Symposium: Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education: Canadian Perspectives

Abstract

This symposium examines Canadian perspectives on environmental and sustainability education in teacher education (ESE-TE) through the newly published Springer book volume titled, Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education: Canadian Perspectives (2019). The book’s contributors, from diverse faculties of education across Canada, employed a range of research methods in exploring various aspects of Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education (ESE-TE). The book includes the results of empirical and non-empirical studies, including case studies, mixed methods studies, self-study and narrative inquiry, as well as theoretical, conceptual and philosophical inquiries on ESE-TE. The book volume concludes that ESE-TE in Canada depends on the determined, persevering and passionate efforts of faculty members working in varied contexts while exhibiting a fair degree of autonomy. While provincial policy directives for ESE-TE are the exception rather than the norm, the degree of autonomy that post-secondary instructors enjoy could be further supported and strengthened by consistent policy directives that help further local curriculum development by faculty members representing different curricular areas. Additional empirical research is needed to identify specific factors—including a) approaches employed in Canadian ESE-TE programs, b) theoretical frameworks informing such approaches, c) curricular emphases and outcomes implemented in these programs, and d) experiences of ESE-TE students, instructors, administrators and policy-makers—that facilitate or hinder the enhancement of ESE-TE.