Guidelines and Recommendations for Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability

Members of the International Network made recommendations related to reorienting teacher education to address sustainability. The recommendations are pieces of wisdom garnered through the experimentation and hard work of teacher educators.
The recommendations concern ministerial and national levels to the local level. The recommendations involve curriculum, pedagogy, policy, practice, programs, rewards, research, information and computer technology, partnerships, networking, communications, etc.
Members of the International Network repeatedly mentioned the urgency to act and the need for profound change. While many spoke of the enormity of the task at hand, all who participated were able to make signifi cant and positive inroads. Interested individuals operating within their own spheres of control (e.g., weaving sustainability themes into their own classroom curricula) made great headway reorienting their programs. Also, many institutions were able to develop new courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Problems arose, however, when the Network members advocated for change beyond the sphere of direct control. ESD within teacher-education institutions is currently endorsed by early-adopters. However, it will take concerted effort and resources to establish ESD in curricula, programs, practices, and policies across teacher-education institutions.