An objective of Education for Sustainable Development is to promote environmentally sustainable behavior to create a sustainable environment. However, scholars have defined pro environmental behaviors from different perspectives making it difficult to pin down how we can develop the behavior. This study presents a systematic literature review to examine the characteristics of pro-environmental behavior, challenges, and strategies used for developing pro-environmental behavior in middle school students. A search strategy was developed, and eligibility standards were applied, based on the "PICo" mnemonic and PRISMA methods. In this study, 33 articles, published from 2017 through 2023, were systematically reviewed using data from five electronic databases: Google Scholar, Web of Science, SCOPUS, Taylor & Francis, and SpringerLink. The review revealed five subthemes of general characteristics of pro environmental behavior: environmentally concerned behavior, environmentally significant behavior, environmentally responsible behavior, ecological behavior, and sustainable behavior. Second, four subthemes emerged in response to the challenge of developing pro-environmental behavior: social, economic, cultural, and individual. Additionally, effective teaching techniques and tools are the most effective way to promote pro-environmental behavior in the classroom, followed by learner-centered arrangements and outdoor programs/classroom education, educational game, green school, green lifestyle, and rewards. One of the recommendations from this SLR is to develop appropriate teaching aids and methods relevant to the respective communities, and to test the effectiveness of appropriate teaching aids and methods on developing pro environmental behaviors.
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