Education for sustainable development in higher education: The effect of areas of knowledge on the conceptions of university teachers

Abstract

In Mexico, higher education institutions (HEIs) have adopted best practices to incorporate a sustainability perspective into the teaching process, yet without making transcendental changes in their structures or academic management procedures to integrate this perspective in teaching duties. The objective of this research was to study the effect that the disciplines have prevailing notions among faculty about the concept of education for sustainable development (ESD) in the context of teaching. A cross-sectional survey was applied to professors who belong to research groups in 26 Mexican HEIs, using a mixed sampling method and inferential statistics. The results show that the professors hold different interpretations of the concept of ESD, depending on their field of knowledge. This specific finding has implications for public policies related to incentives such as the Professor Development Program (PRODEP) and structuring teaching activities in HEIs, which maintain models that generate discipline barriers and inhibit interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work, as required by ESD.