Satu Kajian Pentingnya Pengetahuan Guru dalam Pelaksanaan Program Sekolah Lestari di Malaysia

A Study on the Importance of Teachers’ Knowledge in The Implementation of the Program of Sustainable Schools in Malaysia

Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) was formally implemented in Malaysian school system in 2011 through the Sustainable School - An Environment Award Program (SLAAS), parallel to the objective of the National Environmental Policy (2002) and the UN-DECADE international movement (2005-2014). Efforts towards nurturing the ESD among the school community are crucial in order to curb the practice of unsustainability. Thus, education is the most ideal approach to spread the information about protecting the environment towards sustainable development. Through the SLAAS, exposure on ESD and activities contributing to it can be delivered by teachers in organized programs. Sufficient and significant information can help towards the development of positive attitude and behaviour. This study discusses the three ESD knowledge domains which are (i) Knowledge of SLAAS, (ii) Content Knowledge of ESD in general and (iii) Knowledge of ESD practice in schools in implementing the SLAAS. This study conducted a survey involving 245 respondents utilizing a questionnaire instrument. The findings showed high level of knowledge of SLAAS (mean=17.95; sd=2.72) and content knowledge of ESD (mean=34.93; sd=5.13). The knowledge of ESD practice among teachers were at the moderate level (mean=24.36; sd=5.22). The findings of this research proved that teachers can play a major role in utilizing their ESD knowledge and sharing it with the school community particularly the students.