Literature review on teacher training for sustainable development

From August 2024 to January 2025, a project for a systematic literature review on teacher education for sustainable development was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (SysRevLBNE). 

Teacher education is a key priority in the implementation of ESD in the German education system. An interdisciplinary approach—in which the various perspectives from subject-specific didactics and general pedagogical theories (such as professionalization) are considered and integrated together—has so far been found in only a few individual projects.

Internationally, there are initial efforts to systematize and synthesize the fragmented state of research on “Teacher Education for Sustainable Development” (Fischer et al. 2023). However, it is questionable to what extent these findings can be applied to Germany, given the specific characteristics of national education systems. This is where our project comes in. It aims to provide an overview of the current state of research on ESD in teacher education and thereby contribute to the visibility of research findings as well as identify areas for further research.

Dr. Christina Ehras was a project collaborator.