DOI

Summary
This article is concerned with the competencies of science teachers and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) educators. Karaarslan & Teksöz explore the required competencies of science teachers to become ESD teachers. They explore this notion by using a gap analysis approach, conducting literature review and deploying an interview program with science education and ESD researchers. The authors provide a background of information science education (SE) and ESD. The research aims to address two questions:

What are the required competencies for science teachers to become ESD educators?
2. What are the opinions of Turkish ESD and SE researchers on the competencies of Turkish science teachers for becoming ESD educators?

The competencies identified in the literature are summarised in Table 1 – it is advisable to look at this in the main text as summarising the already summarised information here would not be practical. However, three characteristics of ESD educators have been highlighted in the text that follows. These are: 1. Holistic approach (integrative thinking/systems thinking), 2. Envisioning change (considering past, present and future), and 3. Achieving transformation (transformation in education system, transformation of pedagogy) .

The gap analysis is presented in table 2.

As an example to demonstrate their findings, Karaarslan & Teksöz draw a profile of a science teacher who is competent to be an ESD educator: “When discussing water cycle in class, the science teacher with systems thinking skills is expected to transmit the relations that water quality and quantity in our taps are related to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere through our activities and also related to sea level rise, floods, heat waves and climate refugees in Pacific Islands”.

It is discussed that sealing the gap between ST’s and ESD educators can be done so by enhancing ST’s systems thinking skills.

An outdoor based ESD approach has been recommended as a method to seal this gap and to develop systems thinking skills of STs so as to become ESD educators. The method of outdoor education is not specifically described here but is however backed up by literature pointing towards its ability to enhance the connection of participants to nature and develop their understanding of natural systems through experiential learning.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
This study is relevant to the sustainable development topic and offers good insight into the pedagogical approaches to ESD educators. It is specifically relevant to systems thinking and the development of this skill for science teachers and ESD educators alike. For this reason, this article is highly relevant to the reimagining of sustainable development education at HEIs.

It is identified in the gap analysis that systems thinking skills is a strong competency of ESD educators that is also important for science teachers (STs) however, it is not emphasised in the in ST competencies.

A brief definition of systems thinking is provided: “Systems thinking is an important skill in order to understand the interrelationships in the earths system”

Point of Strength
This article is provides an outline of the required competencies for science teachers to become ESD educators. This may be useful for the improvement of teacher competencies not only for science teachers but it may also be transferable for other teaching disciplines.

It is clear in this paper that developing systems thinking skills is a key component to the enhancement of ST’s. Fieldman & Notion (2015) describe the effectiveness of informal settings to engage students in sustainability issues.