Teachers' perspectives on sustainable development: the implications for education for sustainable development

The pursuit of sustainable development for individuals, societies, and nations is important for the global community given its emphasis on pursuing a harmonious balance between societal, economic, and environmental imperatives. With respect to formal education, teachers are critical agents in delivering sustainable development content, and facilitating skills and action competencies to achieve such goals. Consequently, understanding teachers' perspectives of sustainable development is necessary. This research utilised a survey design to gather views from 296 teachers from 12 high schools in rural and urban areas of Jamaica. The data revealed most teachers' views exhibited systems thinking perspectives. Additionally, the research found that, to a lesser extent, teachers associated citizen participation with sustainable development. These findings hold importance for the reorientation of teacher education as part of Education for Sustainable Development to ensure that critical issues surrounding sustainable development, such as the development of systems thinking and citizen participation, are emphasised.

Automated summary

Teachers play a critical role in sustainable development education and their perspectives are important to consider; the research found that most teachers exhibit systems thinking perspectives, but have a lesser understanding of the link between citizen participation and sustainable development.