Integrating Climate Change Education Into Teacher Education Curricula in Mongolia

Abstract Teacher education plays a crucial role in preparing teachers to teach about climate change and its impacts on nature and society. This study analyzes the pre-service teacher education curricula at the Mongolian National University of Education (MNUE) to determine the current state of integrating climate change education (CCE) into teacher education in Mongolia. This study aims to identify CCE current practices, gaps, and challenges. Terms related to climate change and/or climate change education have been extracted from the learning objectives of the SDG 13 “Climate Action” according to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the extent of their occurrence in the syllabi of all courses offered by the MNUE’s undergraduate schools has been analyzed. The analysis has revealed that the terms only appeared in 24 courses, mostly professional education courses, and CCE is not emphasized in the curricula. According to the findings, CCE is found in only two course syllabi, and the extracted terms have not been directly incorporated into any of the five sections of those syllabi. However, the study has identified some good practices that can be built upon to enhance the integration of CCE into teacher education. The findings of the study provide a foundation for further research and development of strategies to mainstream CCE in the teacher education schedule.