Climate change, loss of biodiversity, increasing global disparities – there are currently numerous social, ecological and economic challenges which will prospectively become more acute in the next decades. To find answers to these challenges, present and future generations need specific competencies: In a globalized and networked world, they need the ability of critical reflexion, of understanding systemic linkages and of analysing their own values and attitudes. Such competencies are strengthened by the concept of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). According to UNESCO (2020, 8), the definition for ESD used in this presentation is: „ESD empowers learners with knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to take informed decisions and make responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society empowering people of all genders, for present and future generations, while respecting cultural diversity. […] It is holistic and transformational and encompasses learning content and outcomes, pedagogy and the learning environment itself“.

ESD is promoted as an important pedagogic concept by political institutions on national, European and global scales (Nationale Plattform BNE 2017; UNESCO 2020). The importance of embedding ESD into educational systems at all levels is stressed time and again. Especially higher education institutions constitute a double leverage: Not only do they educate future societal decision makers, but also prospective teachers who themselves need to become able to support their students in ESD learning activities. For implementing ESD in their own classes, teachers need specific competencies which should be part of teacher training programmes at universities. To meet this aim, higher education lecturers should not only convey knowledge about sustainability-related topics, but also encourage students to critical thinking and transformational action. Hence, appropriate professional development structures for university lecturers are of high importance and should be promoted all over Europe (Mader et al. 2014; Mulà et al. 2017).

In the last decade, transformative learning, a theory from the field of adult learning, has gained increasing attention in the domain of ESD. Jack Mezirow defines the concept as “learning that transforms problematic frames of reference – sets of fixed assumptions and expectations (habits of mind, meaning perspectives, mindsets) – to make them more inclusive, discriminating, open, reflective, and emotionally able to change“ (Mezirow 2003, 58). One important prerequisite for transformative learning processes is that teachers deal with their own values in a reflexive and open way in classes (Singer-Brodowski 2019). In higher education, this may be a conflictual point, as many lecturers adopt a positivist view on knowledge and feel bound to the ideal of a neutral, objective science (Schneider et al. 2019). Especially when it comes to value-laden topics such as sustainable development, an open way of dealing with normativity is decisive: If lecturers do not make the normative underpinning of the topics and their teaching explicit, students may reject to get involved with such topics and existing dominant meaning perspectives may be perpetuated (Mulder 2010). Yet, if norms and values are addressed in a discursive and reflexive way, students will feel less urged to justify their (possibly deriving) normative positions and will be more open for a deeper study of topics related to sustainable development (Singer-Brodowski 2019).

To date, there is a lack of studies exploring how higher education lecturers can be supported in dealing constructively with values. Therefore, our research project addresses the following question: How can higher education lecturers be encouraged in an ESD professional development workshop to deal constructively with values? For dealing with this question, the lecturers’ starting point must be examined: How do they define normativity? How do they address normativity in their own teaching? (How) Do they reflect normative questions with their students?

In order to work on the above-mentioned research questions, an exploratory study using a mixed methods design is conducted. The participants will be university lecturers who take part in a professional development workshop on ESD carried out in the context of the project “How to teach sustainability. Promotion of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in higher education – Setting up professional development structures across higher education institutions with a focus on teacher training at selected higher education institutions in Germany”. The project is located at Heidelberg University of Education. The study is composed by (i) a quantitative questionnaire, (ii) group discussions with the workshop participants and (iii) qualitative, semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire will be completed before and after the workshop and gives insights into the lecturers´ reflexion on normativity in their own teaching: To what extend do they find value-laden statements in teaching settings acceptable? Do they address values and norms in their classes? Do they encourage controverse discussions among their students? The questionnaire is composed by closed questions and will be evaluated through descriptive statistics (SPSS). The group discussions are conducted after the workshop and serve the reconstruction of the lecturers´ collective experiences concerning values in higher education teaching in general and in relation to ESD in particular. They offer the possibility for the lecturers to formulate their perceived problems and challenges themselves. The semi-structured interviews are supposed to throw light on the lecturers´ definitions of normativity and on whether and how they deal with normative dimensions of sustainability-related topics in their classes. They allow to examine to what extent the probands perceive sustainable development as a value-laden topic. Furthermore, they give indications on the preconditions and the main challenges for university lecturers dealing with values. Finally, the interviews shall clarify how to ameliorate and to further develop the ESD workshop. To gain insights in the lecturers´ further reflexions on the topic, follow-up interviews will be conducted some months after the workshops. Both the group discussions and the interviews will be evaluated using Mayring´s qualitative content analysis.

The expected outcomes of the study will help to gain an understanding of how university lecturers reflect on normative, value-laden issues in their sustainability-related teaching and on their teaching in general. Moreover, the study will provide insights regarding inhibiting and enabling factors for the design of open and reflective learning environments which are suitable for a linkage between ESD and transformative learning at higher education institutions. The findings will be used to adapt and refine an ESD workshop programme for university lecturers developed by a project team at Heidelberg University of Education. The improved professional development programme shall be anchored structurally and nationwide in higher education institutions. Thus, the results are of direct practical relevance. On the other hand, the findings can contribute to a larger debate lead in the context of higher education institutions: To what extend can teaching activities claim objectiveness and neutrality? In how far can the attempt to convey value-free content knowledge disguise power relations immanently linked to science and scientific research? By adding the dimension of value to higher education learning settings across all academic disciplines, ESD can contribute to a quality enhancement in higher education teaching in general.

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