Between Action and Reflection—Development and Factorial Validation of a Questionnaire on Pre-Service Biology Teachers’ Beliefs About Instrumental and Reflective ESD Approaches

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is increasingly positioned as a core task of biology education; however, teachers’ conceptions often oscillate between instrumental approaches and more critical-reflective perspectives. Drawing on the theoretical distinction between instrumental (ESD 1) and critically reflective (ESD 2) ESD frameworks, this study developed and validated a questionnaire with a five-point rating scale ranging from 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree) to assess pre-service biology teachers’ ESD-related beliefs and tested whether the proposed approaches emerge as empirically separable dimensions. We generated an initial item pool, which was reviewed by content experts and piloted (n = 30). In Sample 1 (n = 218 pre-service biology teachers), an exploratory factor analysis with iterative item reduction yielded a nine-item, two-factor solution explaining 52.0% of the variance (KMO = 0.82; Bartlett’s test p < 0.001). The factors reflected action- and behavior-oriented beliefs and critical-reflective beliefs (emphasizing social justice, interdisciplinarity and uncertainty), showing good internal consistency (ω = 0.76/0.86). A confirmatory factor analysis in an independent Sample 2 (n = 104 biology-related students) supported the correlated two-factor model (CFI = 0.968; TLI = 0.955; RMSEA = 0.068; SRMR = 0.068; r = 0.45). By operationalizing a differentiated concept of ESD, the instrument enables quantitative research on distinct belief orientations and can support the design and evaluation of ESD-oriented teacher education programs.