Climate change education readiness among early childhood pre-service teachers : the roles of socio-emotional competence, attitudes, teaching self-efficacy, and subjective norms

Abstract

Climate change education (CCE) has been increasingly recognized as an important component of early childhood education. However, little is known about the psychological factors associated with pre-service teachers' readiness to teach climate change. This study examined the levels of socio-emotional competence (SEC), teaching self-efficacy (TSE), attitudes toward teaching climate change education (ATT), subjective norms (SN), and intention to teach climate change education (ITT) among early childhood pre-service teachers in Java Island. It also investigated the relationships among these variables based on the perspectives of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 495 early childhood pre-service teachers. Instrument validity and reliability were established using Rasch analysis, while the hypothesized relationships were examined using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were additionally employed to examine demographic differences. The findings revealed that most participants demonstrated moderate levels of SEC, ATT, SN, TSE, and ITT. Gender, type of university, and type of major showed no significant differences across the studied variables, whereas enrollment in environment-related courses was associated with significantly higher levels of ATT, SN, TSE, and ITT. SEC was positively related to ATT (β = 0.436), SN (β = 0.476), and TSE (β = 0.586). Furthermore, ATT (β = 0.236), SN (β = 0.168), and TSE (β = 0.533) were positively associated with ITT, with TSE emerging as the strongest predictor. Although SEC had no significant direct relationship with ITT (β = 0.034; p = 0.207), it demonstrated significant indirect relationship through ATT, SN, and TSE. These findings suggest that socio-emotional competence contributes to climate change teaching intention primarily through its relationship on attitudes, perceived social support, and teaching self-efficacy.