Motivation of Civic Education Teachers-in-Training in the Field of Education for Sustainable Development

Abstract

The objective of teacher-training at university for political science is the development of professional competencies that enable teachers-in-training to act proficiently in all aspects of civic education. Although there are some studies that focus on civic education for teachers’ professional competencies, most of them relate to general capability and do not concern certain significant topics. Empirical results related to the definitive topics within civic education are scarce, particularly in the field of sustainable development. Questions arise regarding teacher-training where it relates to high self-efficacy and interest within the field of civic education compared to other subjects, based on the model of political competence by Detjen and colleagues. In this article, we present the results of a quasi-experimental trial with civic education teachers-in-training (N = 108). Results indicate that their self-efficacy in the field of sustainable development is low compared to other areas, although there is no significant difference in their level of interest in sustainable development compared to other topics.