ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces readers to the field of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE), as supported by current research. It provides a short account of some of the global environmental challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic and recent bush fires. This leads to a discussion about the crucial impacts these challenges have on education and offers a conversation about ways forward with ESE as the anchoring point. It brings to light the need for ESE and its role in supporting mitigation of increasing global environmental concerns. The chapter provides key definitions and understandings of the terminology, a brief history of the evolving field along with a short review of key global as well as national policies that support ESE. It provides a rationale for our choice of ESE as the terminology for use in this book. It then outlines research in teacher education that positions teachers as change-makers. Finally, it identifies how this study addresses some of the challenges of implementation of ESE from early career teachers’ perspectives.
