Exploring how University and School Board Partnerships can integrate Professional Development in Environmental and Sustainability Education

Abstract

Every level of education must support societal transformation towards environmental sustainability; with over eight million students, teachers and professors in Canada, both preservice and in-service K-12 teacher education is a key area that can contribute to addressing the climate crisis through Environmental & Sustainability Education (ESE). Yet these approaches to professional learning have often been delivered in isolation, with little precedence in bringing both preservice and inservice teachers together for integrated ESE professional learning opportunities. This article shares an exploration of this type of integrative professional development by introducing an innovative collaboration between a preservice teacher training program in one of Canada's largest faculties of education and a school board with one of the country's most active EcoSchools programs. It also presents the initial findings of a three year case study that tracks the impacts of this partnership in professional development. With some early successes already being identified, this partnership may prove to be an innovative addition to the literature on how university/school board partnerships can support professional learning in ESE.