Abstract
This study aims to investigate Malaysia’s Institutes of Teacher Education (ITE) students’ knowledge on sustainability toward environmentallysustainable behaviour (ESB).The model adapted is based on Hines, Hungerford and Tomera’s Environmental Responsible Behaviour Model which was established since 1987.The nature of this study was descriptive, and the data were collected using cross-sectional survey. A total of 425 participants responded to a questionnaire developed for this study. Several procedure was carried out in order to assess the validity and reliability of the questionnaire using PLS-SEM.The study revealed that the Malaysian Higher Education students showed a high level of knowledge of sustainability action skills, knowledge of sustainability strategies and knowledge of sustainability issues toward ESB and the environment. Findings associated with students’ gender, age, ethnicity, field of study and academic program were also reported and discussed.First, the participating students came from Institutions of Teacher Education. Although this institution is a major teacher training centre in the nation, further studies should include samples from other public and private institutions. Second, this study did not examine the correlation among the three main components: knowledge of sustainability action skills, knowledge of sustainability strategies and knowledge of sustainability issues.Limited studies have been conducted in Malaysia on ITE although the institutionsare supporting ESD through the Sustainable ITE program. Therefore, this study is exploring the critical success factors of knowledge on sustainability action skills, knowledge on sustainability strategies and knowledge on sustainability issues on environmentally sustainable behaviour ofteacher candidate students in Malaysia. In addition, past studies have recommended to investigate and look into the environmentally sustainablebehaviour among the younger generations, especially those with higher education levels, especially because inevitably, they are agents of change, and also they will be affected by the environmental issues that are caused by the current human activities.
 This paper also providesvaluable insights that foster a much better understanding in regards to the role of Institutions of Teacher Education (ITE) in assisting sustainable development, addressingthe important key issues to be considered in education system.
Highlights
Since environmental citizenship among the citizens of Malaysia is lacking (Ho, Kamaruddin, & Ismail, 2016), it is inevitable that the implicit role of the teachers who are known as environmental citizenship role model to acquire desirable characteristics.Since its introduction through the Bruntland Report entitled 'Our Common Future ' at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1987, the notion of ' sustainable development' has received worldwide attention
This program is known as Sustainable ITE or “IPG Lestari” which is a collaborative network between Institutes of Teacher Education and WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), University Sains Malaysia (USM) and Natural Resources and Environment Board Sarawak (NREB)
Among the past studies that had quite a major impact on this issue is a study done by Gericke, Boeve-de Pauw, Berglund, & Olsson (2018) which elaborated on the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Swedish schools among 2,413 6th, 9th and 12th grade students and the results revealed that the implementation of ESD in the Swedish schools wasn’t successful since only a small positive effects th of an ESD approach among 6 grade and even a smaller negative effect of an explicit ESD approach among the th grade
Summary
Since environmental citizenship among the citizens of Malaysia is lacking (Ho, Kamaruddin, & Ismail, 2016), it is inevitable that the implicit role of the teachers who are known as environmental citizenship role model to acquire desirable characteristics.Since its introduction through the Bruntland Report entitled 'Our Common Future ' at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1987, the notion of ' sustainable development' has received worldwide attention. In line with the recommendations by the authorities to promote sustainability in higher education, a program was introduced to all Institutes of Teacher Education (ITE) in Malaysia to increase the environmentally sustainable behaviour among the teacher trainees in the institutions was introduced in 2012 This is not an additional program that will burden the institute as the planned activities are in the long-term curriculum, co-curriculum, management and environmental program. The aim of Sustainable ITE is to make sustainability in decision-making and action a culture among future teachers and local communities through increased knowledge, instilling awareness and practicing sustainable lifestyles It illustrates the commitment and support of Malaysian Ministry of Education Institutes of Teacher Education (IPGM KPM), towards making Sustainable ITE as a brand that is advocated, practised and adopted by all the 27 campuses
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