Volumen 19 (2017): Heft 1 (June 2017)

Several widespread approaches to Education for Sustainable Consumption (ESC) have emerged from the tradition of consumer information. A major shortcoming of such cognitive-focused approaches is their limited capacity to facilitate reflection on the affective processes underpinning people’s engagement with consumption. More holistic pedagogies are thus needed to increase the effectiveness of ESC. The concept of mindfulness has recently received growing attention in research on sustainable consumption, given its potential to address both cognitive and affective processes and to stimulate reflection on the drivers of often routinized consumption practices. Despite this recent interest, mindfulness has to date not been systematically connected to ESC. This paper provides a reflexive case study of the development of mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) specifically tailored to ESC (“BiNKA-training”). It elaborates the conceptual connections between mindfulness and ESC, offers insights into the process of adapting MBI to ESC and concludes with lessons learnt and an outlook on future work seeking to tap the potential of MBIs to form more holistic approaches to sustainability education.

Continuous professional development (CPD) is important for teachers in attaining sustainable education. Accordingly, exploring teachers’ perceptions could be a significant endeavor as teachers’ beliefs impact their classroom practices, thereby, impacting student learning and, thus have educational implications. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate this fundamental issue via establishing professional development workshops to train teachers in order to promote sustainable professional growth. It examined 86 EFL teachers’ beliefs and attitudes toward CPD before and after attending workshops for professional development. The data were collected through a questionnaire and a follow-up interview. Paired-samples t-tests were run to measure differences between responses of pre and post surveys. Moreover, raw frequencies and percentages were calculated in order to prioritize the items the teachers selected in each variable. The findings demonstrate that beliefs about CPD can change. Survey data collected before and after professional development workshops revealed a statistical significant shift in EFL teachers’ beliefs. This finding was also supported by semi-structured interviews. In addition, the results also revealed that the participants perceived customized professional development programs with professional development framework as a beneficial tool to be included in the professional development programs. The study may have some pedagogical implications to be utilized in the educational process directed at sustainable professional development.

The importance of reflection in teaching and learning lies in encouraging one to view problems from different perspectives. Reflective practice can be useful in designing teacher education and sustainable professional development. Conscious reflection is an important element for helping teachers and learners in problem-solving and decision-making processes and fostering their critical-thinking abilities. The aim of the present research was to investigate teachers’ views about the nature of their experiences with reflective practices and reflective teaching. A survey consisted of three dimensions used to collect the data. It was distributed to 458 (237 male and 221 female) science teachers working at high schools in Saudi Arabia. The results have indicated that teacher practices of almost all reflective activities included in the three dimensions “the extent of practicing reflection”, “areas of practicing reflection”, and “ways of practicing reflection” are at “high” level from their point of view. The results have also shown that there are no significant differences in the teachers’ views about their practices of reflective activities related to their gender, or experiences in the teaching profession.

Teachers play a key role in the social transformation agenda. This agentic position of the teacher implicates an agenda for sustainability programmes that position them for this complex responsibility. A qualitative case study research design was employed to obtain the perspectives of teachers on job dissatisfaction. The researchers followed a semi-structured interview approach to explore teachersí broader understanding on causes of job dissatisfaction among them. Data was interpreted through the narrative analysis model. Results indicate that a lack of resources, overcrowded classes and lack of discipline among learners were serious sources of dissatisfaction among teachers. Administrative issues, lack of recognition by principals and parents for good work done also caused dissatisfaction among teachers in this study. It was also indicative that job dissatisfaction caused disengagement of some teachers with a consequent lack of focus on professional activities and being negative in their job. The study concludes that teacher satisfaction is germane for the sustainability of social transformation.

Despite advances made there is still an implementation gap with regard to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in formal educational systems at the school level. The present paper focuses on sustainability reporting as a recently emerging practice in the school sector. It presents the approach and findings of an exploratory interview study at three pioneer schools in Germany that have started to establish sustainability reporting mechanisms. The study has examined how the reporting process is evaluated by project managers with regard to its benefits and challenges. Findings support the potential of sustainability reporting at schools to contribute to an increase in students’ participation in sustainability-related activities at school, create accountability concerning the school’s efforts, help structure the existing sustainability projects and demonstrate new possible courses of action. The high expenditure of time, the teachers’ high workload and lack of support given to the teachers have been identified as major challenges of the reporting process. Further directions for future research into reporting practices at schools are given.

One of the approaches to achieve sustainable development is based on smart specialization. Rural areas are of particular importance in ensuring sustainable development, the smart development of which largely determines the balanced sustainable development of a state as a whole. The present study reflects the quantitative and the qualitative assessment of sustainable development in the region of Latgale (Latvia) on the level of 19 districts; the assessment has been carried out on the basis of the concept of smart specialization. The assessment has been performed within the framework of the project 5.2 of the National Research Programme EKOSOC-LV. The quantitative assessment is based on scientific and practical experience taking into consideration the distinguishing features of the development of Latvian regions and districts, and it has resulted in the establishment of an integrated index (Smart Development Index), which comprises four dimensions - Resources, Population, Economy, and Management. The qualitative assessment is based on the views concerning the cornerstones of smart specialization and the factors influencing it expressed by experts from the state administration, business and scientific environment. Expert opinions have been collected by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The results of the research might facilitate the understanding of the support measures of smart specialization and the opportunities for sustainable development in rural areas, taking into account the level of the regional socio-economic development and the rate of development, as well as regional differences on the level of districts. The example of Latgale has shown that a small number of people and a low rate of development in most of the region districts simultaneously create both the acute need for and a great challenge in the sphere of sustainable development. By contrast, as a result of both the quantitative and the qualitative assessment the population has been recognised to be the main driving force of the development of rural areas in Latgale region.

Distance education as one of the new and perspective forms of completing higher education increases in popularity around the world. At the same time, the development of this model of education generates new problems: organization of the study process and information security. Distance learning allows solving a problem of accessibility of higher education in case of social issues, working hours, etc. Therefore, distance education is of major importance in increasing the learning efficiency. The Latvian model of distance education is passing the stage of formation and approbation in the market of educational services. However, the creation of system of distance education should not be the final step for higher education institutions as such; furthermore, this process would not be developed without students. Therefore, the objective of the present research is to find out the opinion of the students on the expediency of distance education. More than 850 students from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia and Belarus have participated in the research. Results of the research have revealed that the traditional form of education based on communication between the lecturer and the student is more demanded among the students. At present, distance learning, unfortunately, cannot be characterised by stable demand. In order to increase the demand for such model of education, public presentations and discussions should be made, and media support is also necessary.

This study is aimed at creating a general technique for the formation of learners’ interest in physics in the context of sustainable development of education. The active means of training and active learning methods are the components of this technique. The sequence of interest formation for physics in the context of sustainable development of education was analyzed. This scheme shows the transition from a situational interest to an individual interest. Short-term objective is the formation of learners’ interest in physics as a school subject. Long-term objective is the formation of learners’ interest in physics as a science. Results proved that proposed technique increases the level of motivational component of the learners’ cognitive activity in physics teaching. This general technique can also be used in teaching other natural sciences (e.g., Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Ecology).

For systematic implementation of value education in educational institutions, the national programme ìValues Development in Estonian Society 2009ñ2013î (Ministry of Education and Research, 2009) was prepared in Estonia. However, it was launched only in 2010, and the authors intended to ascertain the values of the heads of preschool child care institutions, teachers and parents as well as their conception of value education. The national programme was updated as “Values Development in Estonian Society 2015- 2020” (Ministry of Education and Research 2015). In 2015, the researchers aimed to investigate if and how values of teachers of child care institutions and their conception of value education had changed. The sample in 2010 included nine respondents related to preschool child care institutions: three heads, three teachers, and three parents. The 2015 sample included 10 teachers. The research was conducted by using a qualitative method, which included semi-structured interviews and video observations of activities that teachers carried out with children. In 2010 and 2015, the values were said to be incorporated in general curricular goals and topics of the year. In 2010, the teachers said that values were not separately designated in the kindergarten curriculum; however, they were incorporated into the curriculum. They did not teach values as a separate discipline; values were highlighted in various activities and situation games. In 2015, it was mentioned that value education was consciously included in activities proceeding from the relevant schooling and education domain and the topic of the week. It may be said that in 2010 value education related topics had not been sufficiently introduced in kindergartens yet. Based on interviews and video observations conducted in 2015, it could be claimed that educators would benefit from a more deliberate approach to value education.

Bullying is a worldwide concern and erroneous perceptions of the phenomenon could underscore unsustainable interventions. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to examine, in-depth, how some high school teachers from two schools in New Jersey perceived student bullying. The primary research question was: What perceptions do teachers have about student bullying? The main data were from face-to-face interviews with 14 teachers who answered semi-structured, open-ended questions. Secondary data originated from physical artefacts. The data analysis consisted of four phases. Inductive analysis allowed for the composition of individual cases. Cross-case analysis allowed data classification into three main areas of inquiry aligned with the three secondary research questions (a) bullying and victimisation dynamics as perceived by teachers, (b) adequacy of current interventions, and (c) adequacy of teachers’ professional development for bullying mitigation. The data unveiled inconsistencies between causes of bullying and interventions. It culminated in recommendations for leadership and suggestions for future research.