Proposal Information

We live in an age of intertwined ecological and social crises—from climate change to biodiversity loss. These challenges demand more from education than the passive transfer of facts; they require fostering teachers who can nurture critically minded, engaged citizens. Biology educators stand at the forefront of this shift. Yet, conventional teacher training, often focused on reproductive learning, falls short of developing the deep, critical environmental literacy (CEL) future educators must possess and, in turn, cultivate in their students. In this study, we understand CEL not just as knowledge about ecosystems, but as a multidimensional capacity. It involves analysing complex socio-ecological systems, reflecting on the values and assumptions that shape our understanding, and moving towards informed decision-making and action.

Consequently, our central aim is to move beyond theoretical appeal and identify the concrete pedagogical conditions under which Research-Based Learning (RBL) becomes an effective methodology for building CEL in pre-service biology teachers. We seek to ground our approach in empirical data from an actual classroom intervention. This aim breaks down into three guiding questions:

1. What trajectory of change do we observe in students' CEL—in their cognitive understanding of complexity, their affective sense of agency and values, and their behavioural readiness to apply this in teaching—when they participate in a course designed around RBL principles?
2. Which elements of the RBL process—be it formulating their own research questions, grappling with ambiguous or contradictory data, defending findings in peer debates, or structured reflective writing—are most powerfully linked to growth in these different dimensions of literacy?
3. From the perspectives of both students and instructors, what facilitates or hinders the integration of such an RBL approach into the existing curriculum for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)?

Our thinking is anchored in a deliberate dialogue between three conceptual frameworks. First, we draw on the сritical еnvironmental дiteracy model (McBride et al., 2013), which explicitly ties ecological understanding to critical thinking, ethics, and civic engagement. Second, the pedagogy of research-based learning (Healey & Jenkins, 2009) provides our core method, treating students not as vessels but as co-inquirers in a process that mirrors authentic knowledge construction. Finally, the overarching education for sustainable development (ESD) paradigm, aligned with UN SDG 4.7, supplies the normative "why"—the urgent competencies needed for a sustainable future, as outlined in frameworks like the UNECE (2012) competencies.

Preparing teachers for ESD is a stated priority across the EU (e.g., the European Education Area) and globally. Our work engages directly with international debates on re-imagining teacher education. By analysing practices from institutions like the University of Gothenburg and Leuphana University Lüneburg, and by aiming to produce an adaptable pedagogical model, this study seeks to contribute a tangible resource to the shared European project of creating innovative, competence-driven teacher education.

Methodology or Methods/ Research Instruments To capture both the measurable outcomes and the nuanced, personal dimensions of learning, we have chosen a convergent mixed-methods design set within a quasi-experimental structure. The intervention is a specially designed RBL module focused on local and global socio-ecological issues, delivered to one cohort of a Master's programme in Biology Teacher Education (intervention group, N≈25). A parallel cohort following the standard curriculum will serve as a comparison group (N≈25). Data collection will be twofold. Quantitatively, we will use pre- and post-intervention questionnaires with adapted, validated scales to track shifts in CEL components. Qualitatively, we will delve deeper through: 1) semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of intervention participants (n≈10-12) to hear their stories of change; 2) a detailed thematic analysis of the students' own reflective portfolios and research reports; and 3) participatory observation of seminar discussions to capture interactive learning in real-time. We will triangulate these data streams to strengthen validity. Statistical analysis (using non-parametric tests like the Wilcoxon signed-rank test) will handle the quantitative data. The rich qualitative material—interview transcripts, written reflections, observation notes—will be analysed through reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), allowing key themes about the development of CEL and the lived experience of RBL to emerge from the data itself.

Conclusions We anticipate this project will yield four interconnected outcomes. Primarily, it will result in a practical, empirically-informed model for using RBL in biology teacher education, moving from principle to practice with examples like tackling "wicked" real-world problems. Secondly, it will outline a set of actionable pedagogical conditions—such as rooting learning in tangible local issues, fostering a classroom culture of respectful debate, and weaving ethical reflection into every research stage—that make this model work. Third, and crucially for impact, we will produce a ready-to-use, open-access resource for teacher educators: a detailed module blueprint complete with case studies, activity guides, and assessment rubrics. Finally, on a theoretical level, the study aims to clarify the relationship between the pedagogical process of RBL and the development of complex competencies like CEL, offering insights that may resonate across disciplines in higher education. This contribution aims to bridge the gap between innovative pedagogy and the pressing goal of fostering sustainability-oriented agency in future generations of teachers.

References Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. Healey, M., & Jenkins, A. (2009). Developing undergraduate research and inquiry. The Higher Education Academy. McBride, B. B., Brewer, C. A., Berkowitz, A. R., & Borrie, W. T. (2013). Environmental literacy, ecological literacy, ecoliteracy: What do we mean and how did we get here? Ecosphere, 4(5), 1-20. UNECE. (2012). Learning for the future: Competences in Education for Sustainable Development. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.