Sustainability consciousness of pre-service teachers in Pakistan

Qudsia Kalsoom, Afifa Khanam, Uzma Quraishi

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    40 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Purpose
    The purpose of this paper is to draw attention towards sustainability consciousness (SC) of pre-service teachers (student teachers) as their role is central in teaching for sustainable development. This paper investigated SC of the pre-service teachers in Pakistan and compared it with other undergraduate students in the country and with that of Swedish upper secondary students.

    Design/methodology/approach
    The paper used survey method using a tool developed by a group of Canadian researchers to measure knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable development. The instrument was later adapted by a group of Swedish researchers to measure SC. Study data came from 207 pre-service teachers and 154 undergraduate students studying humanities.

    Findings
    The paper reports that SC of the pre-service teachers in Pakistan is much lower than that of Swedish upper secondary students. Moreover, the paper indicates that the SC of pre-service teachers is not different from other undergraduate students in the country.

    Practical implications
    This paper establishes a baseline of SC of the final-year pre-service teachers enrolled in BEd (Honours) programme in Pakistan. Such a study is critical in the context when ESD is a missing element in teacher education in Pakistan. In the presence of such a baseline study, teacher education institutes and departments might review their curricula in terms of their focus on ESD and plan for initiatives to educate pre-service teachers for sustainability.

    Originality/value
    The paper contributes to a broader debate on measuring SC of university students.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1090-1107
    Number of pages18
    JournalInternational Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
    Volume18
    Issue number7
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2017

    Keywords

    • Higher education
    • Teacher education
    • Education for sustainable development
    • Sustainable development
    • Sustainability consciousness

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