ESD LITERACY-BASED MODEL FOR PRESERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS: A FOCUS ON CRITICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND EFFECTIVE TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The study investigated the status of ESD in teacher education of Pakistan; sustainability consciousness (an outcome of ESD) of the preservice teachers; and usefulness of ESD literacy-based pedagogical model with the preservice teachers. Such an investigation was undertaken in order to inform implementation of ESD in teacher education in Pakistan. Moreover, the study aimed at contributing towards knowledge on ESD pedagogies; ESD outcomes; and ESD-integration in university courses. The main focus of the study was on developing an ESD literacy-based pedagogical model and investigating its usefulness with the preservice teachers. Usefulness of the model was studied in terms of change in preservice teachers’ sustainability consciousness and their teaching practice as ESD pedagogues. Pedagogical model developed in the study was rooted in the transformative learning theory. To study the usefulness of the pedagogical model, action research was designed. The study employed a wide range of methods to gather data. To identify the status of ESD in teacher education in Pakistan, content analysis of the teacher education curriculum and policy documents was done in terms of ESD content, ESD processes and ESD learning. The documents included in the analysis were National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST); National Standards for Accreditation of Teacher Education Programmes (NSATEP); and curriculum for B.Ed. (Honours) Elementary Programme. All these documents were prepared during the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). Findings from the content analysis indicate that though some aspects of ESD-learning and ESD-processes have been included in the NPST and the NSATEP, there is no key standard on ESD in both documents. Similarly, in the B.Ed. (Honours) curriculum some courses have included ESD content and processes but there is no standalone course on ESD. Sustainability consciousness of the preservice teachers was investigated by adapting a survey tool developed by a group of xvii

Canadian researchers (Michalos et al., 2015). Data were gathered from 207 students (preservice teachers) studying in the final year of the B.Ed. (Honours) Elementary Programme. Mean scores of the study respondents on the scale measuring sustainability consciousness were found significantly lower than the expected score. Moreover, they were significantly lower than that of upper secondary Swedish students. To study the usefulness of the pedagogical model (developed in the study), data were collected through pre-test, post-test, observation, participants’ written reflections and interviews. The findings showed that the pedagogical model i.e. Pedagogy of Sustainability Education in Teacher Education (PSETE) was useful in enhancing sustainability consciousness of the preservice teachers. However, it was only partially useful in transforming preservice teachers into ESD-pedagogues. ESD is a key field in the post-2015 development agenda, thus the findings of the current study may be used by Pakistan National Commission for UNESCO to help the concerned institutions to mainstream ESD in teacher education because mere addition or integration of ESD in some of the courses is not enough to transform preservice teachers as ESD pedagogues. Study findings may be used by the teacher educators to integrate ESD in their courses.