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Identifier 000433651
Title Η πρόκληση της εκπαίδευσης για βιώσιμη/αειφόρο ανάπτυξη στα Παιδαγωγικά Τμήματα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης : μια έρευνα για την επίδραση της σχετικής δεκαετίας 2005-2014 των Ηνωμένων Εθνών
Alternative Title The challenge of education for sustainable development in the Departments of Primary Education : a survey on the impact of the United Nations decade 2005-2014
Author Μαρκατάτος, Γιώργιος
Thesis advisor Κωστούλα-Μαρκάκη Νέλλη
Reviewer Καλαϊτζιδάκη Μαριάννα
Μαλανδράκης Γιώργος
Καρράς Κωνσταντίνος
Δασκολιά Μαρία-Καλομοίρα
Παπαβασιλείου Βασίλειος
Ιβρίντελη Μαρία
Abstract The dissertation starts by negotiating the whole framework which was suggested for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), with UNESCO as the Steering Committee. Our literature review identifies the international efforts for changing the dominant educational paradigm towards Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), its key themes and the teaching and pedagogical methods on which it is based. The importance of prospective teachers’ basic studies is highlighted and this dissertation aspires to contribute to the research on monitoring and evaluation of their training. The dissertation specifically investigates the ESD competencies that students in the last year of their studies believe they have developed, in the nine Greek University Departments of Primary Education (GUDPE)2. It also tries to identify the impact of UNESCO’s recommendations in the DESD context on the curriculum of the nine GUDPE, on the courses offered and on the teaching and epistemological approach followed. We adopted a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, because it was considered that it would best serve the research needs of this thesis. It consists of: 1. “Quantitative” research approach using a “structured anonymous questionnaire” that was distributed to a sample of 864 students in the academic year 2011-12. 2 The nine Greek University Institutions where the Departments of Primary Education are hosted: 1. Kapodistrian University of Athens 2. University of Thessaly 3. Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki 4. Democritus University of Thrace 5. University of Ioannina 6. University of Patras 7. University of Crete 8. University of the Aegean 9. University of Western Macedonia (UWM) 2. “Qualitative” research approach using “deductive content analysis” on study guides and courses offered, as they are recorded in the Departmental web sites, for the period 2007 to 2012. Based on the research findings, about half of the students’ sample report having taken courses directly related to sustainable development (SD), with about one third of them (30%) stating that they never attended, during their studies, any course directly or indirectly related to SD. 45% of the students consider university courses as one of the top three primary sources of information about SD. On the other hand, a relatively high percentage (25%) did not consider them as a source of information about SD issues at all. The dominant teaching method in all GUDPE appears to be "lecturing" (80% of students classifies it as the most commonly used method in their departments). However, there seems to be an absence of teaching and learning methods which, according to the literature, are more appropriate in the ESD context. Students’ actions appear to outweigh simple traditional environmental activities, with little to no reference, in terms of SD, to social or economic ones. Encouraging is the fact that about half of the students’ sample opted for “enhancing change towards a fairer society and a better world” as a core function of education, which is considered as a view that is more in line with the transformative role of ESD. This parameter however doesn’t seem to be of importance in the formulation of students’ self-defined ESD competencies. The students’ sample seems to believe they possess good ESD competencies. They also show positive attitudes around SD issues related to environmental protection and human solidarity. ESD courses seem to have a small positive effect on students’ self-defined ESD competencies. On the other hand, the department they are studying appears to have a low effect on these competencies. The study shows that many courses involve social, environmental and cultural issues, referring to teaching methods corresponding to those mentioned in the literature for ESD. It is however interesting, that in the overwhelming majority of the courses, the terminology used in those descriptions does not refer to the concept of sustainability. It is also interesting that the term sustainability appears more frequently in courses related to environmental education and that only very few courses in all GUDPE negotiate “economic” and “developmental” issues. The overall conclusion based on the research findings from the questionnaire data, as well as from the deductive content analysis of the “study guides”, is that for the period in which the present study was conducted, DESD impact on GUDPE appears relatively limited and probably not at the desired grade. Therefore, suggestions are made for additional ESD courses as well as a whole ESD reorientation of the departments, with emphasis on changes in teaching approaches and assessment procedures. Finally, further research is needed on the specific characteristics of each department in terms of the ESD competencies of its students as well as its overall function.
Language Greek
Subject Curricula
Decade of sustainable development education (DESD)
Departments of primary education
ESD skills
Education for sustainable development (ESD)
Students
Δεκατία εκπαίδευσης για βιώσιμη ανάπτυξη (ΔΕΒΑ)
Εκπαίδευσης για βιώσιμη ανάπτυξη (ΕΒΑ)
Ικανότητες ΕΒΑ
Παιδαγωγικά Τμήματα Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης
Προγράμματα σπουδών
Φοιτητές
Issue date 2019-09-01
Collection   School/Department--School of Education--Department of Primary education--Doctoral theses
  Type of Work--Doctoral theses
Permanent Link https://elocus.lib.uoc.gr//dlib/9/5/3/metadata-dlib-1604918325-469121-20688.tkl Bookmark and Share
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