Understanding Teacher Engagement with Sustainable Consumption: Results of an Empirical Study

Author(s):

Daniel Fischer(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2011

Network:

21. Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

ERG SES H 07, Parallel Session H 07

Paper Session

Time:

2011-09-13

14:00-15:30

Room:

JK 27/106,G, 42

Chair:

Graham Hallett

Contribution

Education and educational organizations are regarded as “one of the most powerful tools” and a “key instrument” to bring about changes towards more sustainable, that means ecologically sound and socially just consumption patterns. While the notion of Education for Sustainable Consumption (ESC) is generally considered as an indispensable component of sustainable development strategies, it lacks institutional integration in school curricula, subjects and teacher education programs in many industrialized countries that are responsible for current unsustainable consumption patterns, among them Germany. The objective of the study presented is to identify factors that partially help to explain teachers’ engagement with the issue of sustainable consumption in their classes and subjects.

Method

The study presented draws on data that was collected from teachers of two vocational and two secondary schools (N=112) that are actively participating in the project BINK (for further details see www.consumerculture.eu). A questionnaire was administered that consists of three parts. The first part addresses the respondents’ perception of different aspects of their school’s »culture of consumption« (Fischer 2010b), their evaluations of the relevance and suitability of different themes discussed in ESC (Fischer 2010a) as well as their self-reported teaching activities in ESC. The second part focuses on teachers’ underlying images and concepts of youths and young consumers, their perceived pedagogical influence on the consumer socialization of their students as well as the personal relevance they hold for the normative idea of sustainable development. In the final part of the questionnaire, supplementary data is collected on such variables as the respondents’ age, years in service and disciplinary backgrounds.

Expected Outcomes

The data collected was analyzed using multivariate analysis and reports on predictors of teachers’ active engagement with sustainable consumption issues in formal education. Based on the results reported, implications are discussed for a more effective implementation of ESC in German schools. This study is part of a broader empirical study in the research and development project BINK. This broader study is jointly conducted by the author and Dr. Horst Rode and Dr. Matthias Barth. The author would like to express his appreciation to their helpful contributions to the study presented.

References

Fischer, D. (2010a). Educational Organizations as »Cultures of Consumption«: A Socio-Cultural Perspective on Consumer Learning, ECER2010 - The European Conference on Educational Research (Pre-Conference), 24.08.2010, Helsinki, Finland Fischer, D. (2010b). Sustainable Consumption - Mapping the Terrain: An Exploratory Review of Contested Themes and their Representation in Consumer Education. The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, 6, (3), 207–226.

Author Information

Daniel Fischer (presenting / submitting)

Leuphana University Lüneburg

Faculty of Sustainability Sciences, Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication (INFU)

Lueneburg

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