Teacher Educators in South Africa

Sustainable living implies protecting our natural resources without compromising the needs of the next generations. Education has the power to transform humans’ perspectives and behaviour, which in turn, inculcates sustainable practices in all aspects of their lives. The United Nations (UN) called for education for sustainable development (ESD) as a global initiative towards transforming education for sustainability. This initiative catalysed this comparative study on teacher education policy and linked curricula between South Africa and Sweden. The major focus of this study is to compare policies and curricula in science and technology teacher education in South Africa and Sweden. The study illuminates and explores the status quo regarding ESD in the participating universities in South Africa and Sweden. Aspects of sustainability are investigated through document analysis of: the legislative teacher education policies; school science and technology curricula; and sampled modules for relevant institutional science and technology teacher education curricula. University subject experts conducted the analysis of policy documents and university curricula, using an agreed analytic tool. The data analysis reveals similarities and differences in policies and curricula with regard to ESD. The study recommends a rethink and reform of the content and methodology modules offered to initial teacher education students.

Teacher education is accountable for ensuring that all students acquire the knowledge and skills required to promote sustainable development, primarily via education for sustainable development (ESD). However, most of the research on ESD in teacher education focuses on specific education courses and countries. Thus, this review systematically explores global trends in ESD research within teacher education. Based on two databases, Web of Science and Scopus, 27 publications were retrieved from 2013 to 2022 using the SLR methodology and further analysed using the PRISMA method to obtain the main themes. First, the significant findings portrayed that ESD integration does not have any boundaries between fields. Second, the evidence demonstrates that ESD is integrated using various expanding strategies and methods into teacher education across nations and programmes. Third, by understanding the existence of various variables, actions and measurements may be performed before or after the incorporation of ESD into teacher education curricula in connection to the availability of external factors that may impact ESD implementation. These three findings indicated that there are still research gaps concerning ESD in teacher education to be explored. In conclusion, this study is beneficial for practitioners in evaluating which ESD approach is currently being used and in identifying ESD-related research needs in teacher education. In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the enhancement of ESD in teacher training institutions might lead to a new vision of education. Keywords: Education for sustainable development, pre-service teacher, sustainability, sustainable development goals, systematic literature review, teacher education

This paper focuses on a British Council funded Higher Education Link project involving three institutions—Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) in the UK and two South African institutions, the University of South Africa (UNISA) and Rhodes University. The link is a research and development project that has three main research strands: contextual profiling that will establish the applicability of a European teacher education project to the South African context, evaluative materials development and piloting predicated on a respect for indigenous and contextual knowledge, and impact analysis that will examine the role of multidirectional intergenerational mentoring in disseminating messages about sustainable lifestyles. The project is strongly influenced by the South African Revised National Curriculum statements pertaining to environment and an analysis of the impact that these materials have had on promoting whole school approaches to environmental education in South Africa. The link's initial purpose is to develop advanced certificate in education (ACE) course materials that will promote whole school approaches to environmental education, based on developing concepts of collaboration, pupil participation, educational process and action in schools in South Africa. Materials from the MMU‐based, European Commission funded Sustainability Education in European Primary Schools (SEEPS) Project will be adapted for use in South Africa by UNISA and Rhodes. This paper reports on the development of the project and explores some of its activities and results to date. It documents how the project team approached the integrating redevelopment of SEEPS ideas and materials to use these resources in the design of continuing professional development (CPD) activities for ACE courses in environmental education at UNISA and Rhodes. The second section is written in semi‐dialogue form to try to reflect the nature of the discussions that occurred between the partners in the link during meetings in the UK. This dialogue outlines the conceptual and philosophical background to the SEEPS Project before examining continuities and tensions that arose in clarifying and situating guiding perspectives for CPD and whole school approaches in and for South African school contexts through the medium of teacher education. The paper also reviews how the South African team are interacting with ideas and materials from SEEPS to clarify whole school approaches to environmental education in South Africa and discusses the contexts within which the outcomes of the link will unfold.

The global environmental crises are constantly evolving and with them, the need to revisit the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the higher education curricula to respond to them. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide the latest international attempt towards global sustainability. In an effort to keep our ESD curriculum current, the ESD course modules across the different levels of the University of South Africa’s College of Education are being revamped and reoriented in order to articulate these global environmental issues. This chapter reviews the recurriculation process of one of these course modules on environmental education in relation to the SDGs. A document analysis approach was employed for exploring specific aspects, namely, the inclusion of SDGs, Africanisation and contextualisation of the content. The review found that there was no coverage of SDGs in the module and that there was a limited effort towards Africanisation and contextualisation of the content. The chapter recommends how these aspects can be incorporated into the module and into similar ESD course modules under recurriculation.

This article seeks to delve deeper into the discourse about the epistemic decoloniality of Westernised higher education in South Africa. Discrete academic studies have indicated that African Knowledge paradigms have not found a home in South Africa’s Westernised academies yet; knowledge patterns remain foreign and colonized. The current curriculum at a section of Historically White Universities in South Africa largely reflects the colonial and apartheid worldviews and is disconnected from African realities, including the lived experiences of most black South Africans, taking into account Arts and Humanities. Based on an examination of the decoloniality project and curriculum dishonesty and reform through literature study, the article calls for critical rethinking and reconfiguration, which should position South Africa, Africa, and last of all, the globe at the centre of knowledge production. Epistemic decoloniality at South Africa’s Historically White Universities should not be pursued with knowledge violence but rather with scholarly debate. This article introduces the framework of decoloniality by tracing the genesis of (South) Africa’s knowledge coloniality and initiates a discussion on the current epistemic decoloniality in South Africa’s Westernised higher education. The focus is on curriculum justice and knowledge integration across Historically White Universities in South Africa. The last portion of the paper applies the proposed measures to evaluate the cogency of decolonial discourses.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a core element of UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) Target 4.7, which seeks to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development through education for sustainable development. The German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) followed suit in 2015 and launched a high scale national monitoring of the current state of ESD implementation. In this context, suitable ESD indicators should be analyzed to inform policy and research agendas. The present project is part of the national monitoring within Germany’s Global Action Program (GAP) actions. The research team at the University of Education in Freiburg conducted a study to evaluate the accessibility of data and the measurability of ESD-relevant teacher training (TT). During the two-step procedure for data collection on ESD-relevant TTs in Germany, an extensive list of ESD related search terms first captured 66,935 TTs with possible ESD relevance in the evaluation period. Second, the collected data was analyzed using Mayring’s qualitative content analysis. The 66,935 TTs were thereby reduced to 3818 TTs with different degrees of ESD relevance. The results of the evaluation study show that suitable ESD indicators, the FESD (formula for the ESD-indicator for TTs) (basic), FESD (basic, rated) and FESD (pro), could be developed and calculated for 15 of 16 federal states in Germany. The gathered insights show a path towards ESD monitoring in TT to clarify the needs and achievements of ESD implementation in the field of continuing education of teachers. However, the presented indicators only show a possible path for ESD indicator development. A comprehensive set of ESD indicators should also focus on the micro or output (e.g., ESD competencies) level. These insights for the future seem worth striving for not only in Germany or on the national level but also internationally to foster ESD, Target 4.7 of the SDGs and the SDGs in general.

Mathematics education in South Africa is experiencing a crisis that disproportionately affects the majority of learners, enhancing inequality and inequity and promoting unsustainable development. Part of the problem lies in the quality and training of Mathematics teachers, as well as the pedagogy they follow. South African education, particularly Mathematics education, should contribute to the transformation of society into an equitable and sustainable one. Hence, the orientation of South African education towards Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). It is believed that ESD will contribute to equity, equality, and sustainability. One way to implement ESD is through Place-Based Education (PBE). PBE capitalises on place, community, experiences, location, and geography to create unique, authentic, meaningful, and personalised learning opportunities. Consequently, PBE expands the mathematics classroom to include the surrounding community. This empowers Mathematics teachers to make the subject relevant to learners by incorporating their local context into their pedagogy. This approach to Mathematics teaching and teacher training promotes equity and the realisation of sustainable development, as it addresses the educational needs of the majority of South Africa’s learners within Mathematics education. This desktop chapter scrutinises literature on the topic to highlight the value and relevance of ESD and PBE in Mathematics teacher training, and to situate PBE as a pedagogy within Mathematics education and teacher training. I provide an overview of Mathematics teacher training in South Africa; thereafter, I discuss ESD and its connection to Mathematics education; and finally, I reflect on PBE and its relevance and value to Mathematics teacher training.

Education serves as a catalyst for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and it is essential for education to keep pace with societal dynamics. This paper argues for the reconceptualisation of initial teacher education in South Africa to promote an alternative transformative and sustainable pedagogy. Questions arose regarding the compatibility of the current teacher education program in South Africa with the needs of today's learners. Therefore, it is important to assess whether South African higher education institutions provide adequate training for future teachers. The current teacher education programme has remained unchanged for many years, failing to adapt to the evolving educational landscape and instead adhering to traditional methods that were relevant in the past. Incorporating flexible, transformative pedagogies and technologies can enhance student learning and engage learners of the 21st century. Using a typological methodological design, this conceptual explanatory paper identifies six themes: program content, pedagogy, technological advancements, preparing teachers for inclusion, school-based experiences, and addressing anxiety. This paper contributes to existing knowledge by advocating for the reconceptualisation of teacher education programs, aiming to produce graduates who are equipped to address global challenges. Furthermore, it emphasises the need for an alternative transformative sustainable initiative to overhaul teacher education programs to align with modern societies' complexities and dynamics. Therefore, this paper calls for the reformulation of South Africa's initial teacher training to align with SDG 4 (quality education) and Agenda 2023, which underpin Africa's transformational aspirations for a better future for all.

Universities remain at the forefront of scaling up the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its interlinked 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This chapter investigates how the University of South Africa (UNISA) has localised the water and sanitation SDG to equip itself with eventualities regarding climate change (SDG 13), water shortages, general groundwater conservation as well as environmental stewardship. The mixed methods research design was adopted as the strategy of inquiry. Results show that UNISA developed a Water Master Plan which includes strategies for rainwater harvesting, water efficiency and wetland rehabilitation. The master plan strategies have potential for saving huge volumes of water and reduction of water-related bills. This is possible through the minimisation and efficient utilisation of water from both boreholes and the municipal systems. The UNISA’s engagements remain a proactive move in a country that is fighting extreme and frequent droughts, with terms like ‘Day Zero’ having emerged in reference to a situation where the City of Cape Town was predicted to run out of water in 2018. Although some of the initiatives are not yet fully operational, the study recommends that other institutions of higher education in South Africa and elsewhere across the globe join this movement of global water stewards and building climate resilience.KeywordsUNISASDG 6Water efficiencyWetlandsRainwater harvesting

The fact that the daily lives of billions of people were affected by the medical, social, and political aspects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic shows the need to anchor the understanding of One Health in society. Hence, promoting awareness and deepening the understanding of the interrelation between human health, animal health, and ecosystems must be accomplished through quality education, as advocated by UN Sustainable Development Goal 4. The often-questioned and discussed measures taken by governments to control the global pandemic between 2020 and 2023 can be seen as an opportunity to meet the educational needs of civil society solutions in multi-stakeholder settings between public, universities, and schools. This paper focuses on the integration of One Health principles in educational frameworks, particularly within the context of the higher education teaching framework "Teaching Clinic." This master-level course in the domain of pre-service teacher education serves as a potent vehicle for facilitating One Health Education, bridging the gap between research, higher education, and schools. Through the presentation of two case studies, this article demonstrates how the Teaching Clinic approach fosters interdisciplinary perspectives and provides a dynamic learning environment for pre-service teachers, as well as for pupils involved in the educational process. In both cases, the integration of educational One Health school teaching-learning settings effectively enhanced pupils' understanding of complex topics and engaged them in active learning experiences. Pre-service teachers played a crucial role in developing, implementing, and evaluating these interventions. In Case I, pupils demonstrated proficiency in analyzing data and evaluating mathematical models, while in Case II, the chosen instructional approach facilitated One Health knowledge acquisition and enjoyment among pupils. These results underscore the potential of the One Health Teaching Clinic as a valuable educational framework for enhancing teaching and learning outcomes for pre-service teachers and fostering pupil engagement in socio-scientific One Health-related topics. The discussion delves into the significance of breaking down disciplinary silos and the crucial role of teacher education in promoting a holistic approach to education, emphasizing the intersectionality of One Health Education and Education for Sustainable Development. This article underpins the significance of collaborative efforts across multiple (scientific) disciplines and across secondary and tertiary education levels to reach a nexus. Moreover, it emphasizes the alignment of this approach with the 2030 Agenda, Education for Sustainable Development, and Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting the potential for collective action toward a more sustainable future.

The United Nations’ launch of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development in 2005 has focused international attention on the concept of education for sustainable development (ESD). This paper covers the emergence of ESD in relation to environmental education in South Africa. It critiques the core concept, sustainable development, and identifies a trend in ESD to de-value a knowledge base, particularly in relation to the natural environment. A sociology of knowledge perspective is used in conjunction with the writer’s own experiences in environmental education. A critical/social realist approach is proposed as a way past the impasse of traditional education versus the progressivism of ESD. A disciplinary knowledge base is seen as foundational in teacher education and schooling in order to develop environmentally literate and responsible citizens. Strategies to achieve this include the introduction of a few selected environmental issues across the curriculum, making use of selected teachers rather than all teachers, and including core environmental literacy courses in teacher education.

Education for sustainable development (ESD) and digital competence are important issues in education that are rarely discussed in relation to each other. This chapter presents the collaboration and exchange of experiences of science and technology teacher educators in South Africa and Sweden, on the relationship between ESD and digital competence. Both countries have recently implemented digital competence in the curriculum for compulsory school, and teacher education in both countries is facing changes in preparing future teachers to teach digital competence incorporated with sustainability issues. The chapter's aim is to analyse and compare the curricula of the two countries to establish similarities and differences that could inform the discussion on the extent the involved teacher education institutions prepare science and technology teachers for teaching digital competence with respect to ESD, and what more should be done. The findings show that the compulsory curricula have broad coverage of digital competencies, but their relation to sustainability issues is vague. Further, the involved teacher education institutions need to broaden the coverage of digital competencies and incorporate this with ESD where sustainability issues are made explicit in relation to the potential, the challenges and the consequences of digital technologies on human, society and the environment.

The paper explores the contributions of undergraduate university education to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’ goals and development outcomes, proposing a normative capability-based approach oriented to human development. The approach is aligned with a developmental model of the university and development policy in sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa, where the study is located. It draws empirically from a four and a half year mixed-methods research project conducted with low-income, mostly rural students at five historically diverse universities in South Africa. The paper presents a justification for using the capability approach, and outlines the rationale and methodology for synthesising a specific capability set generated by theorising and empirical data. A set of corresponding functioning indicators offers an expansive approach to understanding ‘learning outcomes’ in contrast to dominant neoliberal approaches that seek quantification and efficiency, overlooking what cannot be easily measured. An indicative sketch of university arrangements required to advance and evaluate each functioning for development outcomes is then outlined.

The rapid transformation of global education systems demands a fundamental shift in teacher education to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This review paper proposes a novel framework designed to empower educators with the skills and competencies necessary to effectively integrate SDGs into national curricula, fostering sustainable educational practices worldwide. Drawing upon an extensive analysis of literature, policy frameworks, and teacher training models, this study identifies key challenges and opportunities in embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within teacher education. The review highlights the pivotal role of educators as agents of change, equipping students with critical thinking, ethical responsibility, and global citizenship competencies to address pressing global issues such as climate change, social inequality, and economic disparity. It emphasizes the significance of interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches, digital and AI-driven learning tools, and systems-thinking methodologies in sustainability-focused teacher training. Furthermore, the paper critically examines existing gaps in current teacher education systems, advocating for curricular reforms that move beyond theoretical instruction to encompass practical, competency-based learning models that support SDG integration. By synthesizing insights from global case studies and policy implementations, this review provides actionable recommendations for policymakers, educational institutions, and stakeholders to develop inclusive, adaptable teacher education programs aligned with the SDG agenda. Ultimately, the proposed framework envisions a future where educators are not only equipped to teach sustainability but also empowered to cultivate a generation of students who actively contribute to a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable world.

Formal education for sustainable development (ESD) is in large part dependent on capacity-building and training of teachers as they are the individuals who must both deliver ESD at the classroom level as well as utilise their own knowledge, values and skills in support of sustainability. In this research, teacher educators within a higher education institution in Jamaica undertook a collaborative action research project to infuse ESD into their selected undergraduate and postgraduate courses during the spring semester of the 2018/19 academic year. Data were collected from approximately 140 students through the use of a pre- and post-infusion concept map, which sought to ascertain various facets including students’ level of awareness and perspectives on sustainable development and ESD. Preliminary findings indicate that students’ understanding of sustainable development broadened after the courses, with most students believing that sustainable development involves social, economic and environmental improvements that do not come at the expense of our natural resources. Additionally, students’ thoughts about ESD shifted, with students highlighting aspects of the interdisciplinary nature of ESD and ESD as involving equitable and inclusive education, as well as attitudinal and behavioural changes. The findings of this research are significant in highlighting how the intentional infusion of ESD into courses across various specialisations can enhance students’ knowledge and awareness of sustainable development and ESD.