Differences in Teachers’ Professional Action Competence in Education for Sustainable Development: The Importance of Teacher Co-Learning

Maria Magdalena Isac, Wanda Sass, Jelle Boeve- de Pauw, Sven De Maeyer, Wouter Schelfhout, Peter Van Petegem and Ellen Claes
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Maria Magdalena Isac: Center for Political Science Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Wanda Sass: Research Unit Edubron, Department of Training and Education Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Jelle Boeve- de Pauw: Research Unit Edubron, Department of Training and Education Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Sven De Maeyer: Research Unit Edubron, Department of Training and Education Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Wouter Schelfhout: Research Unit Didactica, Antwerp School of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Peter Van Petegem: Research Unit Edubron, Department of Training and Education Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Ellen Claes: Center for Political Science Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: This study builds on a research-practitioner partnership embedded within an education for sustainable development (ESD) project and aims to explore the major potential challenges (i.e., disciplinary boundaries set by subject specialization, especially in secondary education) and success factors (i.e., teacher co-learning experiences in ESD) associated with differences in teachers’ professional action competence (PACesd) in a sample of 557 in-service teachers in primary and secondary schools in Flanders, Belgium. The study employed a recently validated PACesd measurement instrument and involved quantitative data analysis in a structural equation modelling framework. The results show that primary education teachers tend to report higher PACesd levels compared to their peers in secondary education. Moreover, regardless of educational level, gender and teaching experience, all teachers participating in a working group or a learning community in ESD are more likely to show higher levels of PACesd. Implications of the findings, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Keywords: teachers’ professional action competence (PACesd); education for sustainable development (ESD); teacher co-learning; in-service teachers; primary and secondary schools; Flanders; Belgium (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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