Leading professional learning for sustainability in geography education through curriculum design

PurposeInternational and national education policy identifies the need for young people to develop knowledge and understanding of sustainability and to use this knowledge for positive action. This paper reflects on a larger curriculum investigation project that used the Curriculum Design Coherence (CDC) Model with in-service teachers as a professional learning framework to engage their learners with sustainability in geography education. This paper outlines the diffractive insights of two teacher educators, making sense of our contribution to the project in order to explicitly discern our roles.Design/methodology/approachOur enquiry is situated within the participatory paradigm in which we recognise the roles of teachers and teacher educators are entangled in the co-production of knowledge.FindingsWe find that curriculum design, with its focus on disciplinary knowledge is an important aspect of curriculum coherence in relation to the concept of sustainability. Significantly informed collaboration between teachers and teacher-educators enriches professional learning through engagement with both research materials and conceptually informed dialogues.Practical implicationsWe conclude that more research on the role of teacher knowledge with practitioners, is needed to enable professional empowerment so that in turn young people can become informed and critical citizens.Originality/valueThis paper draws on a posthumanist philosophy and a diffractive methodology to make explicit the epistemic role of the teacher educator in a climate change and sustainability education project.