Page 160 - Učilnica za življenje

Tina Štemberger and Jurka Lepičnik Vodopivec

Given the fact that effective sustainable development or education for
sustainability requires particular attention to teachers’ sustainability compe-
tences (Cebrián & Junyent, 2015; Buzov et al., 2020; UNESCO, 2017; Bürgener
& Barth, 2018; Barth & Timm, 2011), this area must also be addressed in the
initial teacher education system. An analysis of research in the field of sus-
tainability first reveals the undefined concept of what sustainability actually
is (Wiek et al., 2011; Brundiers et al., 2021), so it is not surprising that there is
no research that actually examines the development of sustainability com-
petences in teachers and/or future teachers. Rauch and Steiner (2013) high-
light the limited scientific output on the competences teachers need to ad-
dress sustainable development, and Vukelić and Rončević (2021) point to the
absolute lack of theoretical models of teachers’ competences for sustain-
able development that meaningfully connect the different elements of these
competences. Wals (2010) states that teachers should develop sustainabil-
ity by encouraging creative thinking, problem-solving, action competence,
and collaboration, which are approaches aimed at fostering responsible citi-
zens who will take on the role of change agents. Various existing models (e.g.,
Bertschy et al., 2013; Rauch & Steiner, 2013) describe how teachers should be-
have and think and what values and attitudes they should have, but do not
specify how these components are interconnected. The fact is that knowl-
edge and an appropriate attitude towards sustainable development alone
do not automatically lead to sustainable behavior, so it is rightly concluded
that if we want to promote teachers’ competences for sustainable develop-
ment, the individual components must be interconnected. Similarly, Vuke-
lić and Rončević (2021) identifies teachers as key figures in ESD, proposing
the so-called action competence of teachers, which consists of three inter-
connected multidimensional aspects that should significantly contribute to
teachertraininginESD:(i)knowledge(ESD-ESDandknowledgeofpedagog-
ical content), (ii) motivational beliefs (teachers’ self-efficacy for ESD, the value
assessment of ESD, and the assumption of personal responsibility), and (iii)
readiness to act (the intention to implement ESD). The relationships between
the components of competence can significantly influence the planning of
educational interventions aimed at training teachers for ESD. Based on the
review, we can conclude the absence of an appropriate model for research-
ing sustainability, and consequently, the under-researched competences of
teachers and future teachers for sustainable development.
Lindberg (2009) points out that ESD should begin as early as pre-school
so that children can become people who show responsibility and care about
others. In addition to encouraging environmental awareness, kindergartens

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