The importance of pre-service teacher training regarding environmental education (EE) has been vastly demonstrated. This systematic review examined the existing evidence from studies evaluating and analysing the relationship between EE, including environmental competences and pre-service primary school teacher training. The literature review performed included 24 documents (22 peer reviewed journal articles and two doctoral theses). The strategy followed consisted in locating documents by a reliable search strategy; establishing the criteria for the selection of documents to analyse from the documents located and rigorously analysing the documents selected based on clear and precise criteria and dimensions. In general terms, the literature review analysis has emphasised the lack of environmental competences amongst pre-service teacher students and the gaps in the teacher training curriculums regarding EE. The overall scarcity of research in this area, jointly with certain gaps and methodological limitations, affirms the need for strengthening the evidence base.

Purpose: In this paper, the results of an investigation aimed at analysing and comparing the environmental competences of future teachers undergoing training in two universities are presented. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the difference in the acquisition of environmental competences amongst two groups of students enrolled in two universities with different levels of introduction of the environmental education (EE) and sustainability contents in their curriculums. This objective is inserted into a wider finality: to provide recommendations regarding the redesign of pre-service teacher training curricula and learning programmes.Design/methodology/approach: A specifically designed questionnaire was used in this study to analyse the environmental competencies of students in the final year of their degree in primary education in two Spanish universities. One of them had a highly environmentally oriented programme, and the other had a scarcely environmentally oriented programme.Findings: Results show that no significant differences were observed in the results related to the greening level of the training programmes. Pre-service teachers have insufficient environmental knowledge, but with quite positive, responsible attitudes towards environmental issues, and pro-environmental actions that could be categorised as moderate. Results point to the need for further and better pre-service teacher training in environmental issues.Originality/value: One of the main factors in the appropriate treatment of EE in schools is teacher training. Despite this principle being widely recognised, not all pre-service teacher training programmes adequately address EE. The added value of this paper is the comparison established between the students that followed a degree with a high impact of the environmental competences in its curriculum and another one that has very few references to these competences in the curriculum.

En este artículo se evalúan las competencias ambientales (CA) del profesorado en formación inicial al comienzo y en la finalización del Grado de Maestro/a en Educación Primaria (GMEP) en una universidad española. Se ha desarrollado y validado un cuestionario con el fin de evaluar seis CA en relación con los conocimientos, las actitudes y los comportamientos ambientales de los y las estudiantes de la muestra (n = 341). Los resultados del estudio revelan que el profesorado en formación inicial carece de las CA suficientes con las que educar ambientalmente a su alumnado y que no existen diferencias en el grado de adquisición de estas competencias entre el alumnado de primer y cuarto curso del GMEP. Como resultado, se cuestiona el papel de la Universidad y los nuevos programas diseñados en el proceso de convergencia hacia el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior y se sugieren algunas propuestas de mejora.

This paper analyzed the relationship that certain demographic and educational variables might have on the training in environmental education (EE) received by undergraduate students enrolled in a Degree in Primary Education (DPE) at two Spanish universities. For this purpose, they were given a questionnaire to assess the link between certain personal and educational characteristics relating to the students in the sample (n = 274) and three components of an environmental competence (EC) model: environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. The results indicate that variables like gender, the students’ habitual place of residence, the type of leisure activities they undertook, and some educational factors had a significant impact on the acquisition of the said competencies. In light of these outcomes, the paper reflects on the possible role that non-university contexts might play in environmental education for pre-service teachers.

En este artículo se analiza el tratamiento que se hace del concepto "desarrollo sostenible" en la normativa básica que regula el currículum de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria en España. Para ello se analiza: qué conceptos relacionados con el de sostenibilidad aparecen en la normativa y con qué frecuencia lo hacen; en qué cursos y materias de esta etapa así como en qué elementos auriculares aparece la sostenibilidad; y, finalmente, el enfoque que se patrocina desde el cuerpo normativo. La metodología utilizada ha sido el análisis lexicográfico y de contenido de, por un lado, el principal decreto que regula la enseñanza secundaria obligatoria en España, el Real Decreto 1631/2006 por el que se establecen las enseñanzas mínimas correspondientes a la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y, por otro lado, los decretos reguladores de la enseñanza secundaria obligatoria de las Comunidades Autónomas de las Islas Baleares (Decreto 73/2008) y Madrid (Decreto 23/2007).