Bridging the Gap: How Researcher–Teacher Collaboration Is Transforming Climate Change Education in Secondary Schools

Raquel de Rivas, Amparo Vilches and Olga Mayoral ()
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Raquel de Rivas: Botanical Garden of the Universitat de València, Calle Quart, 80, 46008 Valencia, Spain
Amparo Vilches: Department of Experimental and Social Sciences Education, Universitat de València, Avda. Tarongers, 4, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Olga Mayoral: Botanical Garden of the Universitat de València, Calle Quart, 80, 46008 Valencia, Spain

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: The research presented here is based on the study of secondary school students’ conceptions of sustainability and climate change, as well as the barriers described in the literature on the insufficient involvement of teachers in education for sustainability. Based on the results of these analyses, a collaborative intervention carried out with secondary school teachers and their students was designed, implemented, and evaluated in order to respond to the shortcomings and needs of both in this context. The teachers involved participated in an itinerary based on research in didactics of science. As a first step for the intervention, the knowledge of sustainability referred to by pre-service and in-service teachers was studied. The results of the research show the need for more training in sustainability and climate change for secondary school teachers in order to be able to effectively include this content in the subjects they teach. On the other hand, it has been shown that the collaborative work carried out with secondary school teachers improves their willingness and motivation to deal with issues related to sustainability in the classroom, taking advantage of the numerous opportunities offered by the curriculum.

Keywords: sustainability; climate change; student conceptions; teacher training; collaborative work; educational research-practice; SDGs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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