Teacher Educators' Integrating Moral Practices in Higher Education Pakistan for Promoting 2030 ESD Agenda

Abstract

This study explores the moral dimension of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) of teacher educators. Under the pragmatism paradigm researcher used a convergent mixed-methods design that combined both quantitative and qualitative methods. The research tools were used questionnaire and semi-structured interview protocol. Eight public sector universities from one province in Pakistan which are offering teacher education programs were selected target population for the study. For the quantitative data collection, a census technique was used, including all 316 teacher educators. An adapted questionnaire was used to collect the data, and its validity and reliability were ensured through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. For the qualitative data collection, purposive sampling was used. Data collected from 35 teacher educators through semi-structured interviews. These interviews provided a deeper conception of moral dimension of ESD. The qualitative data were analyzed by using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics for the quantitative data. The study findings revealed that teacher educators who had studied an ESD course during their graduate period, or conducted research on ESD, and taught the program had a more holistic and comprehensive understanding of ESD compared to their counterparts who did not participate in these activities. It also showed that their conceptions about moral dimensions of ESD was moderately developed. Although majority teacher educators were not explicitly aware of the moral dimension but they naturally incorporated moral values into their everyday teaching.