Teachers’ perspectives on sustainable development: the implications for education for sustainable development

Abstract

The pursuit of sustainable development for individuals, societies, and nations is important for the global community given its emphasis on pursuing a harmonious balance between societal, economic, and environmental imperatives. With respect to formal education, teachers are critical agents in delivering sustainable development content, and facilitating skills and action competencies to achieve such goals. Consequently, understanding teachers’ perspectives of sustainable development is necessary. This research utilised a survey design to gather views from 296 teachers from 12 high schools in rural and urban areas of Jamaica. The data revealed most teachers’ views exhibited systems thinking perspectives. Additionally, the research found that, to a lesser extent, teachers associated citizen participation with sustainable development. These findings hold importance for the reorientation of teacher education as part of Education for Sustainable Development to ensure that critical issues surrounding sustainable development, such as the development of systems thinking and citizen participation, are emphasised.

Keywords:

• Sustainable development
• teachers
• teacher education
• education for sustainable development
• Jamaica

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Therese Ferguson

Therese Ferguson is a Senior Lecturer in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the School of Education at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. She is the Coordinator of the ESD Working Group within the School of Education and the Programme Leader for Change from Within, a school-based initiative in Jamaica which addresses violence and indiscipline. Her research interests include ESD, environmental education, children and the environment, climate change education, and peace education.

Carmel Roofe

Carmel Roofe is a teacher educator and curriculum development specialist who holds a PhD in Curriculum Development. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica and a Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield.

Loraine D. Cook

Loraine D. Cook, PhD is the Founding President of the MMIRA-Caribbean Chapter and currently serves as the Outreach and Development Committee co-chair on the Executive Board. She is the co-editor-in-chief of the Caribbean Journal of Mixed Methods Research. She is a Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology and Research at the School of Education, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. She was an awardee for the Principal’s Research Award for the Research Project Attracting the Most Research Funds in 2009 as part of a team. Dr. Cook has been a visiting scholar in Applied Psychology at the New York University and the Faculty of Education, Language and Literacy Education, University of British Columbia, Canada.