SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM IN TEACHER TRAINING BETWEEN 2015 – 2023

Abstract

Considering the importance of environmental education in initial teacher training, this study presents the results of a research that investigated how the environmental education curriculum is integrated into teacher training, through a systematic review of scientific articles. Using Google Scholar, 3730 articles were initially identified using the keywords "environmental education" in initial teacher training curricula, published between 2015 and 2023. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 41 articles were selected for detailed analysis. The abstracts were organized in a meta-research model in Excel and submitted to Content Analysis using the IRaMuTeq software, allowing the identification of thematic patterns and emerging trends. Textual analysis revealed the prevalence of keywords such as "environmental education", "teacher training" and "curriculum", indicating their centrality in the academic literature. The Descending Hierarchical Classification identified three classes related to the theoretical approach, teacher training context and curriculum development. The Similarity Analysis demonstrated significant connections between the keywords, highlighting the importance of the discussion about the training curriculum and the need to investigate how different courses approach the environmental theme. The results highlight that studies on the environmental education curriculum focus on disciplines such as Biological Sciences, Geography, Pedagogy and Chemistry, often not fully following the established legal guidelines. These findings underscore the urgency of effective integration of environmental education into teacher training curricula, in line with legislative requirements.