IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i9p3535-d1381429.html

Building Capacity for Sustainability Education: An Analysis of Vocational Teachers’ Knowledge, Readiness, and Self-Efficacy

Author

Listed:
  • Wudi Yang

    (Graduate Institute for Taiwan Studies, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China)

  • Caleb Chidozie Chinedu

    (Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja 86400, Malaysia)

  • Wulin Chen

    (Faculty of Education, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China)

  • Atif Saleem

    (School of Education, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland)

  • Moses Oladele Ogunniran

    (Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Technology Studies, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA)

  • Diego Ramiro Ñacato Estrella

    (Facultad de Informática y Electrónica, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo, Panamericana Sur km. 1 1/2, Riobamba 060155, Ecuador)

  • Bayardo Vaca Barahona

    (Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación Sociales, Filosóficas y Humanísticas, Universidad Estatal de Bolívar, Guaranda 020103, Ecuador)

Abstract

In contributing towards the discourse on developing teachers’ capabilities for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), this study examines the relationships between sustainability knowledge, readiness, and self-efficacy for teaching sustainability concepts among vocational teachers in Malaysian colleges. Grounded in Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, the research assesses the combined effect of teachers’ sustainability knowledge and readiness on their ability to teach sustainability effectively. Using a cross-sectional survey design, a sample of three hundred and seventy-five (375) vocational college teachers and structural equation modeling (SEM), the results indicate no significant link between teachers’ sustainability knowledge and their readiness for ESD. However, a positive relationship between teachers’ readiness and their self-efficacy was found. The study shows that while sustainability knowledge does not directly enhance readiness for ESD, it is a strong predictor of self-efficacy in teaching sustainability. Moreover, readiness has a greater effect on self-efficacy than sustainability knowledge alone, highlighting the importance of conceptual understanding in building teachers’ confidence and competence in sustainability education. Despite focusing specifically on Malaysia and using self-reported data, which to some extent limits the study’s findings, the outcomes offer practical insights for educational policymakers, vocational institutions, and educators. They underscore the need for a comprehensive educational approach beyond just knowledge transfer. This research contributes to the sustainability education discourse and suggests areas for future studies, including exploring contextual differences and adopting longitudinal study designs to better understand the dynamics between sustainability knowledge, readiness, and teaching self-efficacy in vocational education.

Suggested Citation

  • Wudi Yang & Caleb Chidozie Chinedu & Wulin Chen & Atif Saleem & Moses Oladele Ogunniran & Diego Ramiro Ñacato Estrella & Bayardo Vaca Barahona, 2024. "Building Capacity for Sustainability Education: An Analysis of Vocational Teachers’ Knowledge, Readiness, and Self-Efficacy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:9:p:3535-:d:1381429
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/9/3535/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/9/3535/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eliyawati & Ari Widodo & Ida Kaniawati & Hiroki Fujii, 2023. "The Development and Validation of an Instrument for Assessing Science Teacher Competency to Teach ESD," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Caleb Chidozie Chinedu & Atif Saleem & Wan Hanim Nadrah Wan Muda, 2023. "Teaching and Learning Approaches: Curriculum Framework for Sustainability Literacy for Technical and Vocational Teacher Training Programmes in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-24, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ashman Shahrudin Bin Khairuddin, 2025. "Steering Through Multi-Level Contradictions: Paradoxical Leadership in the Sustainability Transition of Malaysian Higher Education," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 17(3), pages 172-183.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Albertz, Annabell & Pilz, Matthias, 2025. "Green skills at Industrial Training Institutes in India: An exploratory study of VET teachers’ subjective theories," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    2. Tuba Stouthart & Dury Bayram & Jan van der Veen, 2023. "Capturing Pedagogical Design Capacity of STEM Teacher Candidates: Education for Sustainable Development through Socioscientific Issues," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-26, July.
    3. Nurazima Azniza & Salmalina Salleh, 2025. "Factors Impacting TVET Pre-Service Teachers’ Intention to Integrate Education for Sustainable Development in Learning and Facilitation: A Pilot Study," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(8), pages 2115-2123, August.
    4. Chen Guo & Ying Huang & Xiangdong Chen, 2024. "Research on Integration of the Sustainable Development Goals and Teaching Practices in a Future Teacher Science Education Course," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-14, June.
    5. Sharifah Intan Sharina Syed-Abdullah & Iryna Kushnir & Nur Aira Abdrahim, 2023. "Narratives on Education for Sustainable Development in Malaysian Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-14, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:9:p:3535-:d:1381429. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.