News

Text by: Education International 

EI and UNESCO launch a global survey of teachers on their readiness to teach education for sustainable development and global citizenship.

EI and UNESCO have today launched a global survey on teachers’ readiness to teach education for sustainable development (ESD) and global citizenship (GCED).

The study is being conducted as a part of the monitoring of UN’s Sustainable Development Goal target 4.7, which aims for all learners to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to promote sustainable development.

The survey aims to understand teachers’ experience of teaching four topics in particular: climate change, sustainable consumption and production, human rights and gender equality, and cultural diversity and tolerance. It seeks to measure teachers’ perceptions of their individual capacities (motivation and competences) and the extent to which they are empowered and enabled (by schools and systems) to teach these topics which are so crucial for the realisation of all other sustainable development goals. It explores questions such as: To what extent and how are teachers currently teaching these issues? What are the obstacles encountered? How is the teaching of these subjects affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? And how could they be better supported?

Currently there is limited data on the extent to which governments are meeting their commitments to ensure quality education for sustainable development and global citizenship for all. Therefore, this project was proposed by Education International to contribute to filling this gap, bearing in mind that teachers’ perspectives are crucial to accurately assess progress made towards SGD 4.7.

The survey report will be launched at the UNESCO global forum on education for sustainable development and global citizenship in 2021. Education International will use the findings to advocate for improved policies and support for teachers to teach these subjects from systems across the world.

David Edwards said: “Education for sustainable development and global citizenship education are central to the achievement of the SDG agenda. They are crucial to create a better a world. Systems need to urgently ensure that these important subjects are mainstreamed into national policies, curricula and teacher training. To ensure teachers are sufficiently prepared, we need to listen to them and meet their needs.”

Are you a primary or secondary school teacher? Then please fill out the survey. It takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. Your feedback is valued and much appreciated.

The survey is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kiswahili, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Click here to take the survey and share it with your networks: https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90310926/EI-UNESCO-teacher-survey

Please note that it is open until 25 April.

URL:

https://www.ei-ie.org/en/detail/17143/teachers-have-your-say-about-educating-for-sustainable-development-and-global-citizenship