Pre-service classroom teachers’ perceived competencies on education for sustainable development /

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2016
Soysal, Neşe
The purpose of this study was to analyze pre-service classroom teachers’ perceived competencies on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). For this purpose, first, attitudes of pre-service classroom teachers towards Sustainable Development (SD) were examined; then, their perceived competencies regarding ESD were investigated. Finally, the curriculum of classroom teachers was analyzed to see if it reflected learning opportunities for development of the competencies. In this study, a mixed methods sequential explanatory design was used. Firstly, survey design was used. The participants consisted of 1008 pre-service classroom teachers in 12 universities across Turkey. The data was collected through a data collection tool designed by the researcher. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (MANOVA) were used. Secondly, document analysis was used. To collect data, selected courses in classroom teaching curriculum were analyzed. The results of descriptive statistical analyses revealed that pre-service classroom teachers had positive attitudes towards SD. The results of MANOVA analysis demonstrated that level of development of the city they live in affected pre-service classroom teachers’ attitudes towards SD and competencies regarding ESD; whereas parents’ education level did not affect either their attitudes or competencies. The results also indicated that as pre-service classroom teachers reflect more positive attitudes towards SD; they perceive themselves more competent regarding ESD. The findings of the document analysis indicated that although there were some learning opportunities for developing pre-service classroom teacher competencies for ESD in classroom teaching curriculum, they were not clearly mentioned in goals, objectives and the content of the courses examined.

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Citation Formats
N. Soysal, “Pre-service classroom teachers’ perceived competencies on education for sustainable development /,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2016.