception for sustainability. Sustainability, 11(1553), 1-18. doi:10.3390/su11061553 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability CR - Donthu, N., Kumar, S., Mukherjee, D., Pandey, N., & Lim, W. M. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 133, 285-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.001 CR - Ellegaard, O. & Wallin, J.A. (2015). The bibliometric analysis of scholarly production: How great is the impact? Scientometrics 105, 1809–1831. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1645-z CR - Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Herder & Herder. CR - Gadotti, M. (2008). Education for sustainability: A critical contribution to the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Green Theory and Praxis: The Journal of Ecopedagogy, 4(1), 15–64. https://doi.org/10.3903/gtp.2008.1.2 CR - Giroux, H. A. (1988). Teachers as Intellectuals: Toward a Critical Pedagogy of Learning. Bergin & Garvey. CR - Hungerford, H. R., Volk, T. L., & Ramsey, J. M. (1994). Instructional impacts of environmental education on citizenship behavior and skills. Environmental Education & Training Partnership (EETAP). CR - Hungerford, H. R., & Volk, T. L. (1990). Changing learner behavior through environmental education. The Journal of Environmental Education, 21(3), 8–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.1990.10753743 CR - Kahn, R. (2010). Critical Pedagogy, Ecoliteracy, & Planetary Crisis: The Ecopedagogy Movement. Peter Lang. CR - Kanwal, A. (2024). An ecolinguistic study of language teachers as activists in promoting dialogue on SDGs. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 15(5), 1593-1602 https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1505.20 CR - Lasino, A. Y. R., Mokodenseho, S., & Aziz, A. M. (2023). Environmental Education for Sustainable Development: A Bibliometric Review of Curriculum Design and Pedagogical Approaches. The Eastasouth Journal of Learning and Educations, 1(02), 65–75. https://doi.org/10.58812/esle.v1i02.108 CR - Lopes, W. S., Mendonça, M. A. C., Frade, L. F. da S., da Silva, M. P., Fachardo, A. L. S., Carvalho, Y. G. S., Oliveira, R. A. de, Souza, J. P. de, Lima, J. A. da C., Silva, J. de F., & da Silva, A. V. (2024). Scientific production on environmental education: a bibliometric analysis. Caderno Pedagógico, 21(13), 17-22. https://doi.org/10.54033/cadpedv21n13-435 CR - Misiaszek, G. W. (2016). Ecopedagogy and Citizenship in the Age of Globalisation: Connections between Environmental and Global Citizenship Education. Palgrave Macmillan. CR - Misiazsek, G. W. (2020). Ecopedagogy: Critical Environmental Teaching for Planetary Justice and Global Sustainable Development. Bloomsbury Critical Education. CR - Misiaszek, G. W. (2023). Ecopedagogy: Freirean teaching to disrupt socioenvironmental injustices, anthropocentric dominance, and unsustainability of the Anthropocene. Educational Philosophy and Theory 55(11), 1253-1267. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2022.2130044 CR - Monem, R. (2024). Ecopedagogy to foster global perspectives. International Journal on Social Education Sciences 6(2), 188-199. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijonses.668 Dağtaş, 2025 1142 Mühlhäusler, P., & Peace, A. (2006). Environmental discourses. Annual Review of Anthropology, 35(1), 457–479. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123203 CR - Onopriienko K., Onopriienko, V., Petrushenko Y., & Onopriienko I.(2021). Environmental education for youth and adults: A bibliometric analysis of research. E3S Web of Conferences, 234 (00002), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202123400002 CR - Ozturk, O. (2021). Bibliometric review of resource dependence theory literature: an overview. Management Review Quarterly, 71(3), 525-552. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-020-00192-8 CR - Pritchard, A. (1969). Statistical bibliography or bibliometrics? Journal of Documentation, 25(4), 348-349. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026235 CR - Reid, A. (2002). Environmental change and sustainable education. In M. Smith (Ed.), Teaching Geography in Secondary Schools (pp. 225-244). The Open University. CR - Stibbe, A. (2021). Ecolinguistics language, ecology and the stories we live by. Routledge. CR - Sterling, S. (2021). Sustainable education: Re-Visioning learning and change. Green Books. CR - Şeker, F., & Tanık Önal, N. (2024). Bibliometric analysis of studies on environmental education in early childhood education. In B. Aydınlı & B. A. Altunoğlu, (Eds.) Transforming Early Childhood Education: Technology, Sustainability, and Foundational Skills for the 21st Century (pp.307-328). Özgür Press. https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub534.c2208 CR - Tilbury, D. (2011). Education for sustainable development: An expert review of processes and learning. UNESCO. CR - UNESCO (2017). Education for sustainable development goals: Learning objectives. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. CR - United Nations. (2015). Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations General Assembly. CR - Weaver, L. B. (2006): TEFL/TESOL basic theory: Solving the mystery. Atago J.H.S. CR - Wu, Y. (2018). Ecological discourse analysis. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 181,646-649. http://dx.doi.org/10.2991/icsshe-18.2018.163 CR - Yu, B., Guo, W.Y., & Fu, H. (2024). Sustainability in English language teaching: Strategies for empowering students to achieve the sustainable development goals. Sustainability 16(8), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16083325 CR - van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2010). Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics, 84(2), 523–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3 van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2017). VOSviewer version 1.6.14. Universiteit Leiden. https://www.vosviewer.com/ CR - Zia, A. B., Amjad, S., & Bhatti, Z. I. (2023). Exploration of ecopedagogical and ecolinguistics elements in secondary level English language textbooks from teacher’s perspective. Journal of Positive School Psychology 7(3), 1383-1391. CR - Zupic, J., & Čater, T. (2015). Bibliometric methods in management and organization. Organizational Research Methods, 18(3), 429-472. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428114562629 UR - https://doi.org/10.14686/buefad.1638367 L1 - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/4602830 ER -