Skip to main content

Education for Sustainable Development in Initial Teacher Education: From Compliance to Commitment—Sowing the Seeds of Change

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Education for Sustainable Development in Further Education
  • 1076 Accesses

Abstract

Despite increasing awareness of the importance of sustainability and national and international policies suggesting education is the key, there has been limited progress in the UK education system. Although there is some good practice, there is little evidence of the higher orders of learning and change necessary for a sustainable future. This chapter reports on research carried out to investigate the influence of embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in an initial teacher education programme for student teachers in the further education and skills sector. The way in which the students and initial teacher educators are conceptualising ESD and how it has influenced their professional and personal lives are explored and analysed in relation to Sterling’s (2011) levels of learning and change.

This chapter is taken from a paper originally published by Sage in the Journal of Education for Sustainable Development http://jsd.sagepub.com. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in the JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, September 2013 by SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd., All rights reserved. Copyright © (2013) Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Avis, J., & Bathmaker, A.-M. (2004). The politics of care: Emotional labour and trainee further education lecturers. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 56(1), 5–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avis, J., Bathmaker, A.-M., & Parsons, J. (2002). I think a lot of staff are Dinosaurs: Further education trainee teachers’ understandings of pedagogic relations. Journal of Education and Work, 15(2), 181–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blewitt, J. (2010). Business as usual? It’s just not an option. Adults Learning, 22(4), 1617.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonnett, M. (1999). Education for sustainable development: A coherent philosophy for environmental education? Environmental Education Research, 29(3), 313–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffield, F. (2008). Just suppose teaching and learning became the first priority... London: Learning and Skills Network.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cross, R. (1998). Teachers’ views about what to do about sustainable development. Environmental Education Research, 4(1), 41–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawe, G., Jucker, R., & Martin, S. (2005) Current practice and future developments—A report for the higher education academy. Retrieved October 30, 2015, from http://thesite.eu/sustdevinHEfinalreport.pdf

  • Department for Education and Skills (2004). Equipping our teachers for the future: Reforming initial teacher training for the learning and skills sector. Sheffield: DFES.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fien, J., & Tilbury, D. (2002). The global challenge of sustainability. In D. Tilbury, R. Stevenson, J. Fien, & D. Schreuder (Eds.), Education and sustainability: Responding to the global challenge. Gland: IUCN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harding, S. (2006). Animate Earth. Dartington: Green Books Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadfield, P., & Atherton, J. 2008. Beyond compliance: Accountability assessment and anxiety, and curricular structures to help students engage with troublesome knowledge. Paper presented at 16th Improving Student Learning; through the curriculum conference, University of Durham UK, September 1–3, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heron, J., & Reason, P. (2001). The practice of co-operative inquiry: Research ‘with’ rather than ‘on’ people. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research (pp. 179–188). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huckle, J. (2006) Education for sustainable development: A briefing paper for the teacher and development agency for schools—Revised Edition, October 2006. London: TDA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huckle, J. (2012). Towards greater realism in learning for sustainability. In A. E. J. Wals & P. B. Corcoran (Eds.), Learning for sustainability. Wageningen/Utrecht: Wageningen Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jabareen, Y. (2008). A new conceptual framework for sustainable development. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 10(2), 179–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jickling, B. (1992). Why I don’t want my children to be educated for sustainable development. Journal of Environmental Education, 23(4), 5–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kopnina, H. (2012). Education for sustainable development (ESD): The turn away from ‘environment’ in environmental education? Environmental Education Research, 18(5), 699–717. doi:10.1080/13504622.2012.658028.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, K., Summers, D., & Sjerps-Jones, H. (2007). Sustainability and teacher education. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 31(4), 351–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orr, D. W. (2004) Earth in mind—On education, environment and the human prospect—10th Anniversary Edition. Washington DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porritt, J. (2011) “The Greenest Government Ever: One Year On” – A Report to Friends of the Earth. Retrieved October 30, 2015, from http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/greenest_gvt_ever.pdf

  • Randerson, J. (2010) Cameron: I want coalition to be the ‘greenest government ever’—PM announces commitment to 10:10 campaign during visit to Department of Energy and Climate Change with Chris Huhne. The Guardian, 14 May 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2015, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/14/cameron-wants-greenest-government-ever

  • Rauch, F. (2002). The potential of education for sustainable development for reform in schools. Environmental Education Research, 8(1), 43–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rist, G. (1997). The history of development—From Western Origins to Global Faith. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selby, D. (2007). As the heating happens: Education for sustainable development or education for sustainable contraction? International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 2(3/4), 249–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sterling, S. (2001). Sustainable education: Re-visioning learning and change. Dartington: Green Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sterling, S. (2009). Sustainable education. In D. Gray, L. Colucci-Gray, & E. Camino (Eds.), Science, society and sustainability: Education and empowerment for an uncertain world (pp. 105–118). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sterling, S. (2011). Transformative learning and sustainability: Sketching the conceptual ground. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Issue 5, Retrieved October 30, 2015, from www2.glos.ac.uk/offload/tli/lets/lathe/issue5/Lathe_5_S%20Sterling.pdf

  • Stevenson, R. B. (2006). Tensions and transitions in policy discourse: Recontextualizing a decontextualized EE/ESD debate. Environmental Education Research, 12(3-4), 277–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Summers, D. (2005). Becoming a teacher in the post-compulsory sector: Student teachersperceptions of influences on the development of their professional identities. University of Exeter: Unpublished thesis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Summers, D. (2010). Embedding education for sustainable development in initial teacher training in the lifelong learning sector. Teaching in Lifelong Learning, 2(1), 35–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Summers, D., & Turner, R. (2011). Outside the green box—embedding education for sustainable development through the use of co-operative inquiry. Educational Action Research, 19(4), 453–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Summers, D. (2013). Education for sustainable development in initial teacher education: From compliance to commitment – Sowing the seeds of change. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 7(2), 205–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tosey, P. (2006) Batesons Levels Of Learning: A Framework for Transformative Learning? Paper presented at Universities’ Forum for Human Resource Development conference, University of Tilburg, May 2006. Retrieved October 30, 2015, from http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/1198/1/fulltext.pdf

  • United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. (1992). Agenda 21, Chapter 36, ‘Promoting Education, Public Awareness and Training’. Retrieved October 30, 2015, from http://www.unutki.org/default.php?doc_id=84

  • Wellington, J. (2000). Educational research—Contemporary issues and practical approaches. London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987) Our common future. Retrieved October 30, 2015, from www.un-documents.net/ocf-ov.htm#I.3

  • Yin, R. K. (1984). Case study research: Design and Methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin, R. K. (1993). Applications of case study research. Thousand Oakes, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Summers, D. (2016). Education for Sustainable Development in Initial Teacher Education: From Compliance to Commitment—Sowing the Seeds of Change. In: Summers, D., Cutting, R. (eds) Education for Sustainable Development in Further Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51911-5_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51911-5_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51910-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51911-5

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics