Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T09:20:33.537Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Teacher Identities as Key to Environmental Education for Sustainability Implementation: A Study From Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2018

Sylvia C. Almeida ,
Deborah Moore  and
Melissa Barnes
Sylvia C. Almeida*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Deborah Moore
Affiliation:
Deakin School of Education, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Melissa Barnes
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Sylvia C. Almeida, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article presents findings from a study that evaluated the impact of an Australian sustainability initiative, with a view to unravelling the realities of teachers’ implementation approaches. The paper outlines a study that reviews a government initiative in early years, primary and secondary educational settings that uses the Data Collection, Storage and Visualisations System (DCSVS) aimed at enhancing sustainability awareness and embedding sustainability as part of everyday practice in schools and early childhood services. It was also intended to offer school leaders, teachers and students avenues to engage with their consumption of natural resources. This in turn was anticipated to increase awareness about conservation, with the long-term aim to engage with the broader themes of sustainability. This article focuses on the role of teachers’ identities in enacting these policy initiatives. It highlights teachers’ enactment of the policies, the crucial role of school leaders in the process, as well as the deeper connections between curriculum and pedagogy.

Keywords

environmental educationeducation for sustainabilityteacher educationteacherspolicy
Type
Feature Articles
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , November 2018 , pp. 228 - 243
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Almeida, S.C. (2013). Environmental education in a climate of reform: Understanding teacher educators' experiences. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.Google Scholar
Almeida, S.C. (2015). Environmental education in a climate of reform: Understanding teacher educators' perspectives. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.Google Scholar
Almeida, S.C. (2017). Teacher educators’ uptake of Environmental Education for Sustainability: Perspectives, challenges and opportunities. In Pinn, D.E. (Ed.), Environmental education: Perspectives, challenges and opportunities (pp. 1–18). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Publishers.Google Scholar
Almeida, S.C, & Cutter-Mackenzie, A. (2011). The Historical, Present and Future ness of Environmental Education in India. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 27, 122–133.Google Scholar
Australian Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability (ARIES). (2005). A national review of environmental education and its contribution to sustainability in Australia. Retrieved from http://aries.mq.edu.au/projects/national_review/Google Scholar
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2016). Australian Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au/Google Scholar
Barnes, M., Moore, D. & Almeida, S. (2018). Sustainability in Australian schools: A cross-curriculum priority? Prospects, 48, 1–16.Google Scholar
Bartlett, J., McDonald, J., & Pini, B. (2015). Identity orientation and stakeholder engagement-the corporatisation of elite schools. Journal of Public Affairs, 15, 201–209.Google Scholar
Beijaard, D., Meijer, P., & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 107–128.Google Scholar
Brickson, S. (2008). Organisation identity orientation: The genesis of the role of the forms and distinct formas of social value. The Academy of Managemen Review, 32, 864–888.Google Scholar
Cutter-Mackenzie, A., Edwards, S., Moore, D., & Boyd, W. (2014). Young children's play and environmental education in early childhood education. Springer Briefs in Education.Google Scholar
Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Powerful teacher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Knowledge for teaching: What do we know? In Cochran-Smith, M., Feiman-Nemser, S., McIntyre, J., & Demers, K.E. (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education: Enduring questions in changing contexts (3rd ed., pp. 1316–1323). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Davis, J. (2010). Chapter 1. What is early childhood education for sustainability. In Davis, J. (Ed.), Young children and the environment: Early education for sustainability (pp. 21–42.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Day, C. (2007). School reforms and transitions in teacher professionalism and identity. In Townsend, B. & Bates, R. (Eds.), Handbook of teacher education: Globalization, standards and professionalism in times of change (pp. 597–612). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.Google Scholar
Denzin, N.K., & Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.). (2005). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and Arts. (2009). Living sustainably: The Australian Government's National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability. Canberra, Australia: Authpr.Google Scholar
Department of Resources Energy Tourism (DRET). (2013). National Solar Schools Program evaluation report. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from http://www.industry.gov.au/Energy/EnergyEfficiency/Documents/NSSP-Evaluation-Report-Final.pdfGoogle Scholar
Dillon, J., Kelsey, E., & Duque-Aristizabal, A. (1999). Identity and culture: Theorising emergent environmentalism. Environment Education Research, 5, 395–405.Google Scholar
Erikson, E.H. (1974). Dimensions of a new identity. New York, NY: Norton.Google Scholar
Evans, N., Whitehouse, H., & Hickey, R. (2012). Pre-service teachers’ conceptions of education for sustainability. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 37, n7. doi:10.14221/ajte.2012v37n7.3Google Scholar
Ferreira, J., Ryan, L., Cavanagh, M., & Thomas, J. (2009). Mainstreaming sustainability into pre-service teacher education in Australia. Canberra, Australia: ARIES.Google Scholar
Ferreira, J., Ryan, L., & Tilbury, D. (2006). Whole-school approaches to sustainability: A review of models for professional development in pre-service teacher education. Canberra, Australia: ARIESGoogle Scholar
Flores, M.A. (2016). Contexts of teaching and professional learning. Teachers and Teaching, 22, 127–130. doi:10.1080/13540602.2015.1055421Google Scholar
Flores, M.A, & Day, C. (2006). Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers’ identities: A multi-perspective study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22, 219–232. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2005.09.002Google Scholar
Flowers, R., & Chodkiewicz, A. (2009). Local communities and schools tackling sustainability and climate change. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 25, 71–81.Google Scholar
Hart, P. (1999). Getting the people right? Quality issues as people issues in teacher education for environmental education. Paper presented at the Asia-Pacific Regional Environmental Education Network, Tokyo, Japan.Google Scholar
Hart, P. (2003). Teachers’ thinking in environmental education. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.Google Scholar
Kensler, L.A.W., & Uline, C.L. (2017). Leadership for green schools: Sustainability for our children, our communities and our planet. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.Google Scholar
Kuzich, S., Taylor, E., & Taylor, P.C. (2015). When policy and infrastructure provisions are exemplary but still insufficient: Paradoxes affecting Education for Sustainability (EfS) in a custom-designed sustainability school. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 9, 179–195.Google Scholar
Lewis, E., Baudains, C., & Mansfield, C. (2009). The impact of AuSSI-WA at a primary school. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 25, 45–57.Google Scholar
Lotz-Sistika, H. (Ed.). (2009). Utopianism and educational processes in the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: A critical reflection. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Loughran, J. (2010). What expert teachers do: Enhancing professional knowledge for classroom practice. Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Loughran, J. (2011). On becoming a teacher educator. Journal of Education for Teaching, 37, 279–291.Google Scholar
Loughran, J. (2014). Professionally developing as a teacher educator. Journal of Teacher Education, 65, 271–283. doi:10.1177/0022487114533386Google Scholar
Matherson, L., & Windle, T.M. (2017). What do teachers want from their professional development: Four emerging themes. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 83, 28–32Google Scholar
Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2008). Melbourne Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians. Melbourne, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Newberry, M. (2014). Teacher educator identity development of the nontraditional teacher educator. Studying Teacher Education, 10, 163–178. doi:10.1080/17425964.2014.903834Google Scholar
Payne, P. (1997). Embodiment and environmental education. Environment Education Research, 3, 133–153.Google Scholar
Payne, P. (2001). Identity and Environmental Education. Environment Education Research, 7, 67–88.Google Scholar
Rodgers, C., & Scott, K. (2008). The development of the personal self and identity in learning to teach. In Cochran-Smith, M., Feiman-Nemser, S., McIntyre, J., & Demers, K. (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teacher Education (3rd ed., pp. 732–756). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Shallcross, T., & Robinson, J. (2008). Sustainability education, whole school approaches, and communities of action. In Reid, A., Jensen, B.B., Nikel, J., & Simovska, V. (Eds.), Participation and learning: Perspectives on education and the environment, health and sustainability (pp. 299–320). London: Springer.Google Scholar
Smith, G.A., & Stevenson, R.B. (2017). Sustaining education for sustainability in turbulent times. The Journal of Environmental Education, 48, 79–95.Google Scholar
UNESCO. (2005). Draft International Implementation Scheme. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/file_download.php/e13265d9b948898339314b001d91fd01draftFinal+IIS.pdfGoogle Scholar
UNESCO. (2014). Shaping the future we want: UN decade of education for sustainable development (Final report). Paris, France: Author.Google Scholar
UNESCO. (2015). Sustainable development goals: 17 goals to transform the world. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/Google Scholar
Wilson, S. (2012). Drivers and blockers: Embedding education for sustainability (EFS) in primary teacher education. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 28, 49–59.Google Scholar
Zembylas, M. (2003). Interrogating ‘teacher identity’: Emotion, resistance and self formation. Educational Theory, 53, 107–127.Google Scholar