Student Teachers' Change Agency in Education for Sustainable Development
Teija Koskela, Sirpa Kärkkäinen
Abstract
Abstract Previous research shows that teachers are key players in supporting agency in the face of the biggest global challenges of our time, such as climate change and pollution, as teachers educate societies' future decision-makers. The aim of this study was to analyze student teachers' perceptions of change agency and sustainable development. In this qualitative case study, the writings of student teachers (n = 116) were studied in the context of sustainable development education. The data were analyzed using content analysis. The findings of the research confirmed previous studies showing that student teachers' perceptions of sustainable development were quite narrow. The results indicated that the student teachers wrote mainly about social dimensions of sustainable development; few of them considered economic or environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The results provided new information about the current state of student teachers' perceptions of change agency in the teacher education context. Teacher education should focus more on a holistic view of sustainable development aspects. These findings might be useful in implementing teacher education curricula.