Educatie voor duurzame ontwikkeling bij aardrijkskunde & biologie in het voortgezet onderwijs

Abstract

This study is about the knowledge of student teachers about Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in secondary schools in the Netherlands. Student teachers must know about the concepts, competences and didactics concerning sustainability. The research has shown that sustainability or sustainable development has no unambiguous definition. Most literature states that an accurate definition of sustainability consists of three components, namely a social, economic and natural (ecological / biological) component. There are also no key issues which have to be educated to students in secondary school. There is still discussion about these main issues. Most scientists agree that issues about sustainability should consider the three previously mentioned components. There is also discussion about the key competences and didactics considering ESD. Teachers should have enough knowledge about their own subject but they must also be able to see the cross curricular dimension of sustainability issues. They should also think in solutions for the (near) future, not only in problems. The conclusion of this research is that geographical en biological student teachers are thematically well prepared to teach about ESD. There is definitely some notion about the main issues concerning sustainability. However, geographical and biological student teachers should know more about the main didactical competences a teacher should have. Not all of the main didactical competences are known to these students.