A Collaboration Project on Education for Sustainability: Professional Development Needs of Turkish Preschool Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the preschool teacher’s professional development (PD) needs about education for sustainability (EfS) as the first stage of a PD project. The general knowledge of teachers on sustainable development (SD) and their experience in preparing and implementing EfS activities was investigated. The data were collected from 1126 participants via a survey to determine preschool teachers’ knowledge level about SD and their practice to develop a PD program. Most preschool teachers acknowledge the term SD and revealed limited SD knowledge. Organizing learning centers and using outdoor learning environments on EfS were seen as challenging tasks for them. Few of them find themselves competent in family participation efforts for SD.

Keywords

• Early childhood education
• sustainable development
• education for sustainability
• professional development
• , preschool teachers

Sürdürülebilirlik İçin Eğitim Üzerine Bir İşbirliği Projesi: Türkiye’de Okul Öncesi Öğretmenlerinin Mesleki Gelişim İhtiyaçları

Öz

Bu çalışma, mesleki gelişim (MG) projesinin birinci aşaması olarak, okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin sürdürülebilirlik için eğitim (SE) ile ilgili MG ihtiyaçlarını incelemektedir. Bu doğrultuda öğretmenlerin sürdürülebilir gelişme (SG) hakkındaki genel bilgileri ile sürdürülebilirlik için eğitim etkinliklerini hazırlama ve uygulama konusundaki deneyimleri araştırılmıştır. Öğretmenlerinin MG ihtiyaçlarını araştırmak için 1126 katılımcıdan bir anket aracılığı ile veri toplanmıştır. Bulgular, okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin çoğunun sürdürülebilirlik terimi hakkında sınırlı bilgiye sahip olduğunu göstermiştir. Ayrıca, öğrenme merkezlerinin bu amaçla düzenlenmesi ve açık havada öğrenme ortamlarının kullanılması katılımcılar tarafından zorlu görevler olarak görülmüştür. Katılımcıların küçük bir kısmı sürdürülebilirlik için aile katılımı çalışmalarında kendilerini yeterli bulmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Okul öncesi eğitim
• sürdürülebilir gelişim
• sürdürülebilirlik için eğitim
• mesleki gelişim
• okul öncesi öğretmenleri.

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