Teacher training on sustainability is often designed as if every teacher starts in the same place. In reality, some teachers barely know the topic while others already lead the way. Knowing where teachers actually stand is the first step to training that fits.
Türkiye is a useful place to ask this question. Its national development plan for 2024 to 2028 calls for sustainable development to be built into classroom teaching. Yet the researchers found that no national in-service teacher training on the topic was offered in 2024.
How the study worked. The researchers, from Pamukkale University, surveyed 931 teachers across Türkiye. The group included primary classroom teachers and middle and high school teachers of science, math, humanities, social studies, languages, physical education, guidance and the arts. Most were women, and most had taught for 16 years or more.
The questionnaire was built from interviews with teachers trained in sustainability teaching, international guidance and expert review. Teachers rated themselves on 36 statements in three areas:
- Knowledge: for example, knowing what sustainability means and its main principles.
- Values and feelings: for example, helping students reflect on their own values about sustainability.
- Action: for example, giving students chances to discuss different views and to take action in their local area.
For each area, the researchers marked each teacher's score as low, medium or high compared with the group average. They then grouped teachers with similar patterns and checked whether subject and experience were linked to each group.
What they found:
- Teachers fell into three distinct groups. The researchers named them:
- Limited Practitioners (164 teachers, about one in six): low scores in knowledge, values and action. These teachers had little understanding of sustainability, little personal connection to it and had taken few steps to teach it.
- Developmental Practitioners (443 teachers, nearly half): mostly moderate knowledge and values, but weaker at putting them into practice with students.
- Leading Practitioners (324 teachers, about one in three): high scores in nearly every area. More than 80 percent scored high on all three.
- Action was the hardest area. Knowledge had the most low scorers. Action had the fewest high scorers. Values and feelings were spread most evenly.
- Experience was linked to the groups. Teachers with 10 years or less were more common than expected among Limited Practitioners. Teachers with 11 to 15 years were more common among Developmental Practitioners. Teachers with 16 or more years were much more common among Leading Practitioners.
- Subject was linked to the groups, more weakly. Language teachers were less likely than expected to be Leading Practitioners. The researchers suggest that language subjects have fewer obvious links to sustainability, which makes it harder for these teachers to bring it into their lessons.
What this means for your practice:
Find out where people are before you plan. The study shows teachers differ widely, in clear patterns (finding 1). If you design training, learn about your group's knowledge, values and current practice before you plan, then design for the range you find. This advice follows from the findings. The paper does not test a specific way to do it.
Offer different tracks. The researchers recommend matching training to each group:
- Teachers new to the topic need a beginner's start: what sustainability means, and simple ways to adapt their lessons.
- Teachers in the middle group need practice-based training in their own schools.
- Strong teachers can take on roles as mentors, leaders of teacher networks and trainers of others.
These are the authors' recommendations. The study did not test them.
Close the gap between knowing and doing. For the largest group, the problem is action, not awareness (findings 1 and 2). The researchers suggest action research, where teachers try something with their class, reflect on how it went, adjust and try again.
Don't assume new teachers are prepared. Early-career teachers were most often Limited Practitioners (finding 3). The researchers suggest teacher preparation programs may not yet cover sustainability well. Plan to include the basics, even for recent graduates.
Give subject-specific examples. Because subject made a difference (finding 4), the researchers recommend sample lesson plans and activities linked to each subject. For language teachers, this could mean choosing reading texts, themes and discussion topics that touch on sustainability.
Make time to plan across subjects. The researchers also recommend giving teachers shared planning time so that colleagues from different subjects can build sustainability lessons together.
The Bottom Line
The researchers surveyed more than 900 teachers in Türkiye and grouped them by how they rated their own sustainability knowledge, values and classroom action. They found three distinct groups. A small group scored low in all three areas, a large middle group had moderate knowledge and values but struggled to put them into practice, and about a third scored high across the board. Newer teachers were more often in the low group, and the most experienced teachers were more often in the high group. Language teachers were less likely to be in the high group. For anyone planning teacher training, the study shows that one-size-fits-all programs will miss many teachers. The largest group needs help turning good intentions into action.