Abstract

The pursuit of sustainable development for individuals, societies, and nations is important for the global community given its emphasis on pursuing a harmonious balance between societal, economic, and environmental imperatives. With respect to formal education, teachers are critical agents in delivering sustainable development content, and facilitating skills and action competencies to achieve such goals. Consequently, understanding teachers’ perspectives of sustainable development is necessary. This research utilised a survey design to gather views from 296 teachers from 12 high schools in rural and urban areas of Jamaica. The data revealed most teachers’ views exhibited systems thinking perspectives. Additionally, the research found that, to a lesser extent, teachers associated citizen participation with sustainable development. These findings hold importance for the reorientation of teacher education as part of Education for Sustainable Development to ensure that critical issues surrounding sustainable development, such as the development of systems thinking and citizen participation, are emphasised.

摘要

追求个人、社会和国家的可持续发展对于全球社会来说非常重要，因为它强调在社会、经济和环境要求之间寻求和谐平衡。在正规教育方面，教师是提供可持续发展内容、促进技能和行动能力以实现这些目标的关键推动者。因此，有必要了解教师对可持续发展的看法。本研究采用调查设计收集来自牙买加农村和城市地区 12 所高中的 296 名教师的意见。数据显示，大多数教师的观点都表现出系统思维的观点。此外，研究发现，在较小程度上，教师将公民参与与可持续发展联系起来。