Knowledge, Perceptions, and On-Campus Sustainability Experiences of Faculty of Education Students Regarding Sustainable Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61326/bes.v5i1.496Keywords:
Faculty of education, Student experiences, Sustainability, UniversityAbstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the meanings attributed to sustainable development by students enrolled in a faculty of education and to explore their sustainability-related experiences. The research was conducted using the phenomenological approach, one of the qualitative research designs. The study group consisted of 10 pre-service teachers studying at a public university, selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The findings revealed that the participants perceived sustainable development holistically through its environmental, economic, and social dimensions. In addition, although university experiences were found to support these perceptions, several shortcomings—such as the limited number of sustainability courses and insufficient visibility of on-campus practices—were identified. The primary limitation of the study is its single-university context, which affects the generalisability of the findings. Consequently, the study highlights the need for a stronger integration of sustainable development within teacher education programmes.
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