Embedding sustainability in higher engineering education through teacher professional development.
Project introduction and background information
Research goal: This project investigates institutional support for teacher professional development and teacher perspectives, roles and developmental needs to enable the transformation of education systems that accommodate and support sustainability across higher engineering education (HEE). The project focuses on the upscaling and embedding of sustainability in HEE through teacher professional development in an evidence informed way.
Societal relevance: Higher education institutions (HEI) need to become a major force in helping realize the United Nationsâ Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2015). Multiple researchers have concluded that better educated staff is a means to overcome the barriers of implementing sustainability in HEI (Karvinen, 2024). This study will provide insights on improving teacher professional development to embed sustainability in HEE at an institutional and individual level.
Objective and expected outcomes
Project set up: The project will be divided into three qualitative studies: The first study is on an institutional level. A maturity study (Sterling, 2004) with respect to teacher professional development on embedding sustainability in HEE will be conducted. Policy documentation and complementary interviews will be the data sources for this study. The second study will be on an individual level. A study addressing professional agency (Eteläpelto et al., 2013) by teachers with respect to embedding sustainability in their education will be conducted. Semi-structured interviews with teachers will provide data for the thematic analysis. The third study will build on the outcomes of the first two studies to define design principles for ecologies of learning (Wals, 2019) for embedding sustainability in education.
Results and learnings
The project will raise awareness of the needs for HEE teacher professional development. The project aims to provide evidence to inform and guide professional development policy, strategies and initiatives in the participating institutions of the 4TU.CEE alliance. It aims to provide empirical research on the use of maturity models to embed sustainability in HEE institutions. Furthermore, it aims to provide a typification of professional agency by teachers and different teacher professional development needs. Finally, the research aims to offer models and design principles for ecologies of learning. This can subsequently form the basis for policy formulation that can be used by other similar institutions providing far-reach impact in HEI.