Designing and evaluation the teacher education program for the United Nations' goal of reducing inequalities

The aim of this research is to determine the educational needs of primary school teachers for the United Nations' Goal of Reducing Inequalities, and to prepare, implement and evaluate teacher education program for these needs. The Goal of Reducing Inequalities is one of the 17 goals set by 193 countries under the umbrella of the United Nations in 2015 to solve global problems. The goal consists of 7 sub-targets and 3 supporting targets designed to reduce inequalities within and among countries. The Goal of Reducing Inequalities is also a target at the core of sustainable development goals. This three-fold study follows a mixed method within a multi-stage research design. Firstly, it defined the educational needs of teachers towards the Goal of Reducing Inequalities. Drawing on the difference aproach, the difference between what should be and what is at present was determined and interpreted as the educational needs of teachers. Secondly, The Teacher Education Program for the UN Goal of Reducing Inequalities was designed on the determined needs and the consistency of its dimension was examined through expert evaluation. Lastly, the education program was implemented online, and its effectiveness was tested in terms of improving teachers' knowledge and awareness of the Goal of Reducing Inequalities. The result of the need analysis revealed that the context of the Goal of Reducing Inequalities consists of 7 main themes, that these themes are expected to be adressed in primary education, and that teachers should have sustainable development education competencies that are positioned above the basic teacher competencies in education for sustainable development (and, thus, in education for the goal of reducing inequalities). However, the study observed that education for sustainable development is not included in preservice and in-service teacher education in Turkey, and that program participants had similar educational needs. The education program prepared to the results of the need analysis was presented for expert evaluation. As a result of the two-stage expert evaluation, it was understood that the dimensions of the program were consistent. The program was conducted online with the participation of 16 primary school teachers. The participants evaluated that program as up-to-date, interesting, clear, comprehensible, and supportive for producing solutions to daily life problems related to inequalities and appealing to emotions and thoughts. In addition, it was determined that program was effective in changing the participants' views that reducing inequalities was "impossible", "theoretical", or "only related to economics", in learning the basic concepts and sub-targets related to the goal of reducing inequalities, in raising awareness about the responsibilities of the teacher and the impact of education, and in analyzing classroom discourses from the framework of inequalities. Key Words: Reducing Inequalities, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Teacher Education, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Evaluation.