SUSTAINABILITY CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG STEM EDUCATORS AND ITS LINKS TO AGRICULTURAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE AWARENESS

Tayfun Tutak; Fatma Erdogan; Mehmet Polat

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SUSTAINABILITY CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG STEM EDUCATORS AND ITS LINKS TO AGRICULTURAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE AWARENESS

Title	SUSTAINABILITY CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG STEM EDUCATORS AND ITS LINKS TO AGRICULTURAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE AWARENESS
Publication Type	Journal Article
Year of Publication	2026
Authors	Tutak, T, Erdogan, F, Polat, M
Journal	Journal of Baltic Science Education
Volume	25
Issue	5
Start Page	899-922
Pagination	Continuous
Date Published	October / 2026
Type of Article	Original article
ISSN	1648-3898
Other Numbers	E-ISSN 2538-7138
Keywords	agricultural awareness, climate change awareness, STEM education, structural equation modelling, sustainability consciousness
Abstract	Global climate and food security crises make sustainability competencies among STEM educators increasingly critical. This study examined structural relationships among science and mathematics teachers’ sustainability consciousness, climate change awareness, and agricultural awareness. Using a correlational survey design, data from 482 teachers in eastern Türkiye were analysed through structural equation modelling and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. The sample comprised 269 science teachers and 213 mathematics teachers. Results showed that sustainability consciousness positively and significantly predicted both climate change and agricultural awareness, and that climate change awareness partially mediated the effect on agricultural awareness. Although overall awareness levels clustered in the moderate range, the pedagogical competence and classroom implementation dimensions for agricultural topics remained low, indicating a gap between cognitive readiness and practice. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses supported measurement invariance across science and mathematics teachers. Overall, teachers can conceptually connect climate and agriculture issues, yet they lack the procedural and pedagogical tools to enact this knowledge in classrooms (“Green in Theory, Brown in Practice”). Teacher education should therefore move beyond raising environmental knowledge and systematically strengthen pedagogical content knowledge with practice-based training for climate–agriculture instruction.
URL	https://oaji.net/articles/2026/987-1793131918.pdf
DOI	10.33225/jbse/26.25.899
Refereed Designation	Refereed
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