Action Research for Education for Sustainable Development in Teacher Education: Research and Learning Environment at Daugavpils University

Abstract

Although numerous attempts have been made to date to rise to the challenge of overcoming the crisis of sustainability (Orr, 1992), we are still grappling with this complex and demanding task. Therefore, it becomes acutely necessary to review best current initiatives of implementing sustainability oriented educational endeavours, not least in the context of higher education, in order to shed some light on the specifics of approaches and pathways pursued by separate individuals or groups, which might serve to inform practices in similar contexts. Recent reports indicate that the need to encourage the discussion and dissemination of good practices in the European Higher Education Area is recognised on the level of the European Commission (Tauch, 2011). We believe these discussions should be placed in the broader context within which higher education institutions of today are functioning.

Appendix 1

Research and learning environment for sustainability oriented teacher education as depicted in the publications of the Faculty’s staff: a summary

Authors of the study	Topic	Theoretical underpinnings	Methodological peculiarities	Participants	Major findings and conclusions	Emergent feature of research and learning environment for sustainability oriented teacher education
Salīte (2002)	Approaches to defining the aims and principles of ESD	Thomas Berry’s insights concerning anthropocentrism and ecocentrism	Qualitative analysis of data from cooperative assignments performed by 49 groups in the study course Environmental Pedagogy	259 in-service and pre-service teachers enrolled in preschool and primary school teacher training programmes at Daugavpils University (DU)	Teachers use ecocentrism as a background for defining the aim of education if the aim is comprehended in the context of person’s or humanity’s spiritual development Educational interests which extend beyond those of a human being as a species are grounded in the joining of anthropocentrism and ecocentrism Teachers’ interpretations of ESD are grounded in different combinations of antrhropocentrism and ecocentrism	Cooperative exploration of anthropocentric and ecocentric underpinnings of the aims of ESD
Salīte (2006)	Aims and features of education important for the future	Future oriented behaviour, which is grounded in hope, as an inherently human trait acquired in the course of evolution	Quantitative and qualitative analysis of data from teachers’ involvement in reflective and constructive activities individually and in small groups or pairs	38 in-service teachers undertaking master studies in pedagogy at DU	Teachers believe education should nurture values, promote development of learners’ personality and guide them towards assuming sustainability oriented attitudes	Reflexive insights into the spiritual dimension of education through focusing on the aims of sustainability oriented education for the present and for the future
Salīte and Pipere (2006)	Interrelations between aspects or dimensions of SD from the perspective of in-service teachers	Venn’s diagram framework capturing the essence of SD	Building on life experiences to seek associations on maintenance and development of sustainability Dialogical evaluation of the identified items Use of Venn’s diagram to select features typical for single and integrated aspects of sustainability Qualitative and quantitative data analysis	144 in-service preschool and primary school teachers undertaking their higher professional studies at DU	In teachers’ conception of sustainable development, human primary survival needs and lifeworld needs are unbalanced with sustainability oriented activities and individual attitudes - teachers are more preoccupied with their survival needs rather than sustainability related activities and attitudes Need to improve teachers’ quality of life so as to direct their energies in the vein of enhancing sustainability in education	Teachers’ experience-based reflection and critical discourse on the multi-dimensional concept of sustainable development
Salīte (2008)	Sustainable future of Latvia as perceived by pre-service teachers	4-dimensional (environment-tal, social, economical, cultural) frame of reference for viewing sustainability	Reflective construction of vision for a sustainable future of the country	114 first-year students enrolled in preschool and primary school teacher education programmes at DU	Pre-service teachers’ future visions exhibit hopes for transformation of social and cultural relationships Pre-service teachers set immediate objectives for reorientation of education at all levels towards sustainability	ctive construction of Refle a vision for a sustainable future on the grounds of a four dimensional frame of reference for viewing sustainability
Salīte and Klepere (2003)	Biotism as a ground for enhancing reflection and reorientation of teacher’s professional thinking towards ESD	Concept of biotic attitude which is perceived as caring interaction between different systems Mezirow’s insights about frames of reference	Critical and constructive learning from each other, reflection on and critical evaluation of experiences, to define the aims of teacher’s professional activity (constructing graphic attitude profiles, their transformation into verbal form and critical evaluation on the grounds of individual and professional experience)	In-service teachers undertaking their higher professional studies at DU	Biotism and abiotism emerge as multicoloured nuances that characterise teacher’s frames of reference Teacher’s propositions for the aims of ESD underscore recognition and promotion of feelings, empathy and biotic attitude	Critical reflection on biotic and abiotic attitudes in teachers’ frames of reference
Salīte, Mičule, Kravale, Iliško and Stakle (2007)	Sustainability in teacher education	Mezirow’s transformative learning theory and insights about frames of reference	Reflective activities where students (1) identify the contents of sustainability/ unsustainability and evaluate environmental, social and economic issues, (2) write essays about the issues of sustainability, (3) model the contents of sustainability in group discussions	Researchers from the Faculty Students who acquired or had previously acquired study courses Environmental Pedagogy and Education for Sustainable Development	Action research into sustainability related issues, embedded into the process of study course acquisition, can be used as environment for the development of students’ research skills (a) by creating a space where future teachers can reflect on their experiences and identify their individual frames of reference in research activity, (b) by encouraging the reorientation of these frames of reference towards sustainability, and (c) by providing opportunities for students to articulate their views on sustainability related issues.	Creating spaces for students to explore their individual frames of reference through reflection on lived experiences and seeking personal meaning in sustainability related concepts
Gedžūne, Gedžūne, Salīte and Iliško (2011)	Pre-service teachers’ frames of reference for practising various ways of interaction with nature	Mezirow’s concept of a frame of reference Metaphorical conception of educational action research as a learning journey	Qualitative and quantitative analysis of data from cooperative inquiry into students’ experiences of using various ways of interaction with nature to uncover future teachers’ underlying frames of reference	36 first-year students of pre-school and primary school teacher education programmes implemented at the Faculty	Becoming aware of one’s assumptions and underlying frames of reference through educational action research is the first step towards transforming pre-service teachers’ personal and professional frames of reference towards inclusion in the broader community of life on Earth. The latter, in time, will enable future teachers to help their pupils become responsible members of an inclusive and sustainable world	Educational action research journey for exploration of pre-service teachers’ frames of reference and their orientation to inclusion or exclusion
Gedžūne and Gedžūne (2011a)	Pre-service teachers’ frames of reference for understanding ecological consciousness	Works of deep ecologists and insights derived from Dewey’s philosophy by proponents anthropological theory	Qualitative content analysis of student’s critical reflections on the concept of ecological consciousness in relation to the issues enclosed in the document “A manifesto for Earth”	39 first-year students of pre-school and primary school teacher education programmes implemented at the Faculty	Conceptual framework of 3 frames of reference that pre-service teachers use for expressing their views on the issue of ecological consciousness and the ideas imbedded in the Manifesto: (1) inclusion-oriented frame of reference (2) exclusion-determining frame of reference (3) solution-oriented frame of reference Teacher education should assist students in reflecting about their ecological consciousness and thus lead to exploration and, ultimately, transformation of their frames of reference towards inclusion since teachers are major agents of change in implementing education for a more sustainable, inclusive and ecocentric world	Exploration and development of pre-service teachers’ ecological consciousness for transforming their frames of reference towards inclusion
Gedžūne and Gedžūne (2011b)	Pre-service teachers’ perspectives on the content of ecological attitude and frames of reference for viewing this phenomenon	Mezirow’s transformative learning theory and concept of a frame of reference	Qualitative content analysis of student’s critical experience-based reflections on the concept of ecological attitude in pairs or small groups	37 first-year students of pre-school and primary school teacher education programmes implemented at the Faculty	Pre-service teachers use complex frames of reference with behavioural, cognitive, axiological and affective dimensions to view ecological attitude, though the behavioural and axiological dimensions are found to be more pronounced than others Teacher education should specifically target affective and cognitive dimensions of students’ frames of reference, focusing on beliefs and emotions embedded in their experience, to foster a more holistic ecological attitude	Critical reflection on lived experience to uncover pre-service teachers’ frames of reference for understanding ecological attitude
Salīte, Gedžūne and Gedžūne (2009)	Humans’ attitude towards own and other species from the perspective of	Concepts of inclusion and exclusion as characteristics of relationships between person and environment Aristotelian concept of phronesis	Reflective evaluation of experiences regarding attitude towards own and other species (a) study of the content of experiences and its description in 1 word and 1 sentence, (b) evaluation of identified experiences in the context of inclusion and exclusion oriented frames of reference, (c) dialogue among researchers and participants to seek phronesis in the context of learning	38 first-year students enrolled in pre-school and primary school teacher education programmes at DU	Pre-service teachers perceive relationships among humans, as well as between humans and other species as mainly being exclusion oriented Conscious efforts to open communicative space at the initial stage of research permit to successfully engage participants in reflection on their experiences and seeking the seeds of phronetic wisdom for sustainability therein	Phronetically oriented educational action research with a focus on humans’ attitudes towards own and other species as a space for seeking wisdom of insight for sustainability
Gedžūne, Gedžūne, Skrinda and Mičule (2011)	Pre-service teachers’ views on ecological identity	Insights derived from Mezirow’s transformative learning theory	Gradual opening of communicative space to engage pre-service teachers in creation of reflective discourse of their experiences of interaction with the social and natural world to reveal the features of individual and collective ecological identity most characteristic of the students and their community	31 first-year students enrolled in pre-school and primary school teacher education programmes at DU	Ecological identity as perceived by the research participants has four dimensions (cognitive, affective, axiological and conative) and an orientation towards inclusion or apprehended belonging to the life community and its support system Participation in educational action research involves future teachers in generating ecological wisdom of insight for sustainability - a wisdom that they need in order to help their pupils become responsible members of the community of life and actors of change for a sustainable future	Opening of communicative space to enhance creation of critical discourse on ecological identity as a means to encourage seeking wisdom of insight for inclusion and sustainability
Gedžūne and Gedžūne (2010a)	Pre-service teachers’ perspectives on social exclusion in the context of educational unsustainability	Explanations of the phenomenon of social exclusion advanced by various scholars	Thematic workshops in the study course Education for Sustainable Development where students (1) explore the broader context of the problem (2) evaluate personal experiences of social exclusion in educational settings (3) formulate a generalised explanation of the phenomenon and (4) seek problem solutions in the form of personal guidelines for their future pedagogic work	25 first-year students enrolled in pre-school and primary school teacher education programmes at DU	It is important to address the issue of social exclusion in teacher education programmes at university level because of the key role that teachers play in reducing social exclusion in educational contexts by operating on the grounds of an inclusive values orientation	Reflexive exploration of social exclusion as manifestation of unsustainability in educational setting
Gedžūne and Gedžūne (2010b)	Features of inclusion in educational context	Dewey’s views on experience and its relation to humaneness Holistic perspective which entails awareness of deep connections with natural and social worlds	Qualitative content analysis of students’ experience-based individual and group reflections on the issue of inclusion within a semester-long educational action research conducted while implementing the study course Environmental Pedagogy	38 first-year students of pre-school and primary school teacher education programmes implemented at the Faculty	Diversity, meaningful and willing participation, mutual interconnectedness and a sense of belonging are the main features of inclusion which, in theoretical literature, are chiefly explored in the social context while research participants tend to supplement the latter with a broader ecological context	Experience and reflection based sense-making of the concept of inclusion perceived as a precondition for sustainable development of the planet