Pedro Vega-Marcote

Going to action? A literature review on educational proposals in formal Environmental Education

The current state of the planet’s environmental deterioration calls for formal educational contexts to implement effective environmental proposals which nurture action competence. The aim of this paper is to examine the educational proposals in formal contexts that have been published in the two research journals of greatest impact on Environmental Education during the period 2008–2013, and to analyse how they contribute to the development of action competence. Special attention is paid to research (i) based on real participation by students; (ii) promotes reflection on the complexity of environmental issues; (iii) facilitates critical thinking; (iv) encourages autonomous and responsible decision-making and (v) involves communities. Our results show that these approaches can help improve the development of action-focused environmental education and bring to light a series of challenges for future research.

Sustainable consumption: a teaching intervention in higher education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse a teaching strategy designed to increase the awareness of trainee teachers and educate them with regard to sustainable consumption. Design/methodology/approach – Ninety-four subjects (trainee teachers) were assessed on their knowledge of the environmental impacts of consumerism, their attitudes to sustainable consumption and their behavioural intentions before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the teaching intervention took place. Findings – Statistical analysis of the results obtained revealed that subjects increased their knowledge of the social and environmental impacts of consumerism, became more aware of the need to take action in this regard, and developed behaviours oriented towards a sustainable model of consumption. Research limitations/implications – The proper application of an educational strategy of this nature requires more time than that actually assigned to the teaching intervention itself. This obstacle was overcome by using th...

Training Teachers Committed to Climate Change Mitigation

The environmental crisis, caused by unsustainable development and an unjust model, requires a global change in a political, social and environmental context. To promote this change we need to redirect Higher Education to train citizens to be able to make responsible decisions and act in a sustainable way. This requires educational initiatives promoted by universities to redirect teacher training towards sustainability. With this objective we present and focus a teacher training proposal based on treating the problems of Climate Change, the climate education and the development of teaching skills. Its purpose is to enable students of the Faculty of Education Sciences, future teaching staff, to participate, individually and collectively, in improving this socio-environmental problem of a local and global nature, which also has a multiplier effect for society in their later professional development. The proposal is based on a holistic and participatory methodology, promoting the development of sustainable skills, participation, information processing, critical thinking and autonomous and informed decision-making using ICTs and a platform providing distance learning. The experience can be the foundation for future proposals in different contexts and for different professional profiles.

Tendencias actitudinales del profesorado en formación hacia una educación ambiental transformadora

This study aims to obtain the attitudinal tendencies of a group of teachers in initial training in Spain ( N = 889; 83.4% women and 16.6% men; 53.6% in Primary Education, and 44.8%, in Early Childhood Education), from cluster analysis of the data collected through a previously constructed and validated scale that relates their attitudes: (a) facing socio-environmental problems and (b) toward transformative Environmental Education. This analysis reveals the existence of critical and conformist attitudes that suggests that trainee teachers are not prepared to face sustainability challenges, although there is also a transformative profile consistent with Environmental Education focused on sustainable action. The results obtained may contribute to making training proposals in this field and in other contexts and to identifying those elements that should be reinforced.

Basic Teacher Training Oriented Toward Sustainability: Why and How to Carry It Out Today?

The environmental deterioration of the planet, caused by unsustainable development and an unfair model, requires a global change on a political, social, and environmental level. To boost this change it is necessary to redirect education, and specifically Environmental Education for Sustainable Development, to educate citizens so that they are capable of making responsible, solidary and sustainable decisions. This requires educational initiatives promoted by higher education institutions for reorienting teacher education towards sustainability. With this aim we present and substantiate an educational teacher training model based on the development of sustainable competencies and on the solving of environmental problems, bridging the gap between theory and practice. Its purpose is to enable future teachers to participate, individually and collectively, in the improvement of social-environmental problems, local and global, fostering sustainable life-styles, through teaching material designed for this purpose. Its implementation and evaluation shows that this experiential educational model promotes and favors sustainable actions in Faculties of Educational Science, responsible for basic teacher training in Spain. It also carries a multiplying effect, due to students’ professional perspectives, and it could be the basis for future proposals elsewhere.