Issues in Educational Research, 29(2), 2019 562

Sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions:

A survey of pre-service teachers
Wisuit Sunthonkanokpong
King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand
Elizabeth Murphy
Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada

The purpose of this study was to survey the awareness, attitudes and actions of Thai,
pre-service, industrial-education teachers (N=390) regarding economic, social and
environmental sustainability. Survey items were derived from learning objectives
provided by UNESCO in relation to 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). Research
questions focused on overall results as well as analyses to determine differences based on
program type and year of study. Results showed an average overall higher percentage in
the categories of attitudes (90%) and action (91%) than for awareness (69%). The lowest
ranked items in the categories of attitudes and action were related to SDG 5, gender
equality. Pre-service teachers in year two of their program reported significantly higher
levels of awareness than those in their first, third, fourth or fifth year. There were no
significant differences for program type. Implications point to the value for higher
education institutes, programs and instructors of identifying sustainability issues most
relevant to their context in terms of culture and subject area. Results also pointed to the
possibility that higher education institutions may be able to address aspects of
sustainability through other initiatives (e.g., mental health awareness days) that are not
necessarily branded specifically as sustainability issues.

Introduction

Sustainable development is a moral imperative and an issue “…on a par with human
rights, democracy and freedom” (Holden, Linnerud & Banister, 2017, p. 215). Its
importance is emphasised by the United Nations General Assembly’s conclusion that the
survival of societies and of the planet are at risk (UN, 2015). In recognition of this risk,
the Assembly put forth 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address global problems
such as poverty, unemployment, increasing inequalities and disparities related to gender,
wealth and power, political and environmental threats. The SDGs focus on three pillars of
economic welfare, environmental quality and social coherence (see Böhringer & Jochem,
2007) reaffirming Fisher and McAdams’ (2015) argument that sustainability can be
conceptualised beyond its environmental dimension. The SDGs form part of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN, 2015) to ensure that development should not
compromise future generations’ ability to meet their needs (UN, 1987). Figure 1 shows
the UN’s (2018) graphic of the SDGs.

Education as a key strategy for sustainable development

The years 2005 to 2014 were declared the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD) (see UNESCO, 2014) in recognition of ESD as integral to educational
quality and an enabler for sustainable development (UNESCO, 2014b). ESD involves
Sunthonkanokpong & Murphy 563

Figure 1: 17 SDGs (UN, 2018)

preparing “people to cope with, think critically about, and shape social, economic, political
and ecological conditions characterised by change, uncertainty, risk and complexity”
(Stevenson, Ferreira, Davis & Evans, 2012, p. 3). Education can play a critical role in
fostering sustainability (UNESCO, 2006) since it enables the other SDGs (UNESCO,
2017). SDG 4 promotes inclusion, quality and equity in education (UNESCO, 2017). ESD
has a potentially important role to play since sustainability continues to represent an
elusive target (Jones, Michelfelder & Nair, 2017). However, both starting and continuing
ESD presents challenges (OECD, 2007) since there is no one ESD approach or strategy;
rather, these vary according to the political and institutional contexts and conditions
(Holgaard, Hadgraft, Kolmos & Guerra, 2016).

Sustainability in higher education: A moral responsibility

The Stockholm Declaration of 1972 (UNEP, 1972) represents the earliest reference to the
role of sustainability in higher education. Since that Declaration, there has been increasing
recognition, as Cortese (2003) claimed, of the moral responsibility of higher education to
contribute to a sustainable future. Barth and Rieckmann (2016) observed that universities
worldwide are demonstrating interest in sustainability in their curricula. This interest from
higher education reflects a “substantial rethinking” about what types of competencies and
skills are required by graduates if they are to play a role in addressing sustainability-related
issues and problems (Ryan, Tilbury, Corcoran, Abe & Nomura, 2010, p. 112).

Holdsworth and Thomas (2015) argued that there was little evidence of implementation
of ESD in universities and that, in Australia, it rarely figures in the curriculum. Wolff,
Sjöblom, Hofman-Bergholm and Palmberg (2017) remarked that, in higher education,
sustainability operates in principle rather than in practice. This lack of attention is due, in
564 Sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions: A survey of pre-service teachers

part, to the fact that sustainability crosses many disciplines and subjects which makes it
hard to integrate within the structures of higher education (Belkhir, 2015). Also, the
specialised education of many academics also limits efforts (Ryan et al., 2010).
Furthermore, while the recognition of and a rationale for inclusion of sustainability in
higher education have been amply discussed, there is an overall lack of specifications
regarding exactly how higher education should act (OECD, 2007). Not surprisingly,
higher education research on sustainability remains “at an early stage” (Azeiteiro, Bacelar-
Nicolau, Caetano & Caeiro, 2015, p. 2).

Teacher-education programs: A fragmented approach to sustainability

Teacher-education programs have a potentially significant role to play in promoting

sustainability, especially given SDG 4. However, in many countries, and for example, in
Australia (see Ferreira, Ryan & Davis, 2015), pre-service teachers are not being adequately
prepared. This lack of preparation may be because, as Ferreira et al. (2015) observed, the
education of pre-service teachers takes place in “complex organisations that are
notoriously difficult to change” (p. 194). The lack of preparedness may also be because
there is “no core EfS [Education for Sustainability] knowledge” which results in teachers
not having the related knowledge to teach sustainability (Stevenson et al., 2012, p. 1). An
Australian study found that while university students recognised the importance of
sustainability, they were either unaware of or unsatisfied with sustainability in their courses
(see Beasy, Peterson, Tomlinson & Tiernan, 2016). Wolff et al. (2017) explained the
challenges for sustainability in teacher-education programs in relation to “the
interdisciplinary nature of sustainability and the fact that universities are autonomous” (p.
16). The failure of teacher-education programs to prepare teachers for EfS is evidenced by
an Australian study of teachers (see Australian Education for Sustainability Alliance,
2017). The study found that while 92% of teachers surveyed regarded sustainability as of
value to the curriculum, 80% were either unaware of or did not understand EfS.

The limitations of research on sustainability in HE

In spite of the recognition of sustainable development as a global issue, Barth and

Rieckmann (2016) identified a Western dominance in the literature around sustainability
and higher education. The authors reviewed more than 500 academic papers related to
higher education for sustainable development from more than 300 institutions. They
found that 50% of the authors were European and only approximately 8% came from
Asia. The authors signalled the need for research from countries previously under-
represented in the literature. The authors’ arguments were reinforced by Ryan et al. (2010)
who noted that the Asia-Pacific region “with 60% of the earth’s population” presents
serious challenges to sustainability in relation to pollution, rising sea levels, and the social
implications of labour migration.

Furthermore, in relation to research on sustainability in education, studies have often

tended to limit their focus to the environmental aspects (e.g., Cheong, 2010; Venustea,
Oliviera & Valensaas, 2017) as opposed to considering sustainability from the perspective
of the three pillars. Research and practice need to go beyond these three pillars to include,
Sunthonkanokpong & Murphy 565

as the OECD (2017) recommended, three elements of awareness (cognitive), attitudes

(socio-emotional) and action (behavioural). In relation to education, UNESCO (2017)
described these three domains as follows:

The cognitive domain comprises knowledge and thinking skills necessary to

better understand the SDG and the challenges in achieving it. The socio-
emotional domain includes social skills that enable learners to collaborate,
negotiate and communicate to promote the SDGs as well as self-reflection skills,
values, attitudes and motivations that enable learners to develop themselves. The
behavioural domain describes action competencies. (p. 11)

UNESCO (2017) developed a set of learning objectives for each of the 17 SDGs and
presented five objectives for each of the SDGs for each of awareness, attitudes and action
for a total of 255 objectives. The review of the literature conducted for this study did not
identify any measures for a context of higher education based on these three dimensions
and related to the learning objectives. Michalos, Creech, McDonald and Hatch-Kahlke
(2009) created a set of standardised measures related to awareness, attitudes and action,
but without a focus on the learning objectives that might be relevant for teacher education
programs.

The present study: From sufficiency to sustainability

In response to these gaps in the literature, this purpose of this study is to identify pre-
service teachers’ overall sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions (SAAA). The study
also sought to identify differences in their SAAA for program year and type. Participants
in the study were pre-service teachers. They were selected for the study in recognition of
the need for education programs to prepare teachers for EfS. The pre-service teachers
were studying industrial education. This term is used in Thailand to refer to programs that
prepare teachers to teach in secondary or post-secondary vocational schools and colleges,
or in the private or public industrial sector as trainers of technicians (e.g., electrical
engineers). As UNESCO (2010) reported, many societal problems such as climate change
and depletion of natural resources have, to some extent, resulted from developments for
which engineers are responsible.

Thailand represents a relevant context in which to conduct such a study not only because
it is a developing country and in the Asia-Pacific region, but because of its traditional
promotion of sustainability linked to its Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. The Sufficiency
Economy Philosophy was first promulgated by His Majesty the Late King Bhumibol
Adulyadej and subsequently adopted in 2002 as the country’s core principle of
development (Government of Thailand, 2017). According to a UN national review (see
UN, 2017), Thailand is making progress on all 17 SDGs.

The study’s research questions were as follows:

566 Sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions: A survey of pre-service teachers

In relation to the preservice, industrial-education teachers enrolled in this study:

1. What are the pre-service teachers’ overall awareness of, attitudes towards and
likelihood of action on sustainability?
2. What is the relationship (if any) between students’ year and program, and each of
sustainability awareness, attitudes and action?

The study’s survey will be of interest and potential value to those interested in pre-service
and in-service teacher education or in the training of trades and apprenticeship personnel.
In general, results will be of interest to those interested in the role of learning and teaching
in promoting sustainability.

Methods

Researching sustainability

Fahy and Rau (2013) posited that research related to sustainability raises questions about
what, how and why to measure, and that methodological approaches reflect “broader
concerns about the nature of human social life and its investigation” (p. 8). Research
related to sustainability using a constructivist lens and epistemology allows for a
perspective centred on the social world and on human behaviour. According to that
perspective, in response to Fahy and Rau’s questions of what to measure, this study first
considered sustainability from the perspective of the three pillars. This approach is in
contrast to a tendency in research and in practice to limit the focus on sustainability to an
environmental perspective (e.g., Cutter-McKenzie & Smith, 2003; Kennelly, Taylor, &
Mazwell, 2008; Nielsen et al., 2012).

In relation to why, the response is that a constructivist epistemology values investigation of

how people make sense of the world in general and, in this case, of sustainability in
particular. Constructivism assumes agency and actors in a social context. In this study, the
focus is on pre-service teachers of telecommunications, electronic or computer
engineering. A focus on their awareness, attitudes and action is highly relevant because
they are positioned to influence and play a role in future efforts to promote sustainability.
The study’s focus on a Thai context recognises that sustainability is universally valued and
deserves to be investigated in diverse contexts such as Asia. In terms of the questions of
how to measure, this study adopted online survey methods as opposed to interviews,
mindful that “people might be willing to share their true opinion online, but not in a face-
to-face interview” (OECD, 2017, p. 1). The choice of approach to data collection also
relates to the convenience for researchers in terms of compiling results (Wright, 2005).
The use of a survey based on UNESCO’s (2017) learning objectives for the 17 SDGs fills
a gap in the literature on sustainability-related research instruments for use in educational
contexts.
Sunthonkanokpong & Murphy 567

Context

The teacher-education program in which this study was conducted is a five-year Bachelor
of Science in Industrial Education (Engineering Education) program. The program
consists of 59 courses including two professional teaching practices each lasting one
month along with seminars in educational practice. The program focuses on both
education courses (e.g., curriculum development), and on general, elective courses and
specialised subject-specific and laboratory courses (e.g., fundamentals of electronics;
physics of semiconductor devices, etc.). Students do not determine a major until their
second year.

At the time when the study was conducted in 2018, the university had some initiatives
related to sustainability such as a mention in its mission statement. It also offered some
specialised general elective courses about sustainability. Students are required to take a
total of 10 general courses during their five-year program. These are organised according
to five streams as follows: Life value (self-development for good living); The way of society
(pride in Thai culture); the Science of thinking (integrated and creative thinking); The art of
management (entrepreneurship/ leadership); and (English) Language and communication.
Courses directly or indirectly related to sustainability include Sustainable energy which is
focused on systematic thinking for alternative energy sources. One elective course,
Greening the earth: Think earth, focuses on environmental conservation and natural resources
development. Another elective course, Philosophy of the sufficiency economy, focuses on
awareness and application of the philosophy in daily life in a changing society.

Participants

An invitation to complete the survey was sent by email to all 505 pre-service teachers (283
male, 222 female) enrolled in the faculty during the first semester of 2018. The final
response rate was 77% (N=390) (see Table 1). Year 5 students were not all reachable
through their university email because, approximately two years before the study was
conducted, the university changed its email addressing system.

Instrument

Part 1 of the survey provided participants with information related to ethics, the purpose
of the survey, their voluntary participation and, anonymous reporting. Part 2 gathered
information pertaining to year of program (1-5) and program type (Telecommunications,
Electronics or Computer Engineering). Part three was the survey itself. The survey was
completed for this study using UNESCO’s (2017) learning objectives for each of the 17
SDGs in relation to awareness, attitudes and action. Use of all 255 objectives in one
survey would likely result in fatigue on the part of respondents. For this reason, the survey
relied on one item for each domain for each of the 17 SDGs, for a total of 51 items. The
survey adapted items to suit the context and, to do so, it also relied on the “suggested
topics” for the SDGs. The survey also adapted the original wording to avoid double-
barrelled questions and to lessen reading requirements. Survey items are presented in
Figures 2 (awareness), 3 (attitudes) and 4 (action).
568 Sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions: A survey of pre-service teachers

Table 1: Summary of survey respondents

Year Major Total sent Total responded %

1 No major declared 105 92 88
2 Telecommunications 40 36 90
Electronics 34 27 79
Computer 23 18 78
Total 97 81 84
3 Telecommunications 32 32 100
Electronics 34 31 91
Computer 30 29 97
Total 96 92 96
4 Telecommunications 35 33 94
Electronics 34 25 74
Computer 32 28 88
Total 101 86 85
5 Telecommunications 39 17 44
Electronics 38 13 34
Computer 29 9 31
Total 106 39 37
Totals 505 390 77

Instrument scale

For awareness, the survey items begin with “My knowledge of …. is.” Likert scale choice
options were: very low, low, high, very high. For attitude, items began with “I feel” or “I
do not feel.” The corresponding items were: very untrue of me, untrue of me, true of me,
very true of me. For action, each item was preceded by “I will teach students…” (about or
how to). The corresponding scale was: very unlikely, unlikely, likely, very likely.

Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee and Podsakoff (2003) described method biases whereby
respondents want to appear “consistent and rational,” and might, as a result, “search for
similarities in the questions asked of them”, or attempt to produce socially desirable
responses “more as a result of their social acceptability than their true feelings” (pp. 881-
882). For these reasons, the survey avoided the use of an agreement scale. This approach
avoids the potential problem whereby respondents tend to agree or disagree with items
regardless of the content (Podsakoff et al., 2003). For the same reason, with the attitude
scale, the survey used negatively worded items (Weijters & Baumgartner, 2012) that
negated the statement and required reverse scoring, i.e., “I don’t feel” (see Salazar, 2015).
Items 1, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14 and 15 were stated negatively, i.e., “I don’t feel….” or “I can’t
empathise...” Negatively-phrased items can result in more diverse responses. This is
because they reflect respondents’ actual attitudes by doing what Drolet and Morrison
(2001, p. 201) referred to as “encouraging respondents to notice differences in items” and
avoiding “mindless respondent consistency” (p. 201). To minimise the acquiescence bias,
each of the three scales began with its negative value, e.g., very unlikely, very untrue of
me, very low. Likewise, the survey followed Garland’s (1991) recommendation to
eliminate a midpoint (e.g., uncertain or unsure) to minimise social desirability bias or
Sunthonkanokpong & Murphy 569

“respondents' desires to please the interviewer or appear helpful or not be seen to give
what they perceive to be a socially unacceptable answer” (p. 70).

Cronbach’s alpha

Cronbach’s alpha (Cronbach, 1951) as a measure of internal consistency (reliability) was

.886 for the 17 awareness items and .937 for the 17 action items, indicating satisfactory
discriminating power. A value of .70 or greater would be acceptable (Taber, 2017).
Normally, “alpha is maximised when every item in a scale shares common variance with at
least some other items in the scale” (Gardner, 1995). For attitude, with the negative items
included, the alpha was at .495. With the negative items rephrased as positive, the alpha
was .763. The total Cronbach’s alpha for all 51 items was 0.903.

Procedures

The survey items were translated into Thai using translation/back translation (Behling &
Law, 2000). The survey was administered online using Survey Monkey
(http://www.surveymonkey.com). An invitation was sent to students using their
university email addresses. The study received ethics approval by the university.
Participants were informed of the purpose of the survey and of the fact that their
voluntary participation was not required in any way for their university program. They
were also informed that survey responses would be reported in aggregated, anonymous
format and that their participation and responses would remain confidential. Participants
were told that there were “no right or wrong answers”. They were provided with a return
email address in case they had any questions or concerns.

Data analysis

Analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics in Excel (percentages for overall totals)
and using univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) for comparisons between year and
program type in relation to awareness, attitudes and actions. Reverse scoring was relied on
for the negative attitude items.

Results

Research question 1: What are the pre-service teachers’ overall awareness of,
attitudes towards and likelihood of action on sustainability?

The results related to this research question are presented in three sections with one figure
for each of awareness (Figure 2), attitudes (Figure 3) and actions (Figure 4). Each of the
17 items reflects one SDG-related learning objective. For example, SDG 2 is “Zero
hunger”. The related survey item is “My knowledge of the consequences of malnutrition
is…”. The figures present survey items ranked from highest to lowest percentages of
positive responses. The figures show, for each of the 17 SDG-related items, the
percentages for each of the scale items (e.g., very high, high; low, very low). The figures
570 Sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions: A survey of pre-service teachers

also show, for each of the 17 SDG-related items, combined percentages (e.g., very true +
true).

Awareness
Figure 2 presents results of participants’ self-reported levels of awareness of sustainability.
Eighty-four per cent of participants reported either high or very high awareness of the
importance of mental health. Similar levels (82%) were reported for the importance of
education as a driver of sustainability and 80% reported awareness of the need for waste
reduction, recycling and reuse. At the opposite end, 50% reported low or very low
awareness of the consequences of malnutrition. Forty-six per cent of respondents
reported low or very low for awareness of the health impacts of energy production; 44%
reported low or very low awareness of the consequences of lack of water and 40%
reported low or very low awareness of the relationship between employment and
economic growth. The overall average for the very high and high knowledge categories
was 69%.

Figure 2: Overall results for awareness

Sunthonkanokpong & Murphy 571

Attitude
Figure 3 presents results related to participants’ sustainability-related attitudes. Overall,
students’ attitudes were positive. The average for attitude in the very true, true category
was 90%. Ninety-six per cent reported feeling that education for sustainable development
is important and 94% felt that global access to the Internet was important. Ninety-four
per cent reported feeling empathy for people who are discriminated against. The least
positive attitudes were reported for the SDG 5-related item regarding feeling empathy for
people who are different from what is normally expected in the community regarding
gender.

Figure 3: Overall results for attitudes

Action
Figure 4 presents results related to participants’ perceived likelihood of action related to
the SDGs. Overall, across all 17 SDGS, the average was 91% in the category of very likely
to likely. Ninety-one to ninety-five per cent of respondents were likely or very likely to
teach their students about the majority (11/17) of items. Eighty-five to eighty-six per cent
572 Sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions: A survey of pre-service teachers

of respondents were likely or very likely to teach their students about five of the 17 items.
By comparison, only 74% were likely or very likely to teach their students about SDG 5.
This item is related to their likelihood of teaching students how to identify gender
discrimination.

Figure 4: Overall results for action

Research question 2: What is the relationship (if any) between students’ year
and program and sustainability awareness, attitudes and action?

Comparisons between program years

Table 2 shows a significant difference between years for awareness. Year 2 students
reported higher levels of awareness than those in years 1, 3, 4 and 5.
Sunthonkanokpong & Murphy 573

Table 2: ANOVA results for awareness for years 1-5

Years N Mean SD. F

1 92 2.7976 .40111 4.064**
2 81 2.9246 .34625
3 92 2.8750 .35689
4 86 2.7041 .45451
5 39 2.8795 .36358
Total 390 2.8298 .39558
** The mean difference is significant at the .01 level.

Table 3 shows there was no significant difference between years 1-5 for attitudes.

Table 3: ANOVA results for attitudes for years 1-5

Years N Mean SD. F

1 92 3.2376 .38554 .133
2 81 3.2624 .34366
3 92 3.2617 .31150
4 86 3.2469 .42757
5 39 3.2841 .42022
Total 390 3.2552 .37303

Table 4 shows there was no significant difference between years 1-5 for actions.

Table 4: ANOVA results for actions for years 1-5

Years N Mean SD. F

1 92 3.1751 .34430 2.066
2 81 3.1745 .37223
3 92 3.1567 .35223
4 86 3.0412 .44825
5 39 3.2035 .42562
Total 390 3.1440 .38730

Comparisons for program type

Table 5 shows there was no significant difference between program types for awareness.

Table 5: ANOVA results for awareness for program type

Program N Mean SD. F

No major declared 92 2.7976 .40111 2.534
Telecommunications 118 2.9021 .39120
Electronics 96 2.7612 .41745
Computer 84 2.8420 .35727
Total 390 2.8298 .39558
574 Sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions: A survey of pre-service teachers

Table 6 shows there was no significant difference between program types for attitudes.

Table 6: ANOVA results for attitudes for program type

Program N Mean SD. F

No major declared 92 3.2376 .38554 .806
Telecommunications 118 3.2996 .37190
Electronics 96 3.2318 .37475
Computer 84 3.2386 .35976
Total 390 3.2552 .37303

Table 7 shows there was no significant difference between program types for actions.

Table 7: ANOVA of actions for program type

Program N Mean SD. F

No major declared 92 3.1751 .34430
Telecommunications 118 3.2067 .40502
2.596
Electronics 96 3.0949 .41498
Computer 84 3.0777 .36166
Total 390 3.1440 .38730

Discussion

This study conceptualised sustainability not only as an environmental imperative but also
an economic and social one. This conceptualisation is consistent with the UN’s 17 SDGs
that reflect environmental, economic and social imperatives. The study focused on pre-
service teachers’ cognitive awareness of, emotional attitudes towards and likelihood of
related action on sustainability. The study’s 51 survey items were based on learning
objectives for the 17 SDGS for each of these three categories. The research questions
focused on overall results as well as tests of significance to determine differences based on
program type and year of study.

Results for research question 1 showed an average higher percentage in the categories of
attitudes (90% very true of me + true of me) and action (91% very likely + likely) than for
awareness (69% very high + high). The comparatively lower levels of awareness (only
50% for consequences of malnutrition) suggest that the pre-service teachers may not have
the sustainability knowledge that they normally should impart to their future students.
Results for awareness are congruent with those of a survey of engineering students world-
wide by Azapagic, Perdan and Shallcross (2007), who found significant gaps in knowledge
and generally unsatisfactory levels of understanding of sustainable development. Similarly,
an Australian study of pre-service teachers (Ferreira, Ryan & Davis, 2015) found that 80%
were unaware or did not understand EfS.

Results showed relatively lower levels of awareness related to lack of water, the impacts of
energy production and the relationship between employment and economic growth. For
Sunthonkanokpong & Murphy 575

those charged with teaching future engineering technicians, a low level of awareness in
these areas is a concern. As Rahimifard and Clegg (2008) posited, engineers have a critical
role to play with regards to sustainable development. The awareness item related to the
consequences of malnutrition was ranked low. This relative lack of awareness points to
cultural differences and factors that may influence sustainability awareness in higher
education students. It also points to the value of taking into account specific cultural
needs when addressing EfS, keeping in mind that, depending on the country, certain
SDGs may be less relevant or important than others. In the case of Thailand, various
government strategies reduced the percentage of underweight preschool children from
51% in 1980 to less than 10% in 2006 (Chavasit, Kasemsup & Tontisirin, 2013) suggesting
that malnutrition is not a major problem in this country.

What may be surprising in the results is the difference between the percentages for
awareness versus those of attitude and action. In this regard, awareness would normally be
considered a necessary precursor to action and, perhaps even attitude. For participants in
this study, lower self-reported awareness did not appear to negatively affect attitudes. This
result is congruent with those of other studies. Kagawa (2007) found that students at a
UK university thought positively about sustainability but that this positive attitude did not
correlate with their familiarity of sustainability and sustainable development as concepts.
Similarly, Azapagic, Perdan and Shallcross (2007) found that, while students felt that
sustainable development was important, they demonstrated low levels of knowledge about
it. As Michalos et al. (2009) found, “sustainable development favourable attitudes are
much more important than sustainable development knowledge for explaining sustainable
development favourable behaviours” (p. 10).

Michalos et al. (2009) argued that “having attitudes favourable to sustainable development is
relatively more influential than age, levels of education and knowledge for engaging in
behaviours favourable to sustainable development” (p. vi). Attitudes were lowest for ‘I don’t
feel empathy with people who are different from what is normally expected in the
community regarding gender’. This item was also the one for which respondents indicated
the lowest level of action (‘I will teach students how to identify gender discrimination’).
This is in spite of Thailand’s 2015 adoption of a Gender Equality Act which includes
gender-responsive budgeting and opportunities for inclusive participation (see United
Nations Women, n.d.). A surprising result in relation to attitudes (Figure 3) is that 21%
(untrue of me + very untrue of me) indicated not feeling responsible for the
environmental impacts of their own lifestyle. The highest ranked item for attitudes was
that education for sustainable development is important. This result is consistent with
Michalos et al. (2009). In their study, this item also ranked highest (98%).

Results related to awareness and the second research question revealed no significant
program differences but there were differences between years. Year two students reported
higher levels of awareness than did respondents for years 1, 3, 4 and 5. It might be
expected that those with more experience and education (i.e., year 5 students) would be
those with more awareness. For example, Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) found, at least
for moral reasoning, that it increased as students progressed in years of study. It was
beyond the scope of the study to investigate why year 2 students had higher levels than
576 Sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions: A survey of pre-service teachers

year 5 students. It is possible that their program did not provide them with knowledge of
sustainability issues. If the program had done so, then one would expect to see higher
levels for each year with the highest in year 5. The other hypothesis is that, as a relatively
younger generation of students, year 2 students may have been exposed, either in their
program or elsewhere (e.g., social media) to sustainability issues more than their peers in
later years. In terms of likelihood of action, results revealed no significant differences for
program type or year. The fact that there is no difference between years is surprising. It
might be expected that those in their final year would be significantly more inclined
towards action.

Conclusions

This study has contributed to the literature on pre-service teachers’ sustainability

awareness, attitude and action. In particular, this study contributes to the literature related
to an Asian context where research on sustainability and higher education has tended to
be under-represented. The study also focused attention on the relevance of
conceptualising sustainability beyond its environmental dimension to encompass social
and economic aspects. Most importantly, the survey has illustrated how these three
dimensions of sustainability can be investigated from the perspective of awareness,
attitudes and action using the learning objectives provided by UNESCO (2017). Results
revealed that students can hold positive attitudes about sustainability and even be likely to
act on those attitudes in spite of a perceived lack of knowledge on the topic. Results also
highlighted that, while students can hold very positive attitudes and likelihood of action in
one area of sustainability, they may hold negative ones in other areas. In this case of this
study, gender equality and discrimination emerged as problematic. The highest levels of
awareness were related to topics to which the pre-service teachers may have had exposure
to and learned about outside of their studies. These topics include mental health and the
need for waste reduction, recycling and reuse. This result suggests that some of the targets
for sustainability may be satisfied through initiatives that are not necessarily branded as
sustainability-related. Universities may offer initiatives (e.g., mental health awareness days)
to support mental health awareness although these may not necessarily be promoted
under the banner of sustainability (see Australian Medical Students’ Association, 2013).

Results showed that 50% of participants reported low or very low levels of awareness
regarding malnutrition. This result confirms Holden et al.’s (2017) argument that
sustainability priorities can vary, meaning that “some countries may satisfy the imperatives
of respecting environmental limits and satisfying human needs, but not the imperative of
ensuring social equity” (p. 224). Holden et al. proposed a policy focus on six sustainability
themes such as those related to poverty, equity and climate change. Researchers such as
Quinlan (2011) interested in educating ‘the whole student’ have advocated specific foci on
particular issues through development of, for example, social responsibility, and not
separating the cognitive from the affective. Quinlan noted that approaches to this holistic
form of development may need to vary depending on the context but might include
problem-based learning or specialised curricula. In general, higher education institutes may
Sunthonkanokpong & Murphy 577

need to rethink overall priorities to avoid what Barnett and Coats (2005) referred to as a
tendency to focus more on economic goals and on preparing students for the workplace.

In terms of practice to improve sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions (SAAA),

Kalsoom and Khanam (2017) argued that sustainability education requires transformative
practices that lead to changes in and questioning of assumptions, cognition and values.
Kalsoom and Khanam listed drama and inquiry-based learning as practices that can
support transformation. Computers in general and virtual games specifically, may play a
role in these practices. Fabricatore and Lopez (2012) identified the value of digital games
for sustainability because of their entertainment value but more importantly because of
how they can engage learners in meaningful and collaborative ill-structured problem
solving. However, Fabricatore and Lopez also identified limitations of such approaches in
that existing games tend to narrow the focus to environmental aspects of sustainability.
They also noted that games typically tend to be designed for younger learners as opposed
to for those in higher education.

In this study, for both attitudes and actions, SDG 5 (gender) items ranked the lowest.
Subsequent studies could probe this particular SDG more deeply using additional
objectives from the 251 created by UNESCO (2017). For example, for SDG 5, as for the
other SDGs, there are five objectives for each of the cognitive, socio-emotional and
behavioural categories for a total of 15. In addition, there are suggested topics, examples
of learning approaches and methods. The value of the 251 learning objectives is that they
operationalise the SDGs and therefore offer a focus for researchers’ in-depth inquiry into
particular SDGs. In general, this study’s survey offers a tool for use by researchers
interested in investigating individuals’ SAAA using a perspective that considers the
construct in terms of three pillars.

Limitations

Results should be interpreted in relation to the limitations of the study. One of these
limitations is that the survey identified participants’ levels of SAAA without identifying
why they had these levels. Future studies might include, following analysis of survey
results, interviews or focus groups to gain insights into factors that influence students’
SAAA. It was beyond the scope of this study to ascertain participants’ SAAA prior to
beginning their program. Future studies might benefit from baseline measures of students’
SAAA as well as longitudinal measures. A further limitation of the study is that it was not
possible to identify those non-university related factors (e.g., exposure to sustainability
issues through social media) that might have influenced participants’ SAAA. This study
was also limited to self-report measures. As noted previously, participants may have
provided responses that reflect a social-desirability bias, i.e., they want to ‘look good’. The
study was conducted in one university only and in one country. It is up to the readers to
generalise the results to their context.
578 Sustainability awareness, attitudes and actions: A survey of pre-service teachers

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Dr Wisuit Sunthonkanokpong is Associate Professor and Chairman of the Electrical

Communications Engineering (M.S. Industrial Education) program at King Mongkut's
Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Bangkok, Thailand. He also lectures in
Engineering Education. He completed his PhD in competence development in the
electronics industry in Thailand. His research interests include innovation in engineering
education and electrical communications engineering education.
Email: [email protected]

Dr Elizabeth Murphy is a retired professor from the Faculty of Education, Memorial

University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada where she was the
2007-08 winner of the President’s Award for Outstanding Research.
Email: [email protected]

Please cite as: Sunthonkanokpong, W. & Murphy, E. (2019). Sustainability awareness,

attitudes and actions: A survey of pre-service teachers. Issues in Educational Research, 29(2),
562-582. http://www.iier.org.au/iier29/sunthonkanokpong.pdf