See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/263011209

Teachers' Knowledge of Education for Sustainable Development

Conference Paper · July 2012

CITATIONS READS

2 1,191

2 authors:

Rabiatul Adawiah Norizan Esa

SEAMEO RECSAM 20 PUBLICATIONS   542 CITATIONS   
4 PUBLICATIONS   4 CITATIONS   
SEE PROFILE
SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Self Directed Learning View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Rabiatul Adawiah on 12 June 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

UMT 11th International Annual Symposium on Sustainability Science and Management
09th – 11th July 2012, Terengganu, Malaysia

Teachers’ Knowledge of Education for Sustainable Development

Rabiatul Adawiah and Norizan Esa

School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

Corresponding e-mail: mawarputih88@yahoo.co.uk

Abstract
The Education for sustainable development (EfSD) is posing great challenges and now becomes an
issue to be focus on. In the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), knowledge
about EfSD is crucial because the outcomes of human activities nowadays are affecting the
equilibrium of the world and causing changes which effects worldwide. It becomes necessary to
reduce or minimize the undesirable impacts of human activities on the environment because EfSD is
the educational effort focusing on these objectives. Teachers should be knowledgeable about EfSD to
ensure the successful of integration of EfSD in teaching. This paper will describe the importance of
knowledge among school teachers to integrate EfSD in teaching and the research sought to become
an eye opener for those working in the field of EfSD in higher education. This study is a survey to
explore the knowledge of EfSD among 100 teachers from various fields in primary and secondary
schools teacher. Teachers were chosen to be the focus in this research because teachers hold the
power to change and can act as change agent to create a better understanding about EfSD. The
instrument is a questionnaire consists of 20 items covering environment, social and economy aspect
of EfSD. The analysis of data revealed that overall knowledge about EfSD among teachers is good.
However, some teachers hold misconceptions about the concept of EfSD. It also suggests future study
directed towards identifying the needs of teacher training programmed to enhance teacher’s
knowledge about EfSD.

Keywords: Education, Education for Sustainable Development, Teachers, Knowledge

Introduction

Education is expected to play a critical role in fulfilling the goals of the United Nations’ Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) from 2005 to 2014. According to UNESCO, the
ultimate aim of DESD is to ensure that all aspects of education and learning have the principles,
values and practices of sustainable development integrated into them. [1]. The concept of sustainable
development has been proposed as a solution to the environment challenges that we face. According
to the Bruntland Report, development that is sustainable will not compromise the needs of future
generations even when it attempts to ensure that the needs of the present generation are met [2]. It is
therefore important that sustainable development issues are integrated in all levels of education. It is
necessary to provide an alternative view of education especially one that involves the integration of
sustainable development and that develops students’ ability to change the way their society operates.
With this goal education will empower young people to drive the changes needed in our society.
Education for Sustainable Development (EfSD) is a type of education that encourages students to be
active citizens and change the functioning of our society. Through EfSD, students will be encouraged
to envision themselves as agents actively involved in changing and shaping a better future. The
successful of integration of EfSD requires teachers that are knowledgeable about EfSD since they are
change agents themselves, and can ensure a better understanding about EfSD. EfSD includes values,
knowledge, issues, skills, and perspectives related to sustainable development that are integrated into
all aspects of learning. Such actions will foster changes in behaviour that can promote the formation
of a sustainable society [3].

Nowadays, the education system, through the school curriculum, is focused on fostering
environmental literacy, attitudes and values that go beyond a mere understanding of environmental
problems [4]. As such specific knowledge is required from teachers who are involved in the design
and implementation of environmental programs in school. In Malaysia, education is focused more on
Environmental Education compared to EfSD because EfSD seems new in this country. To understand
EfSD, teachers should be knowledgeable about the environment because environment is part of the
three components included in the EfSD concept. Malaysian pre-service and in-service teachers’

e-ISBN 978-967-5366-93-2 823

UMT 11th International Annual Symposium on Sustainability Science and Management
09th – 11th July 2012, Terengganu, Malaysia

knowledge on environment is minimal [5, 6, 7]. This is also supported by Mageswary et al [8] who
reported that due to their limited environmental knowledge pre-service teachers find it difficult to
integrate environmental knowledge in their teaching. Pre-service teacher’s environmental knowledge
only covers that obtained from secondary and primary schooling experience. Moreover, recent
research has shown that student teachers and in-service teachers of pre-school to primary and
secondary education, do not understand the meaning of the term ‘sustainability’, or ignorant of the
term ‘sustainable development’ [9, 10, 11].

Method
This study is a survey to explore the knowledge of EfSD among 100 primary and secondary teachers
from various fields.

Instrument
The instrument is a questionnaire divided into two sections. The first section refers to demographic
data of the respondents. The second part consisting of 20 items covering environment, social and
economy aspect of EfSD. The items of this part of the questionnaire are presented with a four point
Likert scale choice.

Sample
The sample involved in this study is 100 primary and secondary teachers from various fields.

Results and Discussion

Teacher’s profile
The data revealed that 85.3% of the teachers were female and 14.7% were male. The majority of the
respondents (41.6%) were in service for less than 5 years, some of the respondents (21.8%) were in
service between 5 to 10 years. Others who made 14.9% of the outcome had 10 to 15 years in service
and finally more than 15 years in service showed 21.8%.

Table 1 Teacher characteristics : Gender

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid male 15 14.7 14.7 14.7
female 87 85.3 85.3 100.0
Total 102 100.0 100.0

Table 2 Teacher characteristics : Length of service

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid < 5 years 42 41.2 41.6 41.6
5 – 10 years 22 21.6 21.8 63.4
10 – 15 years 15 14.7 14.9 78.2
> 15 years 22 21.6 21.8 100.0
Total 101 99.0 100.0
Missing System 1 1.0
Total 102 100.0

Teacher’s knowledge
The analysis of data revealed that overall knowledge about EfSD among teachers is good because
almost of the question answered by them is positive towards knowledge about EfSD. The first
question dealt with teachers’ understanding about the concept of sustainable development. Almost all
of the teachers (99%) answered that they agree that economic development, social development and
environmental protection are all necessary for sustainable development.

e-ISBN 978-967-5366-93-2 824

 UMT 11th International Annual Symposium on Sustainability Science and Management
09th – 11th July 2012, Terengganu, Malaysia

Table 3: Question 1 - Economic development, social development and environmental protection are all
necessary for sustainable development.
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Disagree 1 1.0 1.0 1.0
Agree 66 64.7 64.7 65.7
Strongly agree 35 34.3 34.3 100.0
Total 102 100.0 100.0

The data showed that teacher’s knowledge about sustainable development is good and they know that
sustainable development addresses the three components of sustainability and the interrelationship of
the three components which is social, economic and also environment.
The second question focused on teacher’s understanding about EfSD. EfSD is education that
encourages students to be active citizens who have a role in changing how our societies operate.
Almost all the teachers (98%) agreed that EfSD emphasizes education for a culture of peace.

Table 4 : Question 2- Education for sustainable development emphasizes education for a

culture of peace

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Disagree 2 2.0 2.0 2.0
Agree 72 70.6 70.6 72.5
Strongly agree 28 27.5 27.5 100.0
Total 102 100.0 100.0

Besides that, teacher’s knowledge about EfSD is good because all teachers agree that Education for
Sustainable Development seeks to balance human and economic well-being with cultural traditions
and respect for the earth’s natural resources. As shown in Table 5, the percentage of the teachers
chooses agree is 62.7% while 37.3% choose strongly agree clearly showed that they understand the
interrelationship between the three components because knowledge from the natural sciences, social
sciences and humanities are needed to understand the principles of sustainable development.

Table 5 : Question 9 - Education for sustainable development seeks to balance human and
economic well-being with cultural traditions and respect for the earth’s natural resources

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Agree 64 62.7 62.7 62.7
Strongly agree 38 37.3 37.3 100.0
Total 102 100.0 100.0

Teacher’s misconceptions about the concept of EfSD

Some teachers hold misconceptions about the concept of EfSD. Question 7 focused on the EfSD
concept. 37.3% of the teachers did not really understand some concepts of EfSD.

Table 6 : Question 7 - Education for sustainable development emphasizes gender equality

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Strongly disagree 1 1.0 1.0 1.0
Disagree 37 36.3 36.3 37.3
Agree 59 57.8 57.8 95.1
Strongly agree 5 4.9 4.9 100.0
Total 102 100.0 100.0

e-ISBN 978-967-5366-93-2 825

UMT 11th International Annual Symposium on Sustainability Science and Management
09th – 11th July 2012, Terengganu, Malaysia

From Table 6 , it is obvious that some of the teachers hold misconceptions about the concept of
EfSD because a large percentage (36.3%) of the teachers choose disagree while another 1% choose
strongly disagree. Gender equality is one of the principles covered in the concept of sustainable
development and this large percentage showed that not all concepts of EfSD are understood by
teachers. EfSD not only encompasses knowledge about the environment, economy and society. It is
also a means to promote sustainable living by addressing the learning skills, perspectives and values
that people hold

Data from question 10 also showed that 47.1% teachers did not really understand their role in
addressing climate change. 37.3% of the teachers choose agree while another 9.8% of the teacher
choose strongly agree that they cannot slow the rate of climate change. It is necessary that teachers
master the skills in analysing and proposing solutions to issues of sustainable development, and the
ability to analyse issues based on opposing positions and the underlying values of these positions. .

Table 7 : Question 10 - We cannot slow the rate of climate change

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Strongly disagree 11 10.8 10.8 10.8
Disagree 43 42.2 42.2 52.9
Agree 38 37.3 37.3 90.2
Strongly agree 10 9.8 9.8 100.0
Total 102 100.0 100.0

Besides that, question 20 also showed that teachers hold misconceptions about the concept of EfSD.
40.6% of the teachers agree that EfSD only emphasized environmental degradation such as lack of
clean water, destruction of forest, desertification, pollution of the sea, extinction of wild animals and
plants and reduction of natural resources. Teachers seem to only understand the basic knowledge of
EfSD but their understanding of the interrelationships between the three components of environment,
social and economic aspects is poor.

Table 8 : Question 20 - Education for Sustainable Development only emphasized on

environmental degradation such as lack of clean water, destruction of forest, desertification,
pollution of the sea, extinction of wild animals and plants and reduction of natural resources
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Strongly disagree 6 5.9 5.9 5.9
Disagree 54 52.9 53.5 59.4
Agree 36 35.3 35.6 95.0
Strongly agree 5 4.9 5.0 100.0
Total 101 99.0 100.0
Missing System 1 1.0
Total 102 100.0

Conclusions

The research results analyzed in this study indicate that in-service, teachers’ overall knowledge about
the concept of EfSD is good. However, some teachers hold misconceptions about the concept of
EfSD. They understand the three components of EfSD but the understanding about the
interrelationships between them is still minimal. Thus, there is a need for future studies directed
towards identifying the needs of teacher training programme to enhance teacher’s knowledge about
EfSD .

Acknowledgement

The authors wished to acknowledge the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme provided by Ministry
of Higher Education, Malaysia for this study.

e-ISBN 978-967-5366-93-2 826

 UMT 11th International Annual Symposium on Sustainability Science and Management
09th – 11th July 2012, Terengganu, Malaysia

References

[1] UNESCO: Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future (2002)

[2] World Commission on Environment, Development (WCED) Our common future. Oxford
University Press, Oxford (1987)
[3] R. McKeown,: Education for sustainable development toolkit: version 2, available at
www.esdtoolkit.org/esd_toolkit_v2.pdf (2002)
[4] E. Flogaiti: Education for the environment and sustainability. Ellinika Grammata, Athens (2006)
[5] A.J. Ponniah: “Environmental pollution: knowledge and attitude of Malaysian secondary
school students”, Master thesis, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (1996)
[6] Y.H. Teoh: Knowledge of environmental issues among teachers trainees of Maktab Perguruan
Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Master’s thesis, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (1996)
[7] I. Nur Akmal: Kesedaran pelajar tentang pendidikan alam sekitar dalam Geografi, Master’s
thesis, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (2004)
[8] K. Mageswary, I. Zurida, and M. Norita: Ensuring environmental sustainability through
teaching and learning chemistry, in O. Osman, and S. Zainal Abidin, (Eds), Proceedings for The
2006 ASAIHL Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (EfSD), Penang
Malaysia, (2006) pp.152-65
[9] R. Jucker: Sustainability? Never heard of it. Int J Sustainability Higher Edu 3(1):8-18 (2002)
[10] A. Karameris, P. Ragou, A. Papanikolaou: Research on primary and secondary teachers’
perceptions concerning Sustainable Development. Proceedings of the 2nd conference of school
programs in Environmental Education, Athens, December 15-17, pp 308-320 (2006)
[11] D. Spiropoulou, T. Antonaki, S. Kontaxaki, S. Bouras : Primary teachers’ literacy and attitudes
on Education for Sustainable Development. J Sci Educ Technol 16:443-450 (2007)

e-ISBN 978-967-5366-93-2 827

View publication stats