Professional Development in Environmental and Sustainability Education: Voices, Practices and Reflections of Science Teachers

Abstract

A specialised multi-pronged approach is necessary in order for environmental and sustainability content knowledge to be  integrated into the Science curriculum. This underscores the need for Science teachers to be innovative in their teaching, and to be supported through professional development. This study aims to explore how professional development at a tertiary institution can be used to support practising Science teachers in curriculum innovation when they teach environmental and sustainability education in the new Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) curriculum. A qualitative approach is adopted in this  interpretivist study. The sample comprises ten purposefully selected Science teachers who registered for a Bachelor of Education Honours programme. Drawing on constructs from the Zone of Feasible Innovation (ZFI), which is related to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), practising Science teachers’ engagement in curriculum innovation in environmental and sustainability education is analysed. Data were generated using reflective journals, lesson plans, and interviews. The findings   suggest that teachers experience challenges related to ‘the how’ and ‘the what’ of implementation of environmental education  concepts enshrined in the CAPS document. Insights into teacher agency (in terms of content knowledge, teaching strategies and assessment) which catalysed teacher transformation, are presented. The implications of the findings will be significant for education department officials involved in teacher professional development, teacher education institutions, and school teachers themselves.

Keywords: Curriculum innovation, environmental and sustainability education, professional development.