Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goes hand in hand with realising a more sustainable future, taking into account environmental, economic and social dimensions. Education can accelerate these goals, with teachers playing a central role. In 2021, a study was conducted among teachers in Italian mandatory schools to investigate knowledge, sources of information and attitudes towards the SDGs. An online survey was conducted, based on a Likert-scale with 62 items. The questionnaire was completed by 417 teachers. The overall knowledge score shows a median of 42.9%, an interquartile range of 25% and a range of 1.8–91.1%. A very good level of knowledge among teachers is limited to some topics, such as the Greenhouse effect (19.6%) and Resilience (13%), which may be better known due to wider media coverage. Sustainability issues are not yet considered as a shared responsibility, as teaching in designated hours was often suggested. The commitment of Italian teachers and schools to a stronger integration of sustainability issues into didactic programmes still needs to be improved. A change of perspective is urgently needed, whereby sustainability education should be seen as a collective responsibility.

Sustainable Development Goals and 2030 Agenda—Survey on Awareness, Knowledge and Attitudes of Italian Teachers of Public Mandatory Schools, 2021

Smaniotto C.
;
Brunelli L.;Miotto E.;Del Pin M.;Ruscio E.;Parpinel M.
2022-01-01

Abstract

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goes hand in hand with realising a more sustainable future, taking into account environmental, economic and social dimensions. Education can accelerate these goals, with teachers playing a central role. In 2021, a study was conducted among teachers in Italian mandatory schools to investigate knowledge, sources of information and attitudes towards the SDGs. An online survey was conducted, based on a Likert-scale with 62 items. The questionnaire was completed by 417 teachers. The overall knowledge score shows a median of 42.9%, an interquartile range of 25% and a range of 1.8–91.1%. A very good level of knowledge among teachers is limited to some topics, such as the Greenhouse effect (19.6%) and Resilience (13%), which may be better known due to wider media coverage. Sustainability issues are not yet considered as a shared responsibility, as teaching in designated hours was often suggested. The commitment of Italian teachers and schools to a stronger integration of sustainability issues into didactic programmes still needs to be improved. A change of perspective is urgently needed, whereby sustainability education should be seen as a collective responsibility.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11390/1228865
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