Critical Teacher Education for Social Sustainability: Voices from Zambian Student Teachers and Tutors

Yuan, Tingting; Carroll, Gail

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the contributions of teacher education to social sustainability in an African context. The study explored the gaps and connections between multiple layers of policy, global, regional, and national educational targets, and the voices of teacher education tutors and students from a local teacher education college in the Copperbelt region of Zambia. Semi-structured interviews were employed to gather participants’ views on their aspiration, knowledge transformation and professional capacity. Employing a critical realist approach, the study identifies four key ‘moments’ in teacher education (Robertson and Dale, 2015) and reveals dedicated teacher education practices that aim to support national economic development local demands for specialised subject knowledge, along with family and individual human needs within communities. The findings lead to a discussion mapping critical teacher education that promotes social sustainability within the Global South, emphasising the significant roles of teacher education in fostering a comprehensive understanding of societies and human well-being, encouraging reciprocal knowledge exchange within communities, and supporting the continued professional development of teachers.

Citation

Yuan, T., & Carroll, G. (2025). Critical Teacher Education for Social Sustainability: Voices from Zambian Student Teachers and Tutors. British Journal of Educational Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2025.2450348

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 3, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Jan 10, 2025
• Publication Date: Jan 10, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jan 6, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 13, 2025
• Journal: British Journal of Educational Studies
• Print ISSN: 0007-1005
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-8527
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2025.2450348
• Keywords: Teacher education, social sustainability, Zambia, community, human development
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/43949179
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00071005.2025.2450348
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=rbje20; Published: 2025-01-10