Building a Collective School Culture to Achieve Education for Sustainability: The Contribution of Teachers’ Perceptions

Abstract

Our current educational reality is often devoid of an encompassing vision of Education for Sustainability (EfS) that involves all stakeholders and invites them to take coordinated action towards an equalizing goal. Many educators in their schools take a lonely trajectory; they are limited in their classes or within perceived disciplinarian confinements of their cognitive expertise. In their attempt to explain how an all-encompassing vision of “sustainable education” can be promoted, nine in-service teachers involved in European environmental protection programmes were asked to reflect on their experience, explain possible reasons behind each challenge and make recommendations for improvement. Based on empirical studies and participants’ responses, we argued that sustainable education policies and innovative scholarships should not be standing alone, isolated from other programmes, policies, institutions or even education theories. EfS researchers and practitioners should establish clear links between EfS teacher education theory, approaches, curricula and implementation before policies are formulated or pursued.