Assessing environmental competencies of primary education pre-service teachers in Spain

Abstract

Purpose In this paper, the results of an investigation aimed at analysing and comparing the environmental competences of future teachers undergoing training in two universities are presented. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the difference in the acquisition of environmental competences amongst two groups of students enrolled in two universities with different levels of introduction of the environmental education (EE) and sustainability contents in their curriculums. This objective is inserted into a wider finality: to provide recommendations regarding the redesign of pre-service teacher training curricula and learning programmes. Design/methodology/approach A specifically designed questionnaire was used in this study to analyse the environmental competencies of students in the final year of their degree in primary education in two Spanish universities. One of them had a highly environmentally oriented programme, and the other had a scarcely environmentally oriented programme. Findings Results show that no significant differences were observed in the results related to the greening level of the training programmes. Pre-service teachers have insufficient environmental knowledge, but with quite positive, responsible attitudes towards environmental issues, and pro-environmental actions that could be categorised as moderate. Results point to the need for further and better pre-service teacher training in environmental issues. Originality/value One of the main factors in the appropriate treatment of EE in schools is teacher training. Despite this principle being widely recognised, not all pre-service teacher training programmes adequately address EE. The added value of this paper is the comparison established between the students that followed a degree with a high impact of the environmental competences in its curriculum and another one that has very few references to these competences in the curriculum.

The Interdependences between Sustainability and Their Lifestyle That Pre-Service Teachers Establish When Addressing Socio-Ecological Problems

“…This action competence should deal with the generalised lack of responsibility and lead the changes needed to face socio-ecological problems [13,58]. In order to redefine students' behavioural patterns, an emancipatory educational approach, oriented to explore and challenge collective and personal values, attitudes and behaviours, may contribute to global sustainability [18,59].…”

“…In this regard, she argued that, to involve pre-service teachers, they need to have the opportunity to reflect on their own attitudes and actions regarding socio-ecological problems. This awareness and motivation of pre-service teachers in relation to these issues is considered crucial to their involvement in the adoption of solutions as citizens, as well as to their addressing of these issues in an adequate way with their future pupils [5,13,14].…”

Changes in Pre-Service Teachers’ Values, Sense of Agency, Motivation and Consumption Practices: A Case Study of an Education for Sustainability Course

“…Each course in EfS or EE is unique in its topics, pedagogical approaches, and outcomes. Teacher education researchers have often used surveys to assess student changes over the course of a semester or program [10,22,32]. For example, a group of researchers found that pre-service teachers in Australia who had participated in a 13-week EE unit reported feeling more confident about teaching EE, had more pedagogical content knowledge, and were motivated to teach about the environment [22].…”

“…Students reported significant positive changes in consciousness about food purchases and energy and water conservation. Consumption practices are often seen as a primary goal of environmental and sustainability education programs, yet are often difficult to change through intervention [10,21,30,58]. Providing students with tangible steps for enacting change, both individually and through education, may have empowered students.…”

“…This work begins by building an increased awareness and knowledge of how daily actions and purchasing decisions have broader systemic impacts. However, most educators are not prepared when it comes to sustainability, and typically are not required to take course in EfS as part of their teacher education program [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”