Education for Sustainability (EfS) is crucial for changes in environmental behaviour (EB), and little is known about the EB of primary school teachers tasked with teaching EfS. This study sought to better understand the EB of pre-service primary science teachers. EB was qualitatively evaluated, characterising teachers’ personal environmental activism and commitment to implement EfS among pupils and their families. Data was collected via two open questionnaires based on the Johari Window (JW) and the Authentic Inner Compass (AIC) models. Both questionnaires referred to EB twice: after exposure to the JW model and via statements from the AIC model, and again after 3 months. Findings show that the JW can reveal EB, while the AIC allowed participants to enrich their descriptions of their values, needs and commitment to EB. All participants agreed it was their duty to address EfS in class, but less than half mentioned this when describing actual behaviour. This study enables in-depth understanding of participants’ EB, including their actions, barriers and concerns, which might precede planning programmes on EfS implementation. As tomorrow educators, PSTs should be the focus of such programmes, which should be part of teacher education curricula.

Using drawings and accompanying written and oral explanations by third- and sixth-grade students, this phenomenological study is an examination of the children’s perception of the ideal environmental school. Analysis of the 128 features in the drawing yielded four categories: (1) physical – with natural areas and outdoor learning, (2) cognitive – core subjects and environmental ones, (3) emotional – the students’ feelings and the spaces for releasing stress and energy and (4) educational – environmental education (EE) includes a variety of pedagogies, features of nature and environmental solutions. While the drawings and explanations presented the school as the children know it, without boundary-breaking imagination and creativity, they also showed a desire for a positive school atmosphere, defined as essential to holistic EE and to leading environmental change. The positive atmosphere, nature and the environmental spaces can be the foundation of developing EE that is not fear based, which often generates helplessness and prevents action. The recommendations emphasise the need to enhance positive thinking and not to focus only on fear tactics as a means to enhance holistic EE and protect the environment.

A framework to critically consider the ecological sustainability messaging in children’s literature is presented to authors, illustrators and editors, as well as teachers, parents and students/children. We have applied this framework to three books from the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) 2015 Notables list using critical discourse analysis (CDA). Findings suggest that there are themes and images in these award-winning texts that do not support ecological sustainability and we argue that children’s literature should be judged with criteria including ecological sustainability. Our hope is that ecological sustainability principles and practices lead to changes in social discourse through intergenerational storytelling.

This study of Naessian ecocentrism and anthropocentrism in three environment club coordinators/science teachers, their colleagues and some parents at three secondary schools uses deep ecology and relational fields as primary frameworks for open-ended interviews. The findings reveal new insights into the affective, cognitive and behavioural characteristics of coordinators who enhance environmental education in their schools. The work presents preliminary data on leadership among sustainability coordinators who run environment clubs. It fills a gap in the literature by showing that in addition to environmental educators requiring knowledge and attitudes regarding sustainability practices, affective qualities like connectedness and love for the environment may be important to their success as sustainability exemplars. Teachers emerge as sustainability exemplars in a relational field to implement sustainability across the secondary curriculum, galvanise students, teachers and parents to connect to the Earth, and help students, teachers and parents move away from anthropocentrism. Findings suggest that if schools commit resources and time to the coordinator’s role, students experience significant benefits by becoming closer to the Earth and more empowered to act for the environment in ways consistent with deep ecology.

This research was commissioned by the (then) Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) to provide recommendations on how to best support Western Australian (WA) secondary schools to engage in education for sustainability (EfS). The research aims were to identify barriers and benefits to being involved in EfS, the support systems required for schools to participate in EfS at secondary school level, and the difficulties that secondary schools experience when implementing EfS programs. A variety of research methods were utilised: semi-structured interviews with non-teaching stakeholders; online questionnaires for teachers, school administrators and students; focus groups and semi-structured interviews with teachers and school administrators; and an expert panel workshop to discuss data and recommendations prior to completion of a final report. Data were collected from 29 schools, 45 teachers and school administrators, 186 students, and various EfS external providers and stakeholders across metropolitan and regional WA. This article focuses on three issues identified in the data that we consider important and under-represented in discourses of EfS in Australia: lack of understanding about what EfS means among educators; lack of meaningful student involvement in EfS in secondary schools; and differing quality in EfS programs offered by external providers. We conclude this article by offering ways to improve EfS in WA secondary schools.

This article presents findings from a study that evaluated the impact of an Australian sustainability initiative, with a view to unravelling the realities of teachers’ implementation approaches. The paper outlines a study that reviews a government initiative in early years, primary and secondary educational settings that uses the Data Collection, Storage and Visualisations System (DCSVS) aimed at enhancing sustainability awareness and embedding sustainability as part of everyday practice in schools and early childhood services. It was also intended to offer school leaders, teachers and students avenues to engage with their consumption of natural resources. This in turn was anticipated to increase awareness about conservation, with the long-term aim to engage with the broader themes of sustainability. This article focuses on the role of teachers’ identities in enacting these policy initiatives. It highlights teachers’ enactment of the policies, the crucial role of school leaders in the process, as well as the deeper connections between curriculum and pedagogy.

Sustainability is a Cross-Curriculum Priority (SCCP) in the Australian Curriculum and is intended to be integrated into teaching and learning where deemed appropriate by teachers. This article explores teachers’ knowledge, understanding, and beliefs about curriculum priorities and the situational context of teaching and learning in Queensland schools. In this article we discuss the ways in which teachers describe their relationship with sustainability education and the SCCP. Data were collected from interviews with 26 Queensland teachers, teaching across all year levels from early childhood to Year 12, as part of two different PhD research projects. Queensland teachers participating in both studies indicated strong support for the inclusion of sustainability within formal curriculum; however, this strong support did not translate into practice in most cases. As a result of curriculum and policy pressures, teachers indicated that despite their belief that Education for Sustainability (EfS) is important, few believe they have the time or support for teaching EfS. The current educational context teachers have described offers limited opportunity for teachers to integrate sustainability in ways that are meaningful and relevant to their students. The SCCP did not influence planning or teaching decisions, and many teachers were unaware of its existence. Data from both studies question the adequacy of current educational policy and curriculum documents for supporting teachers to engage with sustainability education.

Within higher education there is widespread support for developing students’ interdisciplinary skills. Despite this, evidence for, and practice of, cross-faculty interdisciplinary sustainability learning remains in its infancy. Recent articles have shown that Australia is no exception. This article provides a case study of interdisciplinary learning and teaching within a cross-faculty Education for Sustainability (EfS) undergraduate subject involving science, arts, business, and health students at an Australian university. A description of the subject and its theoretical context provides a platform for presenting the findings of a mixed method enquiry into how pedagogy supports interdisciplinary sustainability learning. The sequential explanatory research design involved a post-subject quantitative survey analysed using SPSS, augmented by qualitative student journal data (n = 67) using phenomenological analysis within NVivo. The study found that students, regardless of discipline background, valued the processes and pedagogy used to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and awareness. The experience left students feeling more skilled and confident of their ability to contribute to future interdisciplinary sustainability collaboration. This case study, replete with a subject description, theoretical context for an innovative pedagogical approach and study results, provides higher education professionals with a template for deliberative curriculum and pedagogy that promote interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and confidence that may contribute to transformative learning that supports EfS goals. The article presents a strong case for future EfS curriculum frameworks and strategic education policy to include deliberative interdisciplinary pedagogy. It also challenges higher education institutions to create flexible systems that facilitate cross-faculty interdisciplinary learning that is necessary for preparing students for the future.

This article draws on research data from a state-wide case study, intertwined with three key moments that occurred in late 2014, to critically engage with the hopes and prospects of the Sustainability Cross-Curriculum Priority (CCP) in Australian schools. These key moments — the IPCC 5th Assessment Synthesis Report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014), the conclusion of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, 2005–2014 (UNDESD), and the release of the Australian Government's Review of the Australian Curriculum: Final Report (Donnelly & Wiltshire, 2014) — illuminate both the imperative of societal change towards sustainability and the difficulty associated with integrating sustainability learning into Australian schools. The research findings presented in this article suggest that while there is reasonable support for the Sustainability CCP in some Tasmanian schools, there are many concerns that may be preventing effective integration of sustainability into curriculum. Most notably, there is a limited level of teacher understanding or capability in relation to the Sustainability CCP, which is probably compounded by a distinct lack of professional learning and development. As the spotlight is increasingly focused on the CCPs, we argue for structural change to the curriculum, alongside increased support for schools and teachers, in order to see sustainability learning effectively weaved into Australian schooling.

In a study undertaken in Queensland, Australia, analysis of a survey that included both qualitative and quantitative questions revealed that, like their Japanese counterparts, early childhood teachers do not have well-developed ideas and practices in education for sustainability (EfS). Instead, they mainly practise traditional nature-based activities, such as gardening or playing outdoors, and teaching about resource conservation through books, posters or fact sheets. Teachers’ understandings of nature education, environmental education, and education for sustainability seem to influence their educational practices. Deeper understandings about sustainability are necessary to extend beyond such traditional practices. Even though national curriculum frameworks and guidelines point to the importance of sustainability within early childhood curriculum, these appear to be insufficient in strengthening early childhood teachers’ ideas of sustainability and how to practise it effectively. We suggest that it would be beneficial for early childhood teachers, both preservice and inservice, to have professional development opportunities that build deeper understandings of sustainability and its implementation in their settings.

This article reports on the fourth stage of an evolving study to develop a systems model for embedding education for sustainability (EfS) into preservice teacher education. The fourth stage trialled the extension of the model to a comprehensive state-wide systems approach involving representatives from all eight Queensland teacher education institutions and other key policy agencies and professional associations. Support for trialling the model included regular meetings among the participating representatives and an implementation guide. This article describes the first three stages of developing and trialling the model before presenting the case study and action research methods employed, four key lessons learned from the project, and the implications of the major outcomes for teacher education policies and practices. The Queensland-wide, multi-site case study revealed processes and strategies that can enable institutional change agents to engage productively in building capacity for embedding EfS at the individual, institutional, and state levels in preservice teacher education. Collectively, the project components provide a system-wide framework that offers strategies, examples, insights, and resources that can serve as a model for other states and/or territories wishing to implement EfS in a systematic and coherent fashion.

This article proposes that Education for Sustainability (EfS), with its focus on transformative and learner-centred approaches, and higher order thinking skills, enriches teaching and learning in Vocational Education and Training (VET), with implications for quality pedagogy more generally. EfS pedagogy has the potential to inform a new discourse on VET's role in citizenship and responsibility for the future, characterised by some as a shift from productivism to ecologism, and described by UNESCO/ILO as critical thinking towards sustainable development. After reviewing the literature on quality pedagogy in VET, as well as on EfS itself, this article evaluates the impact and effectiveness of a nationwide professional development program to upskill VET practitioners in EfS pedagogy. Early findings indicate personal transformations for participants both as individuals and VET professionals, with high levels of teaching practice enhancement generally through uptake of EfS principles and practice. Based on our findings, we draw conclusions and make recommendations for further research.

The impact of an Education for Sustainability (EfS) course for science and technology junior high school teachers on the intentional and actual environmental behaviour of participants was studied by researching the EfS implementation of 13 science and technology teachers within their family, community, and work environment. The research was qualitative in nature, where science and technology teachers’ insights on the EfS course were determined by means of an open-ended questionnaire and intensive interviews. Results indicated that the course clearly influenced the vast majority of the participants, who claimed that their environmental awareness had increased and they were capable of acting responsibly. All participants acted in favour of the environment among family, community, and at work. Yet, 2 years later, implementation seemed to be undermined by various internal and external barriers, such as the unavailability of convenient resources, or resistance on the part of family. The study suggests that course designers must include reference to potential difficulties and barriers in order to circumvent future obstacles. In addition, the implementation of post-course support would encourage overcoming the gap between willingness to act and actual practice.

The Council of the City of Sydney – like many other councils around Australia – has embarked on a whole-of-council approach to establishing sustainable behaviours amongst its residents. In developing its Residential Environmental Action Plan - designed to motivate and bring about real change in resident choices and behaviours - the City sought to base its planning on a significant knowledge base.

It undertook a project which asked two fundamental questions: What does the literature say about behaviour change in the community? and What do the residents of the City of Sydney local government area say about the best ways to influence community behaviour? A review of behaviour change models and the conduct of focus groups and other informant interviews across the key demographics of the City of Sydney local government area, yielded two sets of criteria for behaviour change programs. Not surprisingly, both sets were similar and for ease of use they were merged into one shorter set of twelve criteria. These are useful in informing the design of programs or assessing whether existing programs are capable of affecting behaviour. The key claim in this paper is the importance of understanding both the theory and the local community at the design phase of any program. Good planning of behaviour change programs enables graceful interventions, the magic of co-learning and the power of adaptation.

The authors acknowledge the work and support of the City of Sydney in undertaking this project.

As institutions of education and learning, the higher education sector has a significant role to play in implementing the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014). Some institutions have already acknowledged, and are shaping, their roles in working towards sustainability through appropriate development and implementation of institutional policy and practices, including the signing of international agreements related to sustainability. Such institutions are specifically linking learning to sustainable development. This study was initiated as a result of our interests to i) identify the current commitment to education for sustainability and ii) learn from the institutional lived experiences about how education for sustainability may be realised, within the Australian university context. This is a preliminary investigation to provide baseline insights into how education for sustainability with a focus on curriculum innovation is being implemented within the Australian university landscape. This investigation is informing our further research to understand institutional change of education for sustainability in universities.

Increasing attention is being given to the inclusion of Education for Sustainability in pre-service teacher education. However, there is little research to explain why and how early-career teachers include Education for Sustainability in their work, or how teacher education providers can encourage and support them to do this. Through analysis of two interviews this paper examines the way in which a pre-service primary school teacher interprets her role in Education for Sustainability. Her personal reflections on the manner in which her life experiences, including her own schooling, have influenced her intentions as teacher are explored. Her university teacher education program in Education for Sustainability and her teaching internship experience also appear to have influenced her teaching goals. The profile presented in this paper outlines her intentions and sense of identity as teacher and how that has developed and is expressed. Conclusions centre on the relevance of her reflections for education for sustainability in pre-service teacher education. In particular, her example demonstrates how the development of pedagogical content knowledge relevant to Education for Sustainability during the pre-service years can play an integral part in an individual's decision-making when teaching.

This paper presents the findings of the first stage of research on the impact of the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI) at an independent primary school in Western Australia. A longitudinal (20 year) case study is being conducted, utilising data related to Education for Sustainability (EfS) at the school from 1990-2009. 2005 was a critical year for the school because it marked the beginning of participation in the Sustainable Schools Initiative pilot in Western Australia (AuSSI-WA). The research investigates elements of EfS in operation at the school pre- and post- AuSSI-WA, as well as student and teacher outcomes after involvement in the Initiative. An analysis of the initial data suggests that participation in AuSSI-WA enabled the school to engage with a growing commitment to EfS in the context of a whole - school approach.

Teacher education is widely recognised as a key strategy that is yet to be effectively utilised to embed environmental education and/or education for sustainability in schools. This paper reports on a research study that examined a range of pre-service teacher education initiatives, both in Australia and internationally, that were seeking to reorient teacher education towards environmental sustainability. This paper reports on six factors utilised across the initiatives that were critical to their success. These were (1) the nature and length of funding arrangements; (2) the range and quality of partnerships and networks; (3) the curriculum focus and the teaching and learning processes used; (4) the nature of, and incentives for, participant engagement; (5) the level at which a change was being sought; and (6) the use of evaluation as a tool for learning and ongoing improvement. This paper discusses why and how each of these six factors proved critical and explores the implications for initiatives seeking to reorient teacher education towards environmental sustainability.