Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Canaran Ö. (Yürütücü), Bayram İ.
Yükseköğretim Kurumları Destekli Proje, BAP Araştırma Projesi, 2022 - 2023
Research has shown language teachers do not consider Sustainable Development (SD) as relevant to their field, and they do not
address Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their lessons. Most English teachers rarely work with colleagues who teach
sustainability or they can seldom find activities and materials to incorporate SDGs in their teaching. This is partly due to the
insufficient coverage of SDGs in pre-service education, or a lack of on-the-job training opportunities on why SDGs matter in
education and English language teaching. The aim of this project is to explore student teachers’ evaluations of a course entitled
“Sustainable Development in English Language Teaching”. A further objective of the project is to enable student teachers to
develop an understanding of Education for Sustainable Development, as well as gain basic knowledge and skills in designing
instructional materials addressing SDGs in language classes.
Adopting a phenomenological research design, the study will describe the lived experiences of 15 3rd and 4th grade student
teachers from English language teaching department. The 14-week course will be offered for 2 hours a week and delivered
online by an English language teacher trainer. The course will be based on the presentation and discussions of why the SDGs
matter to education and teachers, pillars of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and workshops on how to incorporate
SDGs in English language teaching through four skills, lesson planning and materials preparation. Data will be collected via
focus group interviews and reflective journals. The interviews will be carried out to reveal the participants’ reflections on the
course upon its completion. Another data collection instrument is student-teachers’ reflective journals. Written on a monthly
basis, the journals will pose some guiding questions that help the participants reflect on the content and implementation of the
course. Data will be analyzed through thematic analysis.
Findings from the project can add to the development of scientific knowledge and practice considering SDGs in language teacher
education in Turkish English as a Foreign Language context as well as provide an example of a good practice in implementing
ESD at Turkish higher education. Since SDGs are not yet effectively included in language teacher education in Turkey, the
course is expected to provide prospective teachers with the awareness of global citizenship and encourage them to assume
active roles, both locally and globally, in building more peaceful and inclusive societies through language teaching. The project
can further provide an opportunity for the professional development of student teachers in lesson planning and materials
preparation compatible with sustainability thus enriching their pedagogical skills for now and future.