Project team members Nena Rončević and Nena Vukelić are guest editors of the joint Special Issue “Education for Sustainable Development and Teaching: Challenges, Practice and Research“of the journals Education Sciences and the journal Sustainability.
This special issue is now open for submission until 30 June 2021. More information about the special issue down below.
Special Issue Information
SDG 2030 includes 17 global goals that are not achievable without education for sustainable development (ESD). Modern approaches to ESD include interdisciplinary sciences, transformational learning, and the active role of students.
The implementation of ESD in systems at all levels of education depends on a number of factors, most notably the role of teachers. The final report of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, titled “Shaping the Future We Want”, explicitly emphasizes that when it comes to the continuous professional development of preschool and primary school teachers and overall educators, it is necessary to more significantly work on this aspect of education and develop it further. Therefore, it is necessary to review the existing models of education and professional development of educators . Educators, namely teachers, are the most important components between students and ESD, and their role is to foster connections with nature, empathy, and positive attitudes about the environment, which are values, attitudes, and behaviors that will be the foundation for more sustainable lifestyles and thus will contribute to SDG 2030.
This Special Issue of Education Sciences attempts to answer significant questions encompassing a number of factors that are an integral part of ESD-focused practice and that influence initial teacher education and professional development. These include the following:
- What are the preconditions for the successful implementation of ESD in education systems at all levels?
- What do they depend on, or what factors? How can a more significant connection of children/pupils/students with nature be encouraged, and thus the development of knowledge, values, attitudes, and behaviors meeting the SDG 2030?
- What are the characteristics of a modern teacher who implements ESD?
- What are his/her personality traits, values, abilities, and competencies?
How can we improve teacher education and lifelong professional development for ESD? What are some examples of good practice and research of modern ESD in kindergartens, schools, and universities?
How can digital technology-based education systems respond to these challenges in the context of the “pandemic experiences” of ESD implementation? What are these new pedagogies and new ways of teaching and learning in ESD during the time of COVID-19?
Such a broad goal of this issue of Education Sciences provides an opportunity to view and analyze the problems of modern ESD and professional development of educators in facing the challenges of SDG 2030, but also the challenges of the current era, which are influenced by digital technologies and the global pandemic of COVID-19.
We invite all interested scientists, practitioners, researchers, and stakeholders who are considering and researching these topics to contribute to the actualization of these complex and significant issues in a world that is undoubtedly changing and seeking new approaches to dealing with ESD.