The Evaluation of the Trainer’s Training as a Catalyst for the Process of Curriculum Change towards Sustainability

Author(s):

M. Angeles Ull(presenting / submitting)Pilar Aznar-Minguet(presenting)M. Pilar Martínez-Agut(presenting)Albert Piñero

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

30. Environmental and Sustainability Education Research (ESER)

Format:

Poster

Session Information

30 SES 04 B, Curriculum and ESE Development

Paper/Poster Session

Time:

2016-08-24

09:00-10:30

Room:

NM-J112

Chair:

Marco Rieckmann

Contribution

Introduction, objectives and theoretical framework

Quality teacher training dealing with sustainability, both initial and continued, plays a crucial role in the world educative community, as it is laid down in the introduction of the UNESCO’s document “Guidelines and Recommendations for Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability”. Also, the United Nations strategy “Empowering educators for a sustainable future”, which aim is to provide knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to educational professionals compatible with sustainability values, has established a framework of competences for the professional development of educators.

The Global Action Programme (GAP), driven by the UNESCO in the Declaration about education for sustainable development, promotes education at all levels as an important asset in order to implement sustainability in each of its action areas.

The objective number 4 of the document “Transforming our world: Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development” (ONU, 2015) adopted in the United Nations Summit held in New York, states that all students ought to acquire the knowledge and competences needed to promote sustainable development.

Within this context, University education represents an important asset for the implementation of sustainability in each of its action areas. But is far from being an easy task. In spite of the progresses achieved along the last decades, the inclusion in the curricula of contents (cognitive, procedural, relational and ethical) related to sustainability is still in a very early stage. These questions demand a change in the culture of training not only among the teachers but also inside the educational institutions, and present the challenge of the existence of an institutional commitment as well as the involvement and commitment of the teachers dealing with the inclusion of contents consistent with sustainability values and with the implementation of socio-environmental criteria and approaches in their curricula.

At a university scope in our country, the Assembly of The Conference of Spanish University Rectors (CRUE) leads this change of culture by having submitted to all governing teams from all Spanish universities, a document with the “Guidelines for curricular sustainability” (2012). It is an advisory document and, thus, non-binding but involves a wake-up call about the relevance of walking together towards a viable future.

In this sense it is very important to know the level of introduction of sustainability within the trainer’s training, due to the multiplying effect that teaching and learning processes can have on students who are going to be future trainers.

The present study aims to:

a) Know the attitudes and behaviours of the teachers from educative scopes dealing with sustainability.

b) Evaluate the inclusion of contents and activities related to sustainability in trainer’s training to be able to regulate the teaching and learning processes.

c) Find out the level of sustainable use of resources and waste generation in the teaching and learning processes of trainer’s training.

d) Draw sustainable-related criteria for their application in trainer’s training, and guide the management of the successive teaching processes.

Method

The aim of this working line is to raise, analise and interpret information about the introduction of sustainability within the teaching activities in trainer’s training, with the purpose of generating communicable knowledge based on empirical evidence allowing the review of actions and the elaboration of new work proposals. This study stands in the field of evaluative research. We have opted for a model of evaluation focusing on both, processes and results, with an open design developed for this study. As a result, the methodological complementarity has been assumed, combining the use of a quantitative approach -more accurate for measurable impacts-, with a qualitative approach -more appropriate for data interpretation and for the collection of deeper general visions about the reality to be studied (Reason and Bradbury, 2001), with the aim of implementing the guidance of the teaching processes. The questionnaire and in-depth interviews have been the analysis tools used. The questionnaire used is a self-assessment instrument previously developed and validated (Aznar Minguet et al 2014 a). The specification of the units for analysis in 27 items has been strongly related to the objectives proposed, on the basis of the theoretical framework. The questions of each item are based on agreed judgment values over a realized action, and allow establishing individual and curricular improvement strategies, since the degrees of domain on each evaluated content are clearly identified (Aznar Minguet et al 2014 b). The population under study (464 teachers) has been all the teachers from the Faculty of Teacher Training (Early Childhood Education Teacher Degree and Primary Education Teacher Degree), as well as the teachers from the Master in Secondary Education Teacher Training. A statistically significant sample of 142 teachers has been drawn from this population (95% confidence level and level of error of 7,00%), enough to achieve the validation objective. Data analysis has been performed with Datadesk 7. For the in-depth interviews we have developed a protocol with the inclusion of a number of questions related to the objectives proposed in the study in order to ensure the consistency of the process and the recording of information for further analysis (Corbetta, 2010).

Expected Outcomes

The expected results which are under analysis, can allow us to guide the change and decision-making, towards a transforming action in university teaching. These results will offer a diagnosis about the inclusion of sustainability in the teaching of the teachers involved in the trainer’s training processes of Early Childhood Education Teacher Degree, Primary Education Teacher Degree and Secondary Education Teacher Degree. Such results can also be useful as a starting point to initiate a process of change and transition towards teaching practices including principles, criteria and values dealing with sustainability. And we hope that the results may be useful to other institutions of higher education. However, it should be highlighted that, in general, the level of introduction of sustainability in teaching and learning activities can be relatively limited, which it could seem obvious if we take into consideration that, actually, sustainability does not respond to a scientific concept rather than to a political issue for an important sector of teachers. To balance this type of assessments, we should promote the research results accumulating scientific evidences about the problems dealing with sustainability, and university institutions should influence on the relevance of promoting research projects which could provide scientific answers to be used in class.

References

Aznar-Minguet, P., M. A. Ull, A. Piñero & M.P. Martínez-Agut. (2014 a). Evaluation of Sustainability in the Teaching of University Professors: Construction and Validation of a Self-diagnostic Questionnaire”. Communication/Poster. European Congress of Educational Research. ECER. Oporto: September, 2014. Aznar-Minguet, P., M. A. Ull, A. Piñero & M.P. Martínez-Agut. (2014 b) Autodiagnóstico de la inclusión de la sostenibilidad en las actividades docentes del profesorado universitario. Universidad de Valencia. Licencia creative commons by.nc-nd. OTRI (UV): 126721 Barth, M. (2014) Implementing Sustainability in Higher Education. Learning in an age of transformation. London. Routledge. Publishers CRUE (2012) Guidelines for the Inclusion of Sustainability in the Curriculum. Update of the institutional declaration approved in 2005. http://www.crue.org/Sostenibilidad/CADEP/Documents/DIRECTRICES%20INGLES%20SOST%20CRUE%202012.pdf Corbetta, P. (2010) Metodología y técnicas de investigación social. Madrid. Mc Graw-Hill Guskey, T. (2000) Evaluating Professional Development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press Inc. Harpe B, & Thomas, I. (2009) Curriculum Change in Universities: Conditions that Facilitate Education for Sustainable Development. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 1 March: 75-85. ONU (2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development A/70/L.1 Reason, P. & Bradbury, H. (2001): Handbook of Action Research. Participative, Inquiry and Practice. London: Sage. Taylor S.J. & Bogdan R. (1987) Introducción a los métodos cualitativos de investigación. Barcelona: Paidos. Tilbury, D. (2012) ‘Another World is Desirable: Transforming Higher Education for Sustainability’ In, Sterling, S, Maxey, L and Luna H, (eds) The Sustainable University: Process and Prospects, London: Earthscan/Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-415-62774-0 UNECE (2011) Strategy for Education for Sustainable development. ECE/CEP/AC13/2011/6 UNECE (2013) Empowering educators for a sustainable future. Tools for policy and practice workshops on competences in education for sustainable development. ECE/CEP/AC.13/2013/4. GE.13-20120. UNESCO (2014) World Conference on Education for sustainable development: learning today for a sustainable future. Aichi-Nagoya (Japan) november 2014. www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco-world-conference-on-esd-2014/.

Author Information

M. Angeles Ull (presenting / submitting)

Universidad de Valencia

ERI de Estudios de Sostenibilidad

Valencia

Pilar Aznar-Minguet (presenting)

University of Valencia

Theory of Education

Valencia

M. Pilar Martínez-Agut (presenting)

Universituy of Valencia

Theory of Education

Valencia

Albert Piñero

ERI Estudios de Sostenibilidad,Universidad de Valencia, Spain

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