Teachers as agents of environmental literacy and the facilitating role of environmental psychologists

Abstract

Teachers’ competencies and skills in environmental education (EE) could be enhanced through programs and interventions designed collaboratively by educators and environmental psychologists (EP). Teachers can learn a lot from environmental psychology embedded in teacher education programs, and EP have much to contribute in the evaluation of intended behavioral outcomes. The development and validation of measurement and evaluation frameworks are among EP’s arsenal of skills that can be tapped. The author proposed an integrated framework for assessing teachers’ professional action competence in education for sustainable development and identified three dimensions: willingness, knowledge of pedagogical approaches, and self-efficacy. The features identified in the said study could be the focus of teacher professional development programs. Validated scales with good measurement properties can be useful in monitoring the effectiveness of such programs, as well as in identifying other areas that need to be improved. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)