Sustainable Development Goals and Future-Oriented Teacher Education Programs

This study contributes to advancing Agenda 2030 outcomes by generating insights for more effective implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in higher education institutions (HEIs). With Education for Sustainable Development becoming critical to the agenda recently, the current study attempts to consolidate the existing research on SDG implementation in HEIs by using the systematic literature review (SLR) methodology. Specifically, the SLR synthesizes studies that offer insights into the SDG-related perceptions, needs, and behaviors of multiple internal and external stakeholders in the HEI ecosystem. The unique contribution of this SLR comes from the fact that its objective is to generate practicable inputs for teacher education programs which are aligned with outcomes enshrined in SDGs. For this purpose, the study used rigorous search protocol to identify 53 articles that focus on different stakeholders such as students, faculty, administrative staff, community, and industry. It analyzed the content of the articles to generate descriptive statistics such as year-wise volume of publication, key publication outlets, and methodological details. Furthermore, the study identified the key themes of research and discussed them from the perspective of three key stakeholder groups—academic and administrative staff of HEIs, learners, and multiple external stakeholders. The study also identified the gaps in the past research and suggested potential research directions for future researchers. In alignment with the research objectives, the study provided SDG-specific inputs for teacher education/training programs developed to train pre-service teachers and upskill academics currently teaching at various levels.