Developing an Instrument for Identifying Secondary Teachers’ Beliefs About Education for Sustainable Development in China

Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been recently recognized as an important area in the new Chinese educational reform. As teachers play a pivotal role, knowing and developing an effective and easy-to-use instrument for tapping teachers’ beliefs is essential. This article reports an attempt to develop an instrument with mixed methods. The finalized instruments comprise two subscales with satisfactory reliability indices obtained. Sustainability values (VSD) consists of four dimensions: respect and care for the community of life; ecological integrity; social and economic justice; and democracy, nonviolence, and peace. Teaching beliefs of ESD (TESD) consists of three dimensions: relevance to daily life; students’ need in the future; and integrated teaching. With these validated instruments, future research and potential problems will be less strenuous.

Keywords:

• China
• education for sustainable development
• geography teacher
• instrument development
• sustainable development
• values

Notes

*All items in these subdimensions are phrased in a negative way.

**p < .01.