IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i16p7213-d1461466.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Climate Change, Sustainability, and Education: Conceptions of Teachers of Geography in England

Author

Listed:
  • Grace Healy

    (IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, UK
    Department of Education, University of Oxford, 15 Norham Gardens, Oxford OX2 6PY, UK)

  • David Mitchell

    (IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, UK)

  • Nicola Walshe

    (IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, UK)

Abstract

Drawing upon a survey of teachers in England conducted by the UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education (CCCSE), this paper reports on teachers of geography’s conceptions of climate change, sustainability, climate change education, and sustainability education. We address how teachers of geography across the primary and secondary phase appear to distinguish the concept (climate change or sustainability) from the concept within education (climate change education or sustainability education) given that research to date has not engaged with both these framings together in empirical research with teachers. Across both climate change education and sustainability education, there was recognition for (i) the importance of these concepts for young people, (ii) the ways in which education can support young people to make informed choices or take action, and (iii) the importance of addressing these concepts across subject curricula. Teachers’ descriptions indicate (i) disconnections between policy rhetoric and teaching, (ii) a lack of attention to social and environmental justice, and (iii) an over-focus on individual action.

Suggested Citation

  • Grace Healy & David Mitchell & Nicola Walshe, 2024. "Climate Change, Sustainability, and Education: Conceptions of Teachers of Geography in England," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-16, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7213-:d:1461466
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7213/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7213/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eva-Maria Waltner & Katja Scharenberg & Christian Hörsch & Werner Rieß, 2020. "What Teachers Think and Know about Education for Sustainable Development and How They Implement it in Class," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-15, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Janna Niens & Lisa Richter-Beuschel & Tobias C. Stubbe & Susanne Bögeholz, 2021. "Procedural Knowledge of Primary School Teachers in Madagascar for Teaching and Learning towards Land-Use- and Health-Related Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-36, August.
    2. Yongli Tian & Yuchang Jin & Yadi Zhao & Yifan Du & Sicen Shen & Junxiu An, 2024. "Analysis of Knowledge Graph: Hotspots and Future Trends in Environmental Education Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Noor Hamwy & Jennifer Bruder & Abdellatif Sellami & Michael H. Romanowski, 2023. "Challenges to Teachers Implementing Sustainable Development Goals Frameworks in Qatar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-19, July.
    4. Maja Vičič Krabonja & Simona Kustec & Vesna Skrbinjek & Boris Aberšek & Andrej Flogie, 2024. "Innovative Professional Learning Communities and Sustainable Education Practices through Digital Transformation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-19, July.
    5. Sevinç Gelmez Burakgazi & Michael J. Reiss, 2024. "Perceptions of Sustainability among Children and Teachers: Problems Revealed via the Lenses of Science Communication and Transformative Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-21, June.
    6. Nargol Ghazian & C. J. Lortie, 2024. "Ten Simple Rules for Incorporating the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into Environmental and Natural Science Courses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-9, November.
    7. Tuba Stouthart & Dury Bayram & Jan van der Veen, 2023. "Capturing Pedagogical Design Capacity of STEM Teacher Candidates: Education for Sustainable Development through Socioscientific Issues," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-26, July.
    8. Fahimul Hoque & Ruhizan M. Yasin & Kamaruzzaman Sopian, 2022. "Revisiting Education for Sustainable Development: Methods to Inspire Secondary School Students toward Renewable Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    9. Julia Stössel & Rebecca Baumann & Elisabeth Wegner, 2021. "Predictors of Student Teachers’ ESD Implementation Intention and Their Implications for Improving Teacher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-25, August.
    10. Zawar Shah & Shannon Kennedy-Clark & Yancong Xie & Md Shamsur Rahim & Mehregan Mahdavi & Andrew Levula, 2022. "Teacher Views on Teaching Sustainability in Higher Education Institutes in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    11. Ulrich Hobusch & Dominik Emanuel Froehlich, 2021. "Education for Sustainable Development: Impact and Blind Spots within Different Routes in Austrian Teacher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-14, October.
    12. K. Kougias & E. Sardianou & A. Saiti, 2023. "Attitudes and Perceptions on Education for Sustainable Development," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 425-445, March.
    13. Tobias Hoppe & Alexander Renkl & Tina Seidel & Stephanie Rettig & Werner Rieß, 2020. "Exploring How Teachers Diagnose Student Conceptions about the Cycle of Matter," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-15, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7213-:d:1461466. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.