School Geography and Sustainability Education in Romania – Teachers’ Views
Abstract
[EN] As a signatory of Agenda 2030, Romania assumed the responsibility to work towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but studies about the need to integrate education for sustainable development into the national curriculum are rare. Though steps towards sustainability have been made, sustainability education is lagging behind without a clear vision of whether it should be integrated into the formal education system, and how and where it fits. Our study appraised the perspectives of 38 geography upper secondary school teachers in Romania regarding the sustainable themes of interest to them, the importance of teaching SD via school geography, their self-assessed knowledge of sustainability concepts and their readiness in learning more about sustainable development (SD).
Through an online questionnaire-based survey we found that teachers consider topics such as climate change or alternative sources of energy as more relevant than innovation and technology for SD or Responsible global production and consumption. We also identified a strong belief that SD is important in educating our young and that geography is the subject viewed as the most appropriate in promoting education for sustainable development (ESD). Overwhelmingly, teachers showed great interest in participating in professional development courses about SD.
[FR] En tant que signataire de l'Agenda 2030, la Roumanie a assumé la responsabilité de travailler à la réalisation des objectifs de développement durable (ODD), mais les études sur la nécessité d'intégrer l'éducation au développement durable dans le curriculum national sont rares. Bien que des étapes vers la durabilité aient été franchies, l'éducation à la durabilité est à la traîne sans une vision claire de savoir si elle doit être intégrée dans le système d'éducation formelle, et comment et où elle peut s'intègrer. Notre étude a évalué les perspectives de 38 enseignants de géographie du secondaire supérieur en Roumanie concernant les thèmes durables qui les intéressent, l'importance d'enseigner le DD via la géographie scolaire, leur connaissance auto-évaluée des concepts de durabilité et leur volonté d'en apprendre davantage sur le développement durable (DD). Grâce à une enquête en ligne basée sur un questionnaire, nous avons constaté que les enseignants considèrent des sujets tels que le changement climatique ou les sources d'énergie alternatives comme plus pertinents que l'innovation et la technologie pour le DD ou la production mondiale responsable et la consommation. Nous avons également identifié une forte conviction que le DD est important dans l'éducation de nos jeunes et que la géographie est la matière considérée comme la plus appropriée pour promouvoir l'éducation au développement durable (EDD). La très grande majorité des enseignants ont manifesté un grand intérêt à participer à des cours de perfectionnement professionnel sur le DD.
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