Examining primary school teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in education for sustainable development

The primary aim of this study is to adapt the "Teacher Self-Efficacy for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Scale," originally developed by Malandrakis et al.(2019), into Turkish and to examine its psychometric properties. Additionally, the study aims to determine the levels of self-efficacy beliefs, perceived content knowledge (PCK), and perceived pedagogical content knowledge (PPCK) of primary school teachers in Turkey regarding sustainable development. It also investigates whether these variables differ according to demographic characteristics and explores the relationships among them. The sample of the study consists of 1,012 primary school teachers working in the provinces of Ağrı, Bingöl, and Van and their respective districts, selected through a convenient sampling method. Data were collected using a Demographic Information Form and the Turkish version of the ESD Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale. The scale's construct validity was examined through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and its internal consistency-based reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. The findings indicated that the scale is a valid and reliable tool for measuring teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and pedagogical content knowledge related to ESD. Correlation analyses revealed significant and positive relationships among self-efficacy, PCK, and PPCK. A strong positive correlation was found specifically between the "action" sub-dimension of self-efficacy and PCK, while moderate positive correlations were observed with the other sub-dimensions. A significant gender-based difference was found only in self-efficacy levels, with male teachers scoring slightly higher; however, the effect size was small. No significant gender differences were found in PCK and PPCK levels. Teachers who had taken an ESD course demonstrated significantly higher self-efficacy and PPCK levels than those who had not, though no significant difference was found in PCK. Similarly, teachers with postgraduate education scored significantly higher in all dimensions compared to those with only undergraduate degrees; however, the effect sizes were generally small. Years of professional experience yielded significant differences only in PCK levels. These findings highlight the importance of in-service training and academic development opportunities aimed at enhancing teacher competencies in the context of education for sustainable development.