From Ethnocultural Knowledge to Systems Thinking: Mapping Global Research on Ethno-ESD in Elementary Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33394/jk.v12i3.22094Keywords:
Ethno-ESD, system thinking, elementary education, SDG 4, bibliometric analysisAbstract
This study aims to analyze global research trends, thematic evolution, and research characteristics related to Ethno-ESD and systems thinking in elementary education using a bibliometric approach. The study employed bibliometric analysis using Biblioshiny within the Bibliometrix package in RStudio. A total of 44 documents published between 2017 and 2026 were retrieved from the Scopus database and analyzed, representing 33 sources. The analysis focused on publication trends, authorship patterns, citation metrics, and thematic mapping based on keyword co-occurrence. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify and interpret recurring themes and patterns across research topics and keywords. The findings revealed an annual growth rate of 8.01%, indicating increasing scholarly interest in the topic. The dominant motor themes were sustainable development, education, and learning, suggesting that sustainability-oriented educational practices remain central to current research. The collaboration index indicated a moderate level of international research collaboration. These findings suggest that research on Ethno-ESD and systems thinking in elementary education is evolving toward interdisciplinary and sustainability-focused learning approaches. This study contributes to the identification of future research directions and provides a scientific basis for integrating local wisdom and systems thinking into sustainable elementary education practices.
References
Abera, H. G. (2023). The role of education in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A global evidence based research article. International Journal of Social Science and Education Research Studies, 3(01), 67–81.
Aksnes, D. W., & Sivertsen, G. (2023). Global trends in international research collaboration, 1980-2021. Journal of Data and Information Science, 8(2), 26–42.
Aria, M., Cuccurullo, C., D’Aniello, L., & Spano, M. (2026). Biblioshiny and the SAAS Workflow: An integrated framework for transparent and reproducible science mapping. A demonstration through the replication of a study. Journal of Informetrics, 20(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2026.101837
Blom, R., & Karrow, D. D. (2024). Environmental and sustainability education in teacher education research: an international scoping review of the literature. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 25(5), 903–926.
Bozkurt, E. (2023). A bibliometric analysis of systems thinking research in science education 1991–2022. Science Education International, 34(3), 225–234.
Bozkurt, N. O., & Bozkurt, E. (2024). Systems Thinking in Education: A Bibliometric Analysis. Education & Science/Egitim ve Bilim, 49(218).
Çetinkaya, M., Mercan, G., & Selçuk, Z. V. (2025). Mapping the evolution of systems thinking in science education: A bibliometric analysis (January 2010–December 2024). International Journal of Education Technology and Scientific Researches, 10(30), 55–74.
Costa, J., Alscher, P., & Thums, K. (2024). Global competences and education for sustainable development. A bibliometric analysis to situate the OECD global competences in the scientific discourse. Zeitschrift Für Erziehungswissenschaft, 1–20.
Dorta-González, P., & Gómez-Déniz, E. (2022). Modeling the obsolescence of research literature in disciplinary journals through the age of their cited references. Scientometrics, 127(6), 2901–2931.
Eichentopf, I.-M., & Kasperidus, H. D. (2025). Integrating technology assessment, systems thinking, and system dynamics in sustainability education: The need for an interdisciplinary framework. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 9, 100535.
Fairus, F., Maftuh, B., Sujana, A., Pribadi, R., & Azzahra, F. (2024). Local wisdom integration in learning implementation in elementary school. Jurnal Cakrawala Pendas, 10(2), 194–205.
Frey, S., Beege, M., Renkl, A., & Riess, W. (2025). The Impact of System Models on Systems Thinking in the Context of Climate Change in Elementary School. Systems, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/systems13040220
Gorski, A.-T., Ranf, E.-D., Badea, D., Halmaghi, E.-E., & Gorski, H. (2023). Education for sustainability—Some bibliometric insights. Sustainability, 15(20), 14916.
Hoang, A.-D. (2025). Evaluating bibliometrics reviews: A practical guide for peer review and critical reading. In Evaluation Review (Vol. 49, Number 6, pp. 1074–1102). SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA.
Horn, A., Urias, E., & Zweekhorst, M. B. M. (2022). Epistemic stability and epistemic adaptability: interdisciplinary knowledge integration competencies for complex sustainability issues. Sustainability Science, 17(5), 1959–1976.
Ichinose, T. (2025). Analysing the Implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) from National to School Levels Through Bibliometric Studies. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 19(1), 96–109.
Jakes, V. (2024). The role of traditional knowledge in sustainable development. International Journal of Humanity and Social Sciences, 3(2), 40–55.
Jang, F.-L., Chien, T.-W., & Chou, W. (2023). Thematic maps with scatter and 4-quadrant plots in R to identity dominant entities on schizophrenia in psychiatry since 2017: bibliometric analysis. Medicine, 102(46), e36041.
Lestari, N., & Suyanto, S. (2024). A systematic literature review about local wisdom and sustainability: Contribution and recommendation to science education. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 20(2), em2394.
Lõhmus, A., Kiisel, M., & Lõhkivi, E. (2025). Interdisciplinary collaboration for sustainability science: the training challenge. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1936.
Marco-Lajara, B., Martinez-Falco, J., Millan-Tudela, L. A., & Sanchez-Garcia, E. (2023). Analysis of the structure of scientific knowledge on wine tourism: A bibliometric analysis. Heliyon, 9(2).
Marsandi, F., Sutadji, E., Kuntadi, I., Rizal, F., Nur Rahma, A. B., & Fajri, H. (2025). Integrating Ethnobotany and Indigenous Knowledge into Higher Education Curricula: Insights from a Global Biobliometric Analysis. Ethnobotany Research and Applications , 30. https://doi.org/10.32859/era.30.17.1-12
Nguyen, L. K., Huynh, B. N. T., Nguyen, K. H. G., & Dao, H. T. H. (2026). Mainstreaming education for sustainable development in chemistry via a systems thinking approach: a case study on a series of lessons in the existing curriculum. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 27(2), 742–756. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5rp00450k
Peretz, R. (2025). Integrating Systems Thinking into Sustainability Education: An Overview with Educator-Focused Guidance. Education Sciences, 15(12), 1685.
Probst, L. (2022). Higher education for sustainability: A critical review of the empirical evidence 2013–2020. Sustainability, 14(6), 3402.
Sari, T., Nayir, F., & Poyrazli, S. (2025). Educare, Educere, or Holistic? Exploring Researchers’ Educational Approaches in Education for Sustainable Development Research. Sustainable Development, 33(5), 6590–6603. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.3481
Tafese, M. B., & Kopp, E. (2025). Education for sustainable development: analyzing research trends in higher education for sustainable development goals through bibliometric analysis. Discover Sustainability, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-024-00711-7
Thian, L. B., Ng, V., & Yoon, S. J. (2026). A systematic review of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to foster systems thinking in higher education for sustainability. Discover Sustainability, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-02832-7
Vadhera, A. S., Lee, J. S., Veloso, I. L., Khan, Z. A., Trasolini, N. A., Gursoy, S., Kunze, K. N., Chahla, J., & Verma, N. N. (2022). Open access articles garner increased social media attention and citation rates compared with subscription access research articles: an altmetrics-based analysis. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 50(13), 3690–3697.
Verma, A., & Dhaigude, A. S. (2026). Quality Education – Sustainable Development Goal 4: A Bibliometric Analysis through a Management and Policy Lens. Integration of Education, 30(1), 10–28. https://doi.org/10.15507/1991-9468.030.202601.010-028
Yakub, P., Fahira, A. P., Puspitawati, R. P., Prastiwi, M. S., & Listiaji, P. (2025). Critical thinking trends in STEM learning for SDGs: A bibliometric study comparing scopus and dimensions data. E3S Web of Conferences, 640. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202564002011
Yulianto, A., Sopandi, W., Riandi, R., & Hamdu, G. (2026). Assessing Teachers’ Readiness for Science Learning in Elementary School: A Rasch Analysis of the Nature of Science, RADEC, and Science Process Skills. Multidisciplinary Science Journal, 8(9), 2026475. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.31893/multiscience.2026475
Zhang, Y., & Wang, P. (2022). Detecting the historical roots of education for sustainable development (ESD): A bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 23(3), 478–502.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Citation Check
License
Copyright (c) 2026 The Author(s)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
License and Publishing Agreement
In submitting the manuscript to the journal, the authors certify that:
- They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
- The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
- That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
- That its publication has been approved by all the author(s) and by the responsible authorities tacitly or explicitly of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
- They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
- They agree to the following license and publishing agreement.
Copyright
Authors who publish with JK agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
Licensing for Data Publication
-
Open Data Commons Attribution License, http://www.opendatacommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/ (default)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.






