Abstract:
In this paper, we introduce preserve teachers in their first year of their Bachelor of Education at a university in Australia. These students are engaged in a science unit for the development of pro-environmental engagement as an applied dimension of scientific literacy. As part of this unit, they are required to conduct an evidence-based appraisal of their current consumption practices, redesign practices to reduce their ‘ecological footprint’ and evaluate their success or otherwise. They submit a report as well as an open-ended, reflective journal that they keep for the 12-week duration of the semester. We analyse their reflective writing from a sociocultural perspective and show how the students draw creatively upon resources from their life worlds to position themselves within the reflective space as responsible for action related to sustainable consumption. Our analysis highlights the reflective spaces created by these young adults as contradictory in their struggle to negotiate responsibilities as global citizens, future educators and as members of a consumer generation.