Teacher education for sustainable development: catalysing change across the professional landscapes in Europe

Abstract

Teacher education has been identified as one of the most significant pathways for innovating our educational systems and enabling social transition towards sustainability. This paper presents the findings of an expert-led narrative review commissoned to inform European policy and decision-making frameworks in support of sustainability in teacher education. It adopts a connected view of teacher educaton identifying eight catalytic entry points from which actions are shown to have a ripple change effect across teacher education system. These include embedding Learning for Sustainability (LfS) as a national and regional policy commitment; integrating LfS into teachers’ professional standards; certifying teachers’ LfS competences through micro-credentials; investing in collaborative inquiries and peer learning for new and experienced educators; framing LfS as educational innovation; developing teacher education resources; and, providing opportunities for futures and new technologies education with a focus on sustainability. A selection of case studies illustrates how these entry points can inform policy decisions, while the paper explores research implications, highlighting the need for mechanisms such as self-evaluation, recognition awards, flexible certifications and participatory research to support teachers in integrating LfS into their practices. This study also acknowledges the complexities of translating policy into practice and the variability of outcomes depending on context

This research was supported by PPMI Ltd. under Grant Number 2022-06-EENEE2, and by the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) under Grant Number SGR 2021 00767

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