Volumen 21 (2019): Heft 1 (June 2019)

This study aims to explore the research orientation of the papers published in the Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability (JTES) immediately after the UN Decade of ESD (2015–2018). Through following the guidelines of bibliometric study and literature review, and by grounding on the deductive qualitative and quantitative content analysis, the paper presents the analysis of the main bibliometric indicators and research paradigms in the papers published in JTES. Moreover, the changes in these indicators and paradigms in comparison with those encountered in JTES from 2005 to 2014 were recorded and critically inspected. In general, the study shows the gradual improvement and development of main bibliometric indicators and research paradigms in last four years of JTES. The main recommendations and suggestions provided in the previous study have been implemented and considered in the Journal’s general features and published papers, though, the current exploration indicates also some unrealized potential for improvement. At the end of paper the author states the main conclusions, limitations, suggestions for the further research and prospective development of the Journal, as well as some implications for the potential authors of JTES.

Having developed and piloted a professional development blended learning course for teachers of home economics with the purpose of promoting a sustainable mindset in their students, we used the written learning journals by the teachers during the 15-week course to detect various aspects of a sustainable mindset, which could be attributed to the course. We assumed that the learning journals of 19 participants might reveal reflections on sustainability, the pedagogy of sustainability, a positive association between sustainability and the pedagogy of sustainability, and the development of a sustainable mindset over the period of the course. The analysis confirmed that the participants reflected a great deal on learning and sustainability as the course progressed; revealing that a positive link between teaching practice and sustainability can be observed. However, the analysis also indicated some important concepts that might have been under-emphasised in the course.

Teacher empowerment is a central issue in relation to the efforts to improve the quality of education. However, teacher empowerment will remain an abstract idea if its implementation is not supported by an appropriate strategy. The demands for a quality education will be unreciprocated if teachers do not have the opportunity to empower themselves. This research aims to investigate the teacher empowerment strategy in Indonesia, which has been conducted by employing a community-based teacher training program. This study has highlighted several research questions: What is meant by community-based training program? Why is the training program needed? Who is the target of the training program? What model has been used to implement the training? What are the results of the training that has been executed? This research was conducted from November 2018 to January 2019. The research data were collected by means of documentation studies and interviews. The data analysis was carried out quantitatively and qualitatively, where the quantitative analysis was processed based on the document study data, meanwhile the qualitative analysis was performed based on the interview data. The research results showed that community-based teacher training was transformation of teacher development strategy as a follow-up on teachers’ competency test in Indonesia. The community-based teacher training succeeded in increasing the professionalism of teachers in Indonesia, particularly in terms of implementing their pedagogical and professional competencies. The training is also successful in motivating the teachers to engage themselves in continuous learning efforts through building strong teachers’ network and working collaboratively with colleagues. Quantitatively, training was proven to increase the average of teacher competency by 23.97 (on a scale of 100). The research results are expected to provide information about the best practice in teacher coaching that is conducted massively in a national scope based on the local community so that a lifelong learning culture for teachers is established to support the development of sustainable education.

The aim of the research was to probe into the teachers’ notion of wisdom and the teachers’ wisdom itself. The study used a phenomenological approach where the experience of teachers was studied by using semi-structured interviews. The interview data were analysed using the qualitative content analysis complemented by some elements of quantification for visualization of a more holistic picture. The phenomenon of wisdom is described on the basis of teachers’ values and experience. According to the teachers, wisdom comprises several aspects and is viewed as a dynamic process. The conclusions reflect the integrity of the phenomenon of wisdom, as well as the importance and prospects of further study of wisdom for its use in the work of teachers.

The children’s trust determines the relationship between various nuanced emotions and the general attitude towards themselves and the world. Children left without parental care are already subjected to negative experience from childhood, which creates a basic mistrust in people and the world. They have experienced psychological trauma, and often not only one. The authors consider this issue to be topical since children who are left without parental care lose their foundation of trust, and they do not develop productive relationships with their fellow human beings and are unhappy because these children have lost confidence during their life experience. Children who are left without parental care often have to change their living conditions from crisis centres and boarding schools to orphanages and, at best, they are immediately placed in a foster home. These children live in fear because experience shows that they often have to separate from the person they trusted, which has a persistent impact on the child in the process of acquiring a sustainable life experience. Trust builds on the quality of past life experience, relationships with relatives, other adults, friends, foster family, and other stakeholders. Trust is very important. It is very difficult to create deep trust, but very easy to break its fundamental basis. For children who are left without parental care, trust means the belief that the world and people are predominantly good, and the belief that they are good for this world. For the action research, the authors chose a target sample of respondents that interacted with the research, action, and evaluation and comparison of the results obtained in order to find out how the phenomena of trust affected the acquisition of future life experience by children left without parental care.

The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale is a survey-based metric devised to measure the environmental concerns of groups of people through using a standard survey instrument. This is the first research to measure how in-service teachers perceive the NEP scale in Kosovo. The aim of the current study was to assess the concerns of teachers in Kosovo about environment in the age of Anthropocene by supporting anthropocentric or eco-centric views through using NEP scale as a standardized instrument. Thus, the research was an attempt to investigate how teachers perceived changes in the environment and how much they agreed with the 15 NEP statements. This study followed a quantitative methodology, employing a questionnaire to secure socio-economic data about the teachers, the information sources that they used for environmental information, their perceptions about changes in the environment in the past decade, expectations for the next decade, and the support of the NEP’s statements. A total number of 88 primary school teachers (teaching grades 1–5) participated in this study who came from three most populated regions of Kosovo. The teachers responded to the questionnaire based on their teaching experience, sources of environmental information which they used, their perceptions and expectations in the environmental changes, and their attitudes toward the NEP statements. The results of the research showed that teachers’ concerns about environmental developments were mostly consistent with the views of the NEP scale or pro-ecological worldviews. The survey results provided a positive indication that Kosovar teachers sought to offer a new eco-centric worldview for the next generation, instead of the anthropocentric one in which they had been living.

If we intend to successfully integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the general educational programs, it is important to utilize available methods and resources. This paper argues that English Language Learning textbooks in Iran have the potential to be useful resources and a viable springboard for the implementation of ESD. For this purpose, the present study explores the content of English textbook series developed by Iranian authors through the lenses of ESD. The framework for analysis was based on UNESCO’s Earth Charter and the Roadmap for Implementing the Global Action Program on ESD. The findings reveal that the themes of sustainability are present in these English textbooks to a good extent. However, the results suggest that there must be a more even distribution of such themes throughout the series. Also, the role of the teacher as a facilitator in developing discussions around such themes is highlighted.

This study was an attempt to probe the perceptions of the EFL students about the cultural identity development of the EFL teachers who participated in cultural negotiation programs. To that end, the interactionally oriented narratives of four EFL students were collected. The narratives were about the cultural performance of the EFL teachers who participated in the cultural negotiation programs in the EFL classes. The narratives were codified based on the principles of Strauss and Corbin (1998) systematic approach. the findings indicated that the EFL students had positive opinions about how their teachers dealt with cultural issues in the classrooms after participating in cultural negotiation programs. The findings also indicated that the EFL students perceived that the EFL teachers engaged more in cultural discussions, they used more interaction types, they were more motivated to address cultural issues in the classes, and they took into account the emotions of their students in cultural discussions in the classrooms. Moreover, it can be concluded from the findings that cultural negotiation programs have positive effects on the EFL teachers’ cultural identity development if the principles of identity-as-practice and identity-in-discourse will be followed in the EFL teacher education programs.

Taking discourse approach towards language teaching has been drawing researchers’ and practitioners’ attention since the introduction of discourse analysis as a discipline in social sciences. Based on the premise that education for sustainable development (ESD) in language pedagogy cannot be realized fully unless language teachers are equipped with theoretical issues in discourse analysis, the purpose of this paper is to review the current research on discourse analysis and language teaching. The focus on the intersection of discourse analysis and language education indicates that three approaches, namely Critical discourse analysis, Descriptive discourse analysis, and Pedagogical discourse analysis have been taken by practitioners in educational context. As for directions of future research on discourse analysis and language teaching, it was postulated that the prospective researchers in the field are expected to focus on operationalizing the discourse concepts at the methodological level. This would be possible if EFL/ESL teachers themselves truly get educated in a discourse-based program in teacher education centers.

This inaugural qualitative study solicited English as Second Language (ESL) teachers’ thoughts about using ESL to teach Saudi Arabian (SA) university foundation year students about and raise their awareness of energy and sustainability issues. Fourteen participants from three higher education institutions in the Eastern Province of SA prepared typed responses in a word office document to 15 questions pertaining to ESL teachers’ perceptions, opinions, beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and values of using ESL to teach sustainability. Data returned by email were iteratively read and insights culled to provide an inaugural profile of ESL teachers’ thoughts about this pedagogical innovation in SA higher education preparatory-year programs. The findings indicated a positive picture towards incorporating sustainability topics into Saudi Arabian ESL curriculum. Participants were enthusiastic about such tasks and about seeking knowledge related to sustainability by various means to augment lack of knowledge. They were of the opinion that this is a legitimate role for ESL teachers and believed that they would be effective and bring value to students’ learning. They readily suggested rich ideas about what a sustainability-infused ESL curriculum would look like. This study was an original one in that it solicited and shared the voices of ESL teachers in SA about the idea of concurrently teaching language and sustainability. Nominal research addresses this pedagogical approach meaning the findings are valuable to ESL training schools, SA university foundation program planners, SA higher education curriculum developers and higher education human resource managers who recruit and hire ESL instructors.