Understanding of sustainability and education for sustainable development among pre-service biology teachers

Abstract

Sustainable development (SD) is one of the global and central aims of today's politics. As stated in Agenda 21, education must play an essential role in achieving a sustainable society. The present research is focused on Slovenian and Austrian biology teacher students' understanding of SD and education for sustainable development (ESD). The research was carried out at the University of Ljubljana and the University of Vienna. Altogether, 60 Slovenian and 60 Austrian pre-service biology teachers participated in the questionnaire-based study. Pre-service biology teachers answered a set of Likert-type and open survey questions. Less than half of the pre-service biology teachers from Slovenia and Austria had a good understanding of the environmental aspects of SD, but they lack understanding of the interconnections between the environmental, economic and social dimensions related to SD. They describe and connect ESD with environmental education and environmental awareness. Students from both countries know some pedagogical principles of ESD, such as active learning and transformative education. Analysis with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in focus showed that only some of them were mentioned by the teacher students. The results of the research contribute to the evaluation and development of curriculum for middle and high school biology teachers.