Abstract:

The integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into teacher education is a global imperative. However, a significant challenge persists in moving student teachers beyond the acquisition of knowledge towards the adoption of sustainable behaviours and practices. This study investigates this critical knowledge-behaviour gap, exploring the pedagogical approaches teacher educators employ to foster not just understanding, but tangible change agency for sustainability in their students. The research aims to identify the specific strategies and challenges faced by educators in translating SDG frameworks into transformative professional practice.

This qualitative case study draws on data from semi-structured interviews with six teacher educators in a South African Faculty of Education. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts was conducted, framed by the conceptual lenses of Transformative Learning Theory and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The analysis focused specifically on educators' reported pedagogical strategies, their observations of student outcomes, and the perceived barriers to achieving behavioural change.

Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with six educators, the study reveals that they clearly identify the problem: students grasp SDG concepts but struggle to translate them into actionable pedagogy. In direct response to this challenge, the educators are developing and implementing nuanced pedagogical strategies.

These include deliberately contextualizing learning within the socio-economic realities of future school placements, fostering a sense of immediate professional responsibility, and designing for sustained engagement beyond singular activities. A key finding, however, is that these innovative efforts are often isolated, occurring without robust institutional support structures. The study concludes that bridging the knowledge-practice gap requires a systemic shift towards transformative pedagogies that engage the cognitive, affective, and behavioural domains. It highlights the urgent need for teacher education programmes to move beyond policy rhetoric and establish collaborative professional learning communities to empower educators as central agents of change for sustainability.

Keywords:

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Teacher Education, Knowledge-Behaviour Gap, Transformative Learning, Pedagogical Approaches, South Africa.