Collaborative reflection on environmental practices: a vehicle for environmental education in teacher education

ABSTRACT

Environmental education and sustainability education have emerged as a key focus in teacher education in the past few decades. Researchers have investigated the impact of different pedagogies on pre-service teachers’ sustainability or environmental consciousness. The current study was an attempt to investigate the impact of collaborative reflection (focusing on environmental issues and practices) on pre-service teachers’ environmental practices. Forty-six pre-service teachers participated in the study. The data were gathered qualitatively through field notes and participants’ written reflections. The findings indicated that collaborative reflection on environmental issues and practices promote pro-environmental practices among the participants. The study suggests the use of collaborative reflection on environmental issues and practices as a pedagogy for environmental education in teacher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental education
• collaborative reflection
• teacher education
• transformative learning
• pro-environmental actions
• environmental practices

Acknowledgments

We are truly grateful to the reviewers for their detailed feedback on the earlier version of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Qudsia Kalsoom

Qudsia Kalsoom, PhD, is an assistant professor in the School of Education, Beaconhouse National University, Pakistan. She mostly studies transdisciplinary and transformative pedagogies (e.g. reflection and undergraduate research) in sustainability and environmental education in the context of teacher education.

Afifa Khanam

Afifa Khanam, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education, Lahore College for Women University, Pakistan. Dr Khanam has been serving in the field of education for more than 25 years. Over the years, she has influenced thousands of students. Her research mostly focuses on the issues related to moral development and sustainability education.

Naima Qureshi

Naima Qureshi, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Division of Education, University of Education, Pakistan. Dr Qureshi’s has been serving as a teacher educator in Pakistan for more than 10 years. She mostly studies issues related to teachers’ professional development.