A Q-methodology study to identify Slovak and Czech secondary school teachers’ prioritised features of the sustainable development goals

Abstract

Education for sustainable development is a broad, cross-cutting concept. How teachers in different subject areas prioritise aspects of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) impacts learning objectives and outcomes. The goal of this research was to uncover, characterise and analyse groups of teachers based their perceptions of teaching SDGs. The research was conducted using Q-methodology with a P-set of 36 Slovak and Czech secondary school teachers who were given a Q-set of 48 statements with cognitive, affective, and behavioural learning objectives in the area of sustainability. The findings suggested the existence of three clusters of teachers that differ in the way they perceive the importance of teaching concepts connected with certain sustainability goals. The three groups emphasised different features of teaching the SDGs: (1) educating pupils about prosocial attitudes because it leads to reduced inequality and discrimination; (2) providing quality education in general because it stimulates sustainable actions and (3) leading pupils to take action in their local environment. Based on these findings, some useful and important implications are discussed below.