scholarly journals Transformative Learning and Pedagogical Approaches in Education for Sustainable Development: Are Initial Teacher Education Programmes in England and Turkey Ready for Creating Agents of Change for Sustainability?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 8973
Author(s):  
Douglas Bourn ◽  
Nese Soysal
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Transformative Approach ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a feature of academic and policy debates within initial teacher education around the world. A theme within these debates is the extent to which ESD is more than just a body of knowledge, and if it suggests different pedagogical approaches which may be prevalent in most countries. Another feature of these debates is whether ESD can be seen as suggesting a transformative approach as opposed to a transmissive approach. As a qualitative study, using examples from research and evidence gathered in England and Turkey through document analysis, this article identifies both the opportunities and challenges for teacher education courses using ESD as a means for promoting a distinctive pedagogical approach and whether they can be seen as posing transformative learning.

scholarly journals Exploring the Connections of Education for Sustainable Development and Entrepreneurial Education—A Case Study of Vocational Teacher Education in Finland

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 11887
Author(s):  
Eveliina Asikainen ◽  
Annukka Tapani
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Entrepreneurial Education ◽  
Teacher Students ◽  
Vocational Teacher

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Entrepreneurial Education (EE) are quite abstract and demanding concepts for teacher students. Yet, Key Sustainability Competences and Entrepreneurial Competences entail important qualities of future citizens and workers, and teacher students should become prepared to accommodate education for these competencies in their teaching practice. This paper explores teacher students’ process of sense-making of sustainable development and how becoming a teacher who practices ESD connects with entrepreneurship. EE serves as a good mirroring surface to ESD as they both have their roots in Transformative Learning (TL) but pursue transformation towards different goals. The case study follows the vocational teacher education (VTE) students’ sensemaking of Sustainable Development as a part of teacher’s work during one semester which included integrated Thematic Studies of Sustainable Development. The qualitative content analysis of students’ texts focused on signs of transformative learning and was guided by the dimensions of sustainable development and learning goals set for teacher’s sustainability competences in the VTE curriculum. The results indicate that transformative learning is possible. Furthermore, they address the importance of certain entrepreneurial capabilities in the actualization of change agency.

scholarly journals Comparing education for sustainable development in initial teacher education across four countries

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neus (Snowy) Evans ◽  
Hilary Inwood ◽  
Beth Christie ◽  
Eva Ärlemalm-Hagsér
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Comparative Inquiry ◽  
Compare And Contrast

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to undertake a cross-comparative inquiry into Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) related to governance, initiatives and practices in initial teacher education (ITE) across four countries with very different contexts – Sweden, Scotland, Canada and Australia. It provides insights into issues arising internationally, implications for ESD in ITE and offers learnings for other countries and contexts. Design/methodology/approach A cross-comparative study design with overarching themes and within-case descriptions was applied to consider, compare and contrast governance characteristics, initiatives and practices from each context. Findings The approaches to governance, initiatives and practices that each country adopts are unique yet similar, and all four countries have included ESD in ITE to some extent. Comparing and contrasting approaches has revealed learnings focussed on ESD in relation to governance and regulation, practices and leadership. Research limitations/implications Making comparisons between different contexts is difficult and uncertain and often misses the richness and nuances of the individual sites under study. However, it remains an important endeavour as the challenges of embedding ESD in ITE will be better understood and overcome if countries can learn from one another. Originality/value Scrutinising different approaches is valuable for broadening views about possibilities and understanding how policies and initiatives translate in practice.

scholarly journals Prepared to Teach for Sustainable Development? Student Teachers’ Beliefs in Their Ability to Teach for Sustainable Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Dahl
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
The Status ◽  
Education Today ◽  
Environmentally Sound

The importance of embedding education for sustainable development has been emphasised over many years. At the same time, there has been a massive call for initial teacher education to provide all student teachers with the core of professional competences. What is the status of teacher education today in embedding education for sustainable development and how does it relate to the focus on professional competencies in teacher education? A total of 578 student teachers in seven different teacher education programmes in Europe were surveyed, measuring the students’ beliefs in their ability to work as teachers, as well as their ability to teach in ways that value sustainability and promote environmentally sound ways of living. The results of the survey show that student teachers feel well prepared to handle many aspects of teacher professionalism, but less prepared to educate for sustainability. The survey also indicates that student teacher training in educating for sustainability is not integrated in their other training and is generally just added on.

scholarly journals Systematic Review of Education for Sustainable Development at an Early Stage: Cornerstones and Pedagogical Approaches for Teacher Professional Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martín Bascopé ◽  
Paolo Perasso ◽  
Kristina Reiss
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Expert Committee ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

During recent decades, education for sustainable development (ESD) has been under the scope of the international community, but research in ESD for early childhood education (ECE) is still scarce. This article proposes a procedural framework for the implementation of teacher professional development opportunities in the area. During the first phase, we undertook a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles on ESD for ECE (n = 30). After an expert committee revision of the articles reviewed, three cornerstones (scientific action-integrated, community-based and value-oriented scopes) and three sets of suitable pedagogical approaches (art-based, outdoor-based and project-problem-based) were identified. The review was enhanced by an unsystematic review of articles (n = 26) that specifically referred to the cornerstones and approaches. Finally, a double-blind expert coding and categorization of the articles (n = 56) was performed in order to validate the results. Focusing on guidelines and approaches, different examples found in the literature are presented. This review offers a useful framework to understand and practice ESD in ECE. Unlike previous reviews, it has a practical scope to foster innovative teacher professional development opportunities, inspire teachers and inform policy makers. We conclude with some common challenges and the needs for educational systems to foster science-based citizenship education towards sustainable development in a practical way, fostering agency from an early stage to transform local context, creating global awareness of the environmental, social and economic challenges of the 21st century.

scholarly journals Exploring and Promoting Ecological Consciousness in Teacher Education: the Possibilities of Educational Action Research in Education for Sustainable Development

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inga Gedžūne ◽  
Ginta Gedžūne
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Primary School Teacher ◽  
Ecological Consciousness ◽  
Research In Education

Exploring and Promoting Ecological Consciousness in Teacher Education: the Possibilities of Educational Action Research in Education for Sustainable DevelopmentThe paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study with 39 first year students of pre-school and primary school teacher education programmes who are taking an educational action research based study course "Environmental Pedagogy". The study aimed at engaging the students in reflection on their experiences of interaction with nature and uncovering their views on ecological consciousness. Qualitative content analysis sought emergent themes in students' reflections. A conceptual framework was identified containing three frames of reference: (1) inclusion-oriented frame of reference; (2) exclusion-determining frame of reference and (3) solution-oriented frame of reference. Conclusions were drawn about the possibilities of educational action research to encourage students' reflection on ecological consciousness and building sustainable and inclusive relationships with the world.

The Bridge Between Education for Sustainable Development and Transformative Learning: Towards New Collaborative Learning Spaces

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Schnitzler
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Core Element ◽  
Key Features

Recent research has become increasingly interested in the concepts of education for sustainable development (ESD) and transformative learning (TL). However, even as ESD can be described as holistic and transformational education with the purpose to transform our society, only few studies have examined potential bridges between these two concepts. The article at hand gives an indication on this issue by studying the literature of ESD and TL. Strengthening the transformative aspect of ESD requires taking into account critical reflection, participation and social engagement, all of which all express key features of the new collaborative learning spaces (CLS). Subsequently, the potential of such CLS for the transformative mission of ESD are emphasized. In ESD as well as in CLS, the bridge between learning and action is crucial and a core element of social transformation. In order to clarify this, the new method of WeQ is described, aiming to better understand and develop CLS.

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