Establishing ESD as a topic in teacher training courses: New online lecture series for teachers and students

The state initiative "SDG 4 - Education for Sustainable Development in University Teacher Training in Saxony" aims to anchor Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in teacher training. The ZLSB at TU Dresden is involved in this by offering further training for multipliers, providing teaching and learning opportunities for student teachers and developing concepts for the implementation of ESD in the educational sciences, subject sciences and subject didactics.

As a first step, teachers seconded to the TU Dresden are currently being trained as multipliers for the topic of ESD. In workshops, they are learning how aspects of education for sustainable development can be integrated into courses. Teachers on secondment are then expected to pass on these approaches to other university lecturers.

In the summer semester of 2023, an online lecture series by the ZLSB entitled "ESD Orientation" will teach the basics of education for sustainable development (concepts, discourses, guidelines and strategies) and show practical examples of the integration of ESD across subject boundaries and as part of a whole-school approach. ESD experts from the Saxon Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, the State Office for Schools and Education, other universities and civil society have been recruited as lecturers.

Dr. Rachel Bowden, who coordinates the ZLSB's ESD activities, explains: "The course is aimed at both students and teachers of all subjects and school types. Teacher trainees can earn credit points as part of the elective module "ESD Basics and Practice" by combining the online lecture with a classroom seminar and participation in courses of the Erasmus+ Teacher Academy Project Teaching Sustainability.

Registration for the lecture series "ESD: Orientation" in OPAL: https://bildungsportal.sachsen.de/opal/auth/RepositoryEntry/38845317123