Abstract
Teacher education holds the potential for a cultural, holistic sustainability change of the society. The sustainability reform in higher education is commonly pursued through sustainability competency frameworks. Sustainability competencies are often assessed with quantitative approaches in research literature. This research, as a part of a designbased research project, is crucial in filling the gap in the qualitative understanding of primary school student teachers’ sustainability competencies. The data, consisting of primary school student teachers’ open-ended self-assessments of five key sustainability competencies, were analyzed using a combination of inductive and deductive qualitative content analysis. The research suggests that in systems thinking, students’ ability to see the “bigger picture” varied or was unapparent. For strategic thinking, students identified impactful actions, but also felt inadequate in their actions. In collaboration competency, students struggled with emotions and knowledge-based justification during communication. Futures thinking competency revealed pessimistic, realistic, or positive outlooks, often marked by mistrust toward other people. In values thinking competency, students struggled to communicate their values to others. This study is significant as it provides a deeper understanding of primary school student teachers’ perceptions of their sustainability competencies, which can inform the development of an effective pedagogy that promotes sustainability competencies.