Teachers in Initial Training Facing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Study Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is one of the main challenges facing humanity. However, the fulfillment of these goals has been hampered by health and climate crises, as well as international conflicts. Despite this, it remains essential that work is carried out on these UN propos...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ramón Méndez, María del Mar Felices-de la Fuente
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/2/82
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850030238349656064
author Ramón Méndez
María del Mar Felices-de la Fuente
author_facet Ramón Méndez
María del Mar Felices-de la Fuente
author_sort Ramón Méndez
collection DOAJ
description Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is one of the main challenges facing humanity. However, the fulfillment of these goals has been hampered by health and climate crises, as well as international conflicts. Despite this, it remains essential that work is carried out on these UN proposals in all areas, especially in education. This study aims to understand future teachers’ conceptions of the SDGs and the importance they give to teaching them. To do this, a non-experimental quantitative survey-type design was used to compare the results from two academic years (pre-pandemic and post-pandemic) in order to detect any differences. The information was collected via a questionnaire, which was completed by 364 students from the Degree in Primary Education course. The results show an increase in knowledge about the SDGs and a change in the assessment scale regarding the importance of each of its 17 goals. Likewise, there has been an increase in the students’ personal involvement in achieving them, linked to a more pessimistic position about their fulfillment. We conclude that there is a difference in the results between the two contexts, and that teaching about SDGs during teacher training should be reinforced.
format Article
id doaj-art-f98e2aac4efd48e99f93cdaf5fb2a7c8
institution DOAJ
issn 2076-0760
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Social Sciences
spelling doaj-art-f98e2aac4efd48e99f93cdaf5fb2a7c82025-08-20T02:59:16ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602025-01-011428210.3390/socsci14020082Teachers in Initial Training Facing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Study Before and After the COVID-19 PandemicRamón Méndez0María del Mar Felices-de la Fuente1Department of Education, University of Almeria, 04120 La Cañada, Almería, SpainDepartment of Education, University of Almeria, 04120 La Cañada, Almería, SpainAchieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is one of the main challenges facing humanity. However, the fulfillment of these goals has been hampered by health and climate crises, as well as international conflicts. Despite this, it remains essential that work is carried out on these UN proposals in all areas, especially in education. This study aims to understand future teachers’ conceptions of the SDGs and the importance they give to teaching them. To do this, a non-experimental quantitative survey-type design was used to compare the results from two academic years (pre-pandemic and post-pandemic) in order to detect any differences. The information was collected via a questionnaire, which was completed by 364 students from the Degree in Primary Education course. The results show an increase in knowledge about the SDGs and a change in the assessment scale regarding the importance of each of its 17 goals. Likewise, there has been an increase in the students’ personal involvement in achieving them, linked to a more pessimistic position about their fulfillment. We conclude that there is a difference in the results between the two contexts, and that teaching about SDGs during teacher training should be reinforced.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/2/82sustainable developmentsustainable development goalshigher educationteacher trainingprimary educationcitizenship education
spellingShingle Ramón Méndez
María del Mar Felices-de la Fuente
Teachers in Initial Training Facing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Study Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
Social Sciences
sustainable development
sustainable development goals
higher education
teacher training
primary education
citizenship education
title Teachers in Initial Training Facing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Study Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full Teachers in Initial Training Facing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Study Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr Teachers in Initial Training Facing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Study Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Teachers in Initial Training Facing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Study Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short Teachers in Initial Training Facing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Study Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort teachers in initial training facing the sustainable development goals a comparative study before and after the covid 19 pandemic
topic sustainable development
sustainable development goals
higher education
teacher training
primary education
citizenship education
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/2/82
work_keys_str_mv AT ramonmendez teachersininitialtrainingfacingthesustainabledevelopmentgoalsacomparativestudybeforeandafterthecovid19pandemic
AT mariadelmarfelicesdelafuente teachersininitialtrainingfacingthesustainabledevelopmentgoalsacomparativestudybeforeandafterthecovid19pandemic