Parallel Session-5

Teacher Education for Sustainable Development: imperatives for transformative learning

The session shared insights from research and experiences from Asian Teacher Educators for Climate Change (ATECCE) Network Members. It also discussed approaches used to empower teacher and community engagement for climate change education.

Key messages from the Session:

Integrating climate change education across disciplines in teacher education is essential to move beyond cognitive understanding to action, empathy, and agency. Using new didactic approaches such as solution - focussed teaching was also recommended.

• Socio-emotional and behavioral learning outcomes are as crucial as cognitive learning to foster climate-resilient mindsets in future educators.
• Community engagement is a transformative driver for climate change education, linking school-based learning with local climate solutions.
• Teacher-community partnerships must be authentic and outcome-focused to ensure shared responsibility and sustainable impact.
• There is a need for locally contextualized climate curricula to increase relevance and ownership.
• Scalable teacher-community models are required for different socio-cultural contexts.

Speakers

Key Recommendations from the Session

• There is a dire need for resources and training of teachers to confidently teach climate change curriculum. More resources need to be directed towards teacher education.
• Include interdisciplinary and experiential learning components that help teachers link curriculum with sustainability practices on campus and in communities.
• Develop and distribute contextualized, localized teaching resources that address climate, biodiversity, and sustainability challenges.
• Ensure that climate education is accessible to all learners, addressing barriers related to language, gender, and disabilit

Session Report+