1. FIRST-YEAR TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS’
REFLECTIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS ABOUT
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND
ENHANCING LEARNING PRACTICES
Anu Liljeström , Henriikka Vartiainen, Petteri Vanninen,
Jorma Enkenberg & Sinikka Pöllänen
University of Eastern Finland, Philosophical Faculty,
School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education
Savonlinna Campus
Forest as Learning
Environment- project
Blended learning- TechnologyEnhanced Teaching and Learning
Environments- project

2. Background of the study
• The complex and multi-disciplinary
nature of sustainable development :
• Local <-> Global
• Formal <-> Informal
• Transdisciplinarity (UNESCO, 2005; 2009)
• Skills for the 21st century
(Binkley et al., 2011; NETP, 2010)

3. Research aims
• To create baseline knowledge about
the use of out-of-school environments,
expertise and technology in Finnish
education
• To find out how the first year teacher
education students intent to use the
pillars of the learning ecosystem as
part of their future teaching

4. Conceptual model for learning ecosystem
Phenomena related to SD
Information
resources
Non-digital
Digital
Community
resources
Technological
resources
Real-life
objects
for
making
for searching
information
for organizing,
constructing,
and presenting data
for collecting
information
for
collaboration
for reflecting on
and evaluating
knowledge and
information
Extended
school
School

5. Research questions
1. How do first-year teacher education students
a) perceive sustainable development?
b) see the role of sustainability and forests in
the future in work?
2. How much do first-year teacher education
students have had experiences in their past
education about learning in diverse
a) physical (nature and culture),
b) social (extended communities), and
c) technological environments?
3. Does the intent work as a teacher depend on
the students’ experiences and the relationship to
the forest?

6. Participants
• 121 First-year teacher education students
• Class teacher education (N= 46)
• Kindergarten teacher education ( N=41)
• Home economics teacher education ( N=22)
• Textile teacher education (N=11)
• 18-41 years, Md= 20 years, 82 % female

7. Data collection methods and analysis
Data
Analysis
Qualitative data,
open-ended items.
Deductive (Brown et al.,
1987) and inductive
content analysis
Items
Reliability
n=3
SD and forest
Quantitative data, close –ended items
(five-point Likert scale):
n=45
Alpha .914
Past education and future
work as a teacher
Descriptive statistical
n=35
methods
Kruskal–Wallis one-way
analysis of variance
Alpha .910
Use of technology and tools
Descriptive statistical
methods
Alpha .749
n=6

8. How do first-year teacher students of
education perceive sustainable development?
Perceptions of sustainable development
70.0
60.0
61.2
50.0
Percent
40.0
30.0
24.8
20.0
10.0
.8
0
11.6
.0
Ecological
(missing 1,6 %)
Social
Economic
Combination
Other

9. How do first-year teacher education
students see the role of sustainability and
forests in the future in work as a teacher?
Forest and SD
SD and future teaching
40
45
37.6
42.5
40
35
34.9
35
30
30
25.6
25
20
25
17.9
22.6
20
17.1
15
15
10
10
10.5
5
8.5
5
1.7
0.1
0
0
As teaching content
As teaching method
As teaching content
As enrichment of teaching
As learning environment
As combination
As learning environment
As mediator
Value itself
Other
Other

10. Research question 2 a: Learning outside
school in forest and nature environments
n = 15, (alpha .854), N=121, item medians
Never
Seldom
A few times
Often
Very often
Using
Effectiveness of the using
Learning projects situated outside
In kindergarten
1
2
3
4
5
In primary school
1
2
3
4
5
In secondary school
1
2
3
4
5
In high school
1
2
3
4
5
Future
1
2
3
4
5

11. Research question 2 a: Participating in learning
projects that integrate school subjects
Never
Seldom
A few times
Often
Very often
n = 5, (alpha .839), N=121, item medians
In kindergarten
1
2
3
4
5
In primary school
1
2
3
4
5
In secondary school
1
2
3
4
5
In high school
1
2
3
4
5
Future
1
2
3
4
5

12. Research question 2 b: Collaboration with
expert communities
Never
Seldom
A few times
Often
Very often
n = 10, (alpha .866), N=121, item medians
In kindergarten
1
2
3
4
5
In primary school
1
2
3
4
5
In secondary school
1
2
3
4
5
In high school
1
2
3
4
5
Future
1
2
3
4
5
Visits to expert communities
Experts’ visits to the schools

13. Research question 2 c: Using ICT for
collaboration with expert communities
Never
Seldom
A few times
Often
Very often
n = 5, (alpha .805), N=121, item medians
In kindergarten
1
2
3
4
5
In primary school
1
2
3
4
5
In secondary school
1
2
3
4
5
In high school
1
2
3
4
5
Future
1
2
3
4
5

14. Research question 2 c: Frequencies of the use of
technology and tools
A few times (3)
Often (4)
Very often (5)
19.8
6.6
27.3
13.2
37.2
9.9
21.5
27.3
29.8
18.2
24.0
41.3
8.3
43.0
22.3
13.2
1.7
19.8
3.3
3.3
2.32
3.61
2.52
2.66
2
4
3
3
Tools for organizing, constructing, and
presenting data (%)
Tools for reflecting on and evaluating
knowledge and information (%)
32.2
36.4
20.7
8.3
1 0.8
2.08
2
16.5
41.3
33.1
9 7.4
- (0.0)
2.32
2
´
Median
Seldom (2)
Physical tools for making (%)
Tools for searching for information (%)
Tools for collaboration (%)
Tools for collecting information (%)
Mean
Never (1)
n=6, M = 2.58, (alpha = .749) N=121, item medians

15. Research question 3. Students with least, between,
and most experiences and their intent in their
future work.
In past education vs. future intent

16. Summary of the results
• Understanding the multidisciplinary nature of SD
is a challenge.
• The results reveal the problematic interpretations
that students have about the nature of SD and
role of the forest. Conceptions of manners in
integration of SD with school practices vary
strongly.
• Students have very few experience of learning
which is situated in diverse learning ecosystem. If
this trend will continue, it will be very difficult to
integrate SD and forest to school practices.
• The experiences in the students’ own school
history and their perceptions of the roles of
diverse learning ecosystem in their future careers
as a teacher are deeply connected

17. Implications
If we agree, (as we should) that SD and forest are important parts
of education, we should be able to do in teacher education
following:
1. During their studies the students should face with
complex and multidimensional challenges, phenomena and to
embedded real objects outside of classrooms (cf. Vartiainen and
Enkenberg 2013).
2. Students should have opportunities to work with
relevant open learning tasks, to design their learning ecosystem
and construct collaboratively solutions (cf. Vartiainen et al, 2012,
Liljeström et al, 2013, Mitzuko et al, 2013, OpenForest –portal Vanninen et al, 2013).
3. Learning processes should emphasize self-organization
while solving complex multidisciplinary tasks (cf. Mitra 2013)

18. References:
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Mitra, S. 2013. Build a School in the Cloud
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