scholarly journals How Important Is Future Teachers’ “Connectedness to Nature”? Adaptation and Validation of the Connectedness to Nature Scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 250
Author(s):  
Dunja Anđić ◽  
Lorena Šuperina
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Future Teachers ◽  
Connectedness To Nature

The teacher plays a key role in fostering sustainability and implementing Education for Sustainable Development at school. This paper presents a study aimed at adapting and validating a shorter version of the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) to measure student future teachers’ connectedness to nature. The scale has been translated into Croatian in an abbreviated form and applied to a specific sample of students from the Faculty of Teacher Education in Rijeka, Croatia (N = 138). One of the tasks was to examine whether there are statistically significant differences among students regarding their membership in eco-associations and previous participation in an Environmental Education/Education for Sustainable Development (EE/ESD) course. A special research objective was to determine the extent to which the current education and membership in an eco-association explain the connectedness to nature. In addition to the indicated research limitations, the results confirmed the significant measured characteristics of the scale. Education has so far proved to be a predictor of connectedness to nature. Additionally, the results showed that membership in an eco-association is a predictor of connectedness to nature. Based on the obtained results, it is possible to conclude that the connectedness to nature must be further explored, especially in the context of the initial education of future teachers, as a possible prerequisite for a successful practice of Education for Sustainable Development in schools.

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.

From environmental education to education for sustainable development in higher education: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Mauricio Acosta Castellanos ◽  
Araceli Queiruga-Dios
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

Purpose In education concerning environmental issues, there are two predominant currents in the world, environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD). ESD is the formal commitment and therefore promoted by the United Nations, to ensure that countries achieve sustainable development. In contrast, EE was the first educational trend with an environmental protection approach. The purpose of this systematic review that seeks to show whether the migration from EE to ESD is being effective and welcomed by researchers and especially by universities is presented. With the above, a global panorama can be provided, where the regions that choose each model can be identified. In the same sense, it was sought to determine which of the two currents is more accepted within engineering education. Design/methodology/approach The review followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyzes parameters for systematic reviews. In total, 198 papers indexed in Scopus, Science Direct, ERIC and Scielo were analyzed. With the results, the advancement of ESD and the state of the EE by regions in the world were identified. Findings It was possible to categorize the geographical regions that host either of the two EE or ESD currents. It is important to note that ESD has gained more strength from the decade of ESD proposed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. For its part, EE has greater historical roots in some regions of the planet. In turn, there is evidence of a limited number of publications on the design and revision of study plans in engineering. Originality/value Through this systematic literature review, the regions of the world that are clinging to EE and those that have taken the path of ESD could be distinguished. Moreover, specific cases in engineering where ESD has been involved were noted.

The Denaturation of Environmental Education: Exploring the Role of Ecotechnologies

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Gough ◽  
Noel Gough
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Global Citizenship ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Natural Resource Base

AbstractThis article explores the changing ways ‘environment’ has been represented in the discourses of environmental education and education for sustainable development (ESD) in United Nations (and related) publications since the 1970s. It draws on the writings of Jean-Luc Nancy and discusses the increasingly dominant view of the environment as a ‘natural resource base for economic and social development’ (United Nations, 2002, p. 2) and how this instrumentalisation of nature is produced by discourses and ‘ecotechnologies’ that ‘identify and define the natural realm in our relationship with it’ (Boetzkes, 2010, p. 29). This denaturation of nature is reflected in the priorities for sustainable development discussed at Rio+20 and proposed successor UNESCO projects. The article argues for the need to reassert the intrinsic value of ‘environment’ in education discourses and discusses strategies for so doing. The article is intended as a wake-up call to the changing context of the ‘environment’ in ESD discourses. In particular, we need to respond to the recent UNESCO (2013a, 2013b) direction of global citizenship education as the successor to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005–2014 that continues to reinforce an instrumentalist view of the environment as part of contributing to ‘a more just, peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable world’ (UNESCO, 2013a, p. 3).

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.

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