Sensemaking of the Filipino Gen Z Pre-service Science Teachers’ Sustainability Education Mindset: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Abstract

Generation Z educators are increasingly entering the teaching profession, yet their sustainability-related cognitive orientations remain largely unexamined. Mindset, as a construct of educational psychology, encapsulates one’s ingrained ways of thinking and valuing. As future science teachers, their mindset toward sustainability has the potential to influence how Education for Sustainable Development is internalized and contextualized in contemporary science classrooms. Understanding how they perceive sustainability may strengthen efforts in cultivating prudent science educators who are responsive to global and local educational challenges. This quantitative inquiry explored the Sustainability Education Mindset (SEM) of Filipino Gen Z pre-service science teachers using the 19-item Sustainable Education Scale developed by Çam-Tosun and Söğüt (2024). A total of 141 respondents participated in the study. Through Exploratory Factor Analysis, three distinct yet interrelated SEM factor dimensions emerged: Reflective Thinking (Looking Back), Systems Thinking (Looking Within), and Futures Thinking (Looking Forward). These newly surfaced components offer deeper insights into the cohort’s dynamic and sensible engagement with sustainability. Theoretically, the study contributes to the growing body of literature on cognitive orientations of future science teachers in the global south. Practically, the findings illuminate the actionable focal points for science teacher preparation programs, particularly in scaffolding reflective, systemic, and futuristic dispositions.