Teachers as promoters of transformative environmental education: perceptions and classroom practices

Recent educational reforms demand a transformative Environmental Education (EE), so teachers should be able to design activities that promote students’ critical thinking and informed problem-solving. Given that educators’ perceptions can determine their way of teaching, this paper analyzes 249 Spanish teachers’ responses to 10 questions in a questionnaire on their ideas about EE and its didactics. Results show that teachers view EE primarily from a personal, non-professional perspective, linking it to conceptual and attitudinal knowledge. Their understanding of the interconnectedness of environmental issues is limited and fragmented. While they believe their practices support transformative learning, this is not consciously reflected in their activity designs. Educators identify lack of time, training and resources as constraints for teaching EE. No statistically significant differences were found between the perceptions of qualified teachers and trainee teachers. It is proposed to redefine teacher training to empower educators and align their training with current educational curricula