Science, religion and sustainability in schools: outlining a teacher learning community approach.

Sustainability is a large and growing field in educational research. Existing research has explored conceptually how the science/religion dialogue might inform sustainability education. This has the potential to enrich sustainability education by acknowledging difference and better engaging students across different religions and worldviews. Fostering a multidisciplinary approach to sustainability education in schools can help create connections between science, RE, geography, economics, and history, as these all contribute to critical thinking and inform compassionate action that supports social justice. Epistemically insightful approaches to teaching and learning have the potential to support this vital dialogue and push back against compartmentalization.
In this presentation, we will discuss preliminary work and findings for our pilot study with ECTs, funded by the International Network for Science and Belief in Society. Our project will assess the potential of a cross-national (England and Pakistan) teacher research community model for co-creating resources and approaches that address the above issues of the conflict model, compartmentalization and lack of understanding/confidence in the delivery of sustainability education across different curriculum subjects.