The Vision of Future Primary School Teachers as to Education for Sustainable Development from a Competency-Based Approach

Silvia Lorente-Echeverría (), Inma Canales-Lacruz and Berta Murillo-Pardo
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Silvia Lorente-Echeverría: Faculty of Education, University of Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Inma Canales-Lacruz: Faculty of Education, University of Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Berta Murillo-Pardo: Faculty of Education, University of Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: This study was established as an interpretive or phenomenological approach, based on a content analysis of the vision of future primary education teachers for education for sustainable development and its relationship with professional sustainability competencies. The sample consisted of 367 people—113 men, 247 women, and 7 who preferred not to say—with an average age of 21.82 ± 2.56, all of whom were studying for a Primary Education teaching degree at the Universities of Zaragoza and Granada in Spain. The content analysis process followed the phases proposed by Bardin: pre-analysis, based on an adaptation of the Cebrián and Junyent questionnaire; exploitation of the material, wherein the fragments to be coded were selected and coded one by one, by consensus between the three researchers; data processing and interpretation, using the QRS NVIVO 11 software. The main results show that respect, coexistence, and collaboration are the normative principles that regulate behavior and that the competencies related to education for sustainability have to do with managing emotions, critical thinking, clarifying values, and contextualizing problems. Furthermore, there is a lack of pragmatism that shows the need to develop the field of education for sustainable development through experiential, interdisciplinary, collaborative, and critical educational plans and projects.

Keywords: education for sustainable development (ESD); sustainability competencies; pre-service teacher education; higher education; interpretative analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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