In this session, we will present our work with developing one of our courses in upper secondary biology teacher education to implement action-oriented teaching for sustainability.
The course focuses on biodiversity loss as a major sustainability issue, with a specific focus on insect decline. The course development is part of the “Learning and Living with Insects”-project that brings together various stakeholders within society. The course design builds on the concept of action competence, which goes beyond theoretical knowledge and considers aspects of action-oriented knowledge, confidence and willingness to act. Therefore, action oriented teaching methods form the baseline for the student teachers’ course work.
During this session, we will present the course and our experiences from the first round of implementation. The presentation is based on group interviews with students who recently completed the course. Preliminary findings suggest that while students find action-oriented teaching highly rewarding, they find it challenging to break present school culture traditions as new teacher, and see practical constraints in implementing new teaching methods that meet the current sustainability problems.
During our presentation, we will discuss implications for the forthcoming round of the course and highlight general transferable findings for education about sustainability at KAU.
