Session Information
10 SES 10 B, Research on Programmes and Pedagogical Approaches in Teacher Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Sustainability accompanied by sustainable development became a central issue when the United Nations’ World Commission on Environment and Development published its report called Our Common Future (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). The key point behind this report, which was originated from competitive demands for environmental protection and economic development, was actually a new approach: sustainable development. To overcome the problems emerging with unsustainability, education and educational cooperation has been viewed as an important factor. A worldwide action plan, namely Agenda 21 proposed that education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to address sustainable development issues (UNCED, 1992). In line with international declarations, higher education has been advocated to make a major contribution to the process of sustainable development (Haigh, 2005). The universities which put an effort for sustainable development should also provide the highly skilled individuals necessary for every labor market such as teachers, engineers, architects, scientists, and many more. These professionals should be well equipped with the capacity and analytical skills that drive local economies, support civil society, create sustainable settlements, educate the next generations, and make important decisions which affect entire societies.
In this aspect, the present study has taken a mission to determine the potential deficiencies or powerful aspects of teacher candidates. Since, the graduates of Faculty of Education have a crucially important responsibility in preparing pupils to become active citizens toward a better and self-sustainable world (Summers, Corney and Childs, 2004). Recognizing social characteristics of Turkey as being a developing country and holding a large population of young people it is very important to enable young people to develop knowledge, values, and skills while creating a sustainable future. In this context, education for sustainable development in the teacher education programs could not discard to prepare future teachers to effectively teach about sustainability related issues. Since young people are educated through the guidance of teachers, future teachers should be well equipped with the necessary skills and understanding in order to overcome the obstacles toward a sustainable world (Alkis and Ozturk, 2007).
However, the literature review in the field of education for sustainable development has pointed out that there is a lack of research teacher candidates’ perceptions of sustainable development. Thus, the present study has a focus point on doing a gap analysis in order to empower the teacher education graduates for their personal and professional roles in a more sustainable society. The following questions guided the present study;
1. How familiar are Turkish teacher candidates with the term “sustainable development”?
2. What are Turkish teacher candidates’ understandings of sustainable development?
3. What are Turkish teacher candidates’ views on sustainable living at the campus?
4. To what extend are Turkish teacher candidates interested in learning about sustainability issues?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Alkis, S. and Ozturk, M. (2007) Sustainable development in opinions of primary student teachers and pre-service teacher education in Turkey, Paper presented at 2007 Symposium of the International Geographical Union - Commission on Geographical Education (IGU - CGE), Lucerne, Switzerland. Dresner, S. (2002) The Principles of Sustainability, Earthscan Publications Ltd, London. Haigh, M. (2005) Greening the university curriculum: appraising an international movement, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 29(1), 31-48 Kagawa, F. (2007) Dissonance in students’ perceptions of sustainable development and sustainability: Implications for curriculum change. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 8(3), 317-338. Summers, M., Corney, G. and Childs, A. (2004) Student teachers’ conceptions of sustainable development: the starting-points of geographers and scientists, Educational Research, 46(2), 163-182 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (1992) Agenda 21: Action plan for the next century, Rio de Janerio. Webster, K. (2004). Rethink, Refuse, Reduce... Education for sustainability in a changing world, Field Studies Publications. World Commission on Environment and Development (1987). Our common future, Oxford, Oxford University Press
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