Tom 12 (2021): Zeszyt 1 (June 2021)

Sustainable development and transformational change have become more critical than ever in the era of climate change. The aim of this literature review was to increase knowledge on education and learning activities (ELAs), along with the learning outcomes they address, in the context of higher education for sustainable development (SD) with UNESCO’s eight core competencies for SD as a starting point. The search was conducted in two educational databases, Education Research Complete and the Education Resource Information Center. 153 articles were identified, of which 16 remained after reviewing for inclusion and exclusion criteria. Education and learning activities in ESD were grounded in discussions, reflections and interdisciplinarity by using participatory teaching methods, such as problem-based or experiential learning. Commonly enhanced learning outcomes were knowledge, attitude and collaboration competencies, as well as critical and system thinking. Self-awareness and behavior change, however, were less frequently achieved and the studies addressing behavior frequently recognized inertia to behavior change, despite transferred attitudes and increased knowledge. Although UNESCO outlined behavioral learning objectives as particularly important for ESD, the present review revealed that these had hardly been reached by the used ELA. The paper discusses the complexity of behavior change and proposes an ethics-led and whole-institution approach to tackle some challenges for behavioral action and social activity. There is a need for new educational and learning activities, which have greater transformational potential, by acknowledging the complexity of behavior change.

Pre-service training is a critical period for establishing the beliefs of future teachers in their ability to successfully assume their responsibilities as teachers. One of the goals of teacher education programs would therefore be to cultivate a high sense of competence among students.

For this purpose, a scale to measure the perception of self-efficacy (PSE) among Quebec physical and health education trainees during teaching has been developed and empirically validated. Teacher trainees (n = 232) enrolled in 3^rd and 4^th year in the Bachelor of Education in Physical and Health Education (PHE) in four different university programs in Quebec participated in the study.

Subsequent exploratory and quasi-confirmatory factor analyses led to the development of an instrument with 19 items divided into three factors, explaining 66.10 % of the total variance. The convergent and divergent measures of validity are satisfactory, as are those of the reliability of the three scales (upper lower limit: .78 to .93). Finally, the RMSR, CFI, RMSEA and NNFI indices show an excellent goodness of fit of the model obtained.

Enhancing sustainability in primary schools is apposite because primary schools are the building blocks in any education system. In its examination, the study provides insights on the role of primary school principals in promoting sustainable education through inspiring teachers. Teacher motivation is a very critical focus research area, particularly in the present depressing times and particularly in promoting sustainability. Without ignoring and dismissing other factors that have a bearing on the poor performance of the South African primary schools, teacher discouragement is one of the factors. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the extent in which the leadership practices of primary school principals promote teacher motivation and ultimately achieving sustainable teacher workforce. This study was based on random sampled primary school teachers in South Africa, Waterberg District. Hundred and fifty survey questionnaires were distributed to participating primary schools and only 96 responses were received. The respondents were from a mix of both male and female teachers who responded to the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was applied to analyse data. Even though the results indicated that there were issues with teacher motivation, to a significant extent, the majority of respondents demonstrated that most primary principals do take efforts in trying to ensure that teachers are motivated. The results of the study deepen the already existing scope of knowledge regarding teacher motivation, particularly in primary schools.

This article introduces and discusses a study that aims at illuminating discursive representations of education for sustainable development (henceforth – ESD) by means of compiling and analysing a corpus of policy documents written by English medium instruction (EMI) secondary schools in Estonia and Norway, respectively. Informed by the constructivist approach (Foucault, 1981), discursive representations of ESD in the study were operationalised as discursive strategies that were employed in naming, referring to, and providing an evaluative perspective to ESD-related topics. In this study, the corpus of policy documents published by EMI secondary schools in Estonia and Norway was collected in order to analyse discursive representations of ESD by means of applying a qualitative content analysis. The results of the analysis indicated that the discursive representations of ESD were similarly construed in policy documents written and communicated by EMI secondary schools in Estonia and Norway. Those findings were further discussed in the article in conjunction with their didactic implications.

Lifelong learning emerges as an important dimension in the implementation of sustainable education policies of countries. The conception of developing citizenship competencies, which is at the centre of social studies, plays an important role in shaping the lifelong learning process. The purpose of this study is to analyse the lifelong learning tendencies and teacher self-efficacy levels of social studies teacher candidates in terms of different variables and to determine the relationship between social studies teacher candidates’ lifelong learning tendencies and teacher self-efficacy levels. The study group of the research consists of 307 social studies teacher candidates studying at the education faculty of a public university in the 2016–2017 academic years. The data collection tools used in the research, which was designed in relational survey model, are “Lifelong Learning Tendency Scale” developed by Diker Coşkun (2009), “Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale” adapted into Turkish by Çapa, Çakıroğlu and Sarıkaya (2005) and a Personal Information Form prepared by the researchers. The data of the study are analysed using SPSS 24 statistical software. As a result of the research, it is found that the lifelong learning tendency levels of the social studies teacher candidates are high and their teacher self-efficacy levels are very high. Lifelong learning tendencies and teacher self-efficacy levels of teacher candidates show statistically significant differences in terms of grade level, and taking education for personal and professional development. It is concluded that teacher self-efficacy levels of teacher candidates are a significant predictor of their lifelong learning tendencies.

The current digital environment offers a unique access opportunity to information, tools, and sources for teachers to educate and teach using digital. It is vital for teachers, who have important roles to raise future generations, to have information literacy and digital literacy skills. It is essential that teachers who educate individuals raised with a technology called the Z generation to have both, information literacy and digital literacy skills. Within this context, the present study aims to define the relationship between information literacy skills and digital literacy skills of teachers in the age of digitalization, in which the transformation has been experienced in the education sector. A cross-sectional survey was used within this study, which was prepared according to the quantitative research paradigm. The research includes random and disproportionate cluster sampling methods and focuses on teachers who worked in a preschool, or in primary, secondary and high schools in the Eastern and Southeast Anatolia Regions in the 2018–2019 academic year. Structural equation modeling was used to determine to what extent teachers’ information literacy skills predict their digital literacy skills. The relationship between the teachers’ information literacy and digital literacy skills was calculated using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, and the frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, and standard deviation values of the data collected from teachers through scales were calculated. As a result of the analysis, one of the results is that the teachers’ information literacy skills affect their digital literacy skills positively.

Sustainable leadership is a field of research in which a lot of research has been done recently. In this study, the effects of sustainable leadership behaviors of school principals on teachers’ organizational commitment and job satisfaction were examined based on teachers’ opinions. The sample of the study consists of 338 teachers working in three districts of Istanbul. Sustainable Leadership Scale, Organizational Commitment Scale and Job Satisfaction Scale were used in the research. Research data were analysed by arithmetic mean, standard deviation, correlation analysis and stepwise regression analysis. According to the findings, teachers’ organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and their perceptions regarding sustainable leadership behaviors of school principals were found to be at a high level. As a result of the stepwise regression analyses, the economic sustainability sub-dimension of the sustainable leadership scale was found to predict teachers’ job satisfaction. On the other hand, it was determined that the managerial and social sustainability sub-dimensions significantly predicted teachers’ organizational commitment. The findings obtained were discussed in the light of the related literature and suggestions were presented.

This paper investigates how one could envision a discursive mobilization process to transform protest movements into agents that help reconstruct the universities as agents supporting material mobilizations leading to ecological reconstruction. After reviewing universities’ ecological footprints, the author shows how theories of mobilization and conjunctures could contribute to understanding how this transformation could occur. Discursive mobilizations advance values or ideas but stop short of innovation and production system changes. Material mobilizations affect deployment of human, technological, industrial and financial resources. Conjunctures involve linkages of political activity to spaces implicated in both kinds of mobilizations in a given historical time frame. The study shows many nations having both extensive climate activism and concentrations of university students creating a possibility for greening education centers based on various models for doing so. Yet, two key problems emerge. First, some nations lag in climate activism. Second, interest in a Green Deal or Green New Deal does not always match the level of attention to leading activist Greta Thunberg. The paper illustrates how such problems can be addressed by university-based campaigns linking activist cohorts, mobilization supporting green conversion of higher education and solidaristic, mutual aid exchanges among regions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced regular patters of career guidance. Globally everything has stopped: projects were postponed, and workplaces were closed but this situation has pushed career counselors to search for new opportunities about how career guidance could be carried out. The pandemic has intensified existing challenges in society, adding complexity for the processes of a transition of educational systems towards digitalization and have intensified the need for remote career guidance. Young people become particularly vulnerable to the digital divide. Career development support has been at risk with the emergence of an unpredictable future. However, career guidance during the pandemic can serve as a tool for understanding the situation in depth and searching for new opportunities that exist, by helping individuals to overcome anxiety. While practicing physical distancing, career counselors have kept active professional networks in assisting their clients with their needs. The operation of career guidance has been transferred mainly to the online format and has required the counselors to develop new skills and competencies. The methodology employed in this study included interviews with individual career counselors about the main challenges and solutions discovered during the lockdown. Career counselors were questioned also about how they shaped a more sustainable and flexible online career guidance system. They revealed details about their struggles and hopes encountered in the situation of crises. The authors point to critical areas for improvement that career counselor can provide to their clients during the lockdown.

This paper offers a rationale for how ESD related learning at postgraduate level can be assessed. It proposes a framework for evaluating whether assessments in Master’s level programmes align with the pedagogical approach of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). If assessment is to contribute to the overall learning process, then the nature of the assessment should reflect the pedagogy, values and principles associated with ESD. Utilising an Appreciative Inquiry model, existing models of competences for sustainable development have been used to develop the framework. The framework is not aimed at the performance of the students; rather, it is applied to the course itself to identify if assessment opportunities are in keeping with an ESD approach. The framework is applied to three examples from Master’s programmes, with which the authors are affiliated in England and Jamaica. The findings identify key characteristics that should feature in assessing learning for sustainability. The framework enabled the authors to gauge the extent to which their assessment regimes are in line with the aims, purpose and content of their programmes. While the examples cited are from the field of education, the framework can be applied to any Master’s programmes containing elements of sustainable development.