ADULT EDUCATION TEACHERS’ COMPETENCIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

This paper presents the results of a study conducted on a sample of teachers working in adult education in Croatia with the aim of determining whether they possess the competencies needed for the implementation of sustainable development in the teaching process. The results show that the teachers who participated in the study mostly expressed positive attitudes but lower levels of both knowledge about sustainable development concepts and education for it. Even though teachers on average self-evaluated that they possessed almost every generic and specific competency needed for sustainable development, their self-evaluation also shows that they only partially possess the competencies directly connected with the implementation of sustainable development in the adult education teaching process.


INTRODUCTION
Despite the increase in research interest and a significant number of scientific papers that examine the topic of sustainable development (SD), this concept is still one of the most inconsistently defined terms today (Rončević & Rafajac, 2012). The most commonly cited definition of SD in the literature (Ličen, 2011;Orlović-Lovren, 2012;Quiroz-Niño & Murga-Menoyo, 2017) comes from Our Common Future and defines it as a "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (World Commission on Environment and Development [WCED], 1987, p. 43). According to this definition, SD implies the concept of needs as well as the idea of limitations that stem from the effects technology and social organisation have on the environment's ability to satisfy present and future needs (WCED, 1987). Correspondingly, other definitions imply the idea of limitation, the fair division of resources and opportunities, as well as understanding of the interconnection between the environment, economy, and society (Martins et al., 2006). In accordance with the previous statement, the concept of SD consists of three dimensions: the environmental, the social, and the economic (Ciegis et al., 2009).
With the aim of achieving environmental, social, and economic sustainability, a new United Nations (UN) development agenda, Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, was approved (UN, 2015) during the UN Sustainable Development Summit held in September 2015 (Pavić-Rogošić, 2015). Its main framework consists of seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To achieve these global goals, quality education for sustainable development has to be implemented at all education levels (Cebrián et al., 2020;Evans, 2019), including adult education.

ADULT EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Education for sustainable development (ESD) represents a dynamic concept that implies a new vision in education with the aim of empowering people of all age groups to take responsibility for the creation of a sustainable future (UNESCO, 2014). In this context, ESD implies adult education programs that encourage the development of skills, values, and attitudes for "tak[ing] informed decisions and responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society" (UNESCO, 2018, p. 38). Quiroz-Niño and Murga-Menoyo (2017) emphasize the fact that adult education programs, aligned with SD principles and values, are essential in achieving the 2030 Agenda goals. However, it is apparent that the vast majority of education programs do not reflect the principles, purposes, and goals of SD (Klapan et al., 2008;Sterling, 2016), and that SD integration in adult education is still slow and insufficient (Orlović-Lovren, 2015).
Even though adult education has been mentioned in more recent documents and initiatives at the international level, it is still insufficiently represented in education policy documents and programs for ESD implementation in the period after 2015. In recent documents (e.g. UN, 2015;World Bank & IMF, 2014) the concept of lifelong learning is perceived in a very restrictive manner and at its core exclusively focused on the promotion of economic growth (Kušić et al., 2014(Kušić et al., , 2015Regimi, 2015) at the expense of education for personal, civil, and sustainable development (Orlović-Lovren, 2012). Apart from promoting economic growth and adult training for the labour market, lifelong learning and adult education, coordinated with SD principles and goals, have to reflect a transformative approach and enable adults to gain competencies needed for active participation in important social matters, encourage the development of skills needed to assert their rights and emancipation as well as promote the importance of their personal and professional development. As part of this approach, adult education teachers are required to act as agents of change (Bentham, 2013;Kušić et al., 2016;Rieckmann & Holz, 2017;UNESCO, 2017;Vukelić, 2020). Not only are teachers expected to teach about SD, but also to, with the encouragement of adult learners, actively participate in activities which contribute to SD as well as to lead sustainable lifestyles (Bentham, 2013).

ADULT EDUCATION TEACHERS' COMPETENCIES FOR SD
In order to lead a sustainable lifestyle, teachers have to possess competencies that promote acting in the direction of SD in certain contexts (Besong & Holland, 2015;Chinnasamy & Daniels, 2019). Thus, competencies for SD could be defined as "complexes of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable successful task performance and problem-solving with respect to real-world sustainability problems, challenges, and opportunities" (Wiek, 2010, as cited in Besong & Holland, 2015, p. 7).
Due to the fact that it requires the possession of various competencies, it has been shown that the implementation of SD in education institutions represents a tough challenge for teachers (Bertschy et al., 2013;Borg et al., 2012;Uitto & Saloranta, 2017). The results of various studies show that teachers rarely feel competent enough to teach about SD (Borg et al., 2012). These types of teachers' evaluations are frequently determined by their perception of their knowledge about SD as well as their attitudes and evaluations regarding the importance of ESD -what ESD teachers evaluate as important, i.e., the more they deem they are familiarised with the contents and fields of SD, the higher their self-evaluations regarding readiness and competency for its implementation (Vukelić, 2020).
A study conducted among teachers in Latvian adult education shows that the teachers who participated evaluate the importance of SD highly, express positive attitudes about it and are motivated to implement SD content in their teaching; however, they also feel that they lack the knowledge and skills needed to empower and teach students about it. Only one third of the teachers included in the study believe that they possess the competencies needed to teach about SD (Vintere, 2020), which, along with former theoretical notions and results of other studies, represents a motif for further research on adult education teacher competencies for the implementation of SD.

Research Objective, Aims, and Variables
The aim of this paper is to examine and determine whether teachers in Croatian adult education possess the competencies needed to implement SD in the adult education teaching process. In accordance with the research objective, the following research aims were determined: • examine adult education teachers' self-evaluation of knowledge and attitudes about SD and ESD; • examine self-evaluation regarding teachers' possession of generic and specific competencies in ESD; • determine the existence of statistically significant differences between adult education teachers' self-evaluations and attitudes in regards to independent variables.
In this study, the independent variables are gender, age, field of expertise, length of service in adult education as well as employment status in an adult education institution. The dependent variables are the teachers' attitudes and knowledge regarding SD and ESD, and the competencies of adult education teachers for ESD.

Research Sample
A purposive and convenient sample of teachers employed in various Croatian adult education institutions was used in this study 1 . Out of 165 adult education teachers who participated in the study, only 86 filled in the entire questionnaire 2 . As many as 54 participants withdrew from the questionnaire at its very beginning, which is, along with the small response to the call for participation, a possible indicator of insufficient interest in the topic of SD among adult education teachers. Additionally, 64% of female and 36% of male teachers (Table 1), whose average age is 43 (SD=10.35), with ages ranging from 23 to 68 years, participated in the study (Table 2). Moreover, 98.8% of the participants are highly educated individuals. A vast majority graduated in social and humanistic studies (68.6%), followed by engineering (19.8%) and a smaller number of participants who graduated in the fields of biomedicine and medicine (5.8%), the biotechnological field (3.5%) and the natural sciences (2.13%). On average, the participants have ten years of service in adult education (SD=8.13), ranging from <1 year to 35 years. Most of the participants are employed full-time (37.2%) and an equal number as part-time (31.4%) and as continuous external associates (30.2%). The subjects taught by teachers are part of both formal (65.1%) and non-formal (47.7%) education programs.

Instruments
The online survey method was used for the purpose of this study. A survey based on relevant SD as well as ESD literature was used in order to gather the necessary data. The attitude evaluation scale items are defined according to the literature (e.g. Grund & Brock, 2020;Mróz et al., 2018), with special adaptation to the adult education context as well as being modelled after instruments developed for the needs of the Formal Education in Service of Sustainable Development (forOR) research project. The competency self-evaluation scale items are defined in accordance with recent literature on SD (e.g. Cebrián et al., 2020;Ličen et al., 2017;UNESCO, 2018), based on available (teacher) competencies models in ESD (Bertschy et al., 2013;Sleurs, 2008; UN Economic Commission for Europe, 2011) and formed on the basis of a competencies model for adult learning professionals 3 (Figure 1) (Buiskool et al., 2010;Kušić et al., 2016Kušić et al., , 2018. Based on the previously mentioned references, a total of 28 generic and specific competencies have been defined, which stand out as the most important competencies needed by teachers in adult education for the implementation of SD in the teaching process 4 . Although the competency model proposed by Buiskool et al. (2010) is not primarily aimed at defining competencies for SD, the competencies that stand out as the most important for the implementation of SD in adult education can be classified into the categories provided by this model.

Procedure
The data gathering process lasted between mid-June and the end of August 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and March 2020 lockdown, during which all educational institutions were closed in Croatia, meant that the study could not start until June. The above should be taken into consideration as one of the potential challenges of study participation as well as small participant response. The surveying process took place in three cycles. IBM SPSS Statistics 22 was used for data analysis purposes, while univariate and bivariate statistical methods were used during the analysis. Statistically significant differences in regards to gender were determined by using a t-test for independent samples, whereas one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) along with the Bonferroni multiple comparison test were used in order to determine statistically significant differences in regards to other independent variables. All tests were conducted at a 5% risk level.

Adult Education Teachers' Attitudes and Knowledge of SD
Teachers' attitudes towards SD as well as their familiarity with this concept were examined using statements about SD. The participants had to express their agreement based on a scale ranging from strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neither agree nor disagree, (3) agree (4), strongly agree (5), I do not know (0) ( Table 3).
The results show that the vast majority of participants (94.1%) recognize that SD implies the responsible use of natural resources with the aim of satisfying the current generation's needs while caring about future generations' needs (M=4.45; SD=1.155). More than 90% of the participants agree or strongly agree that for SD, everybody must have access to quality education (M=4.35; SD=0.823), which indicates a high level of awareness about the importance of education in the context of achieving SD. The participants express similar agreement with the statement that for SD, preserving biological, social, economic, and cultural diversity is necessary (M=4.34; SD=1.069).
The participants express higher agreement with the statement that SD requires the reduction of all waste types (M=4.25; SD=0.948) as well as a switch to renewable natural resources (M=4.15; SD=0.790), which indicates that the participants connect SD mostly with the environmental dimension. Additionally, 38.4% claim that SD is the same as environmental protection (M=2.95; SD=1.147), which confirms the fact that SD is still, to a relatively high degree, considered a synonym for environmental protection (Evers, 2005, as cited in Sleurs, 2008). Nevertheless, the participants recognize the importance of both economic and social SD dimensions. In that context, 86.1% agree or strongly agree with the statement that SD contributes to economic development (M=4.13; SD=1.146); similarly, 81.3% agree that SD requires a decrease in social inequality as well as an increase in human rights protection (M=4.08; SD=0.961).
Only more than half of the participants (58.1%) agree or strongly agree with the statement that for SD, people who use their democratic rights are necessary (M=3.60; SD=1.109), whereas 30.2% of the participants neither agree nor disagree with this statement, which indicates that the participants on average recognize the importance of active (democratic) citizenship in the context of SD only to a lesser extent. The participants on average neither agree nor disagree with the statement that SD's aim is to decrease world poverty (M=3.49; SD=1.196), i.e., with the first of the seventeen SDGs. Moreover, only more than half of the participants (54.6%) agree or strongly agree with the previous statement, which further supports the results that suggest that adult education teachers are insufficiently familiar with SDGs (Vintere, 2020).
Furthermore, 69.8% of the participants disagree or strongly disagree with the statement that their daily routines and behaviour affect sustainability (M=2.41; SD=1.211). 82.5% deem that they can influence the change of attitudes in their own environment by their own example (M=4.15; SD=1.133), which indicates their awareness about their own influence and the possibility of personally contributing towards SD. Additionally, 79.1% express the strongest disagreement with the statement that SD represents an idea without concrete content (M=2.12; SD=0.887), which confirms that the participants have generally positive attitudes towards SD as a concept, a trend which other authors observed in (future) teachers as well (Vukelić et al., 2018;Waltner et al., 2020).
In order to determine statistically significant differences in evaluations between different groups of participants in regards to independent variables, SD statements were tested by using a t-test for independent samples and a one-way analysis of variance for independent samples (ANOVA  The results show that the participants are familiar with the SD concept, however, they possess only partial knowledge and understanding of it, which is in accordance with the results of other studies (Esa, 2010;Vintere, 2020). Also similar to other studies, was the finding that even though adult education teachers have generally positive attitudes to SD, their knowledge about it is still inadequate (Vukelić, 2020).

Adult Education Teachers' Attitudes and Knowledge about ESD
Apart from attitudes towards SD, teachers' attitudes towards ESD have been shown as a key factor for its implementation. Again, a list of statements about ESD in adult education context was used. In order to express their agreement, the participants used a scale ranging from strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), I do not know/ I am not sure (3), agree (4) and strongly agree (5) ( Table 5).
On average, the participants mostly state that adult education teachers should encourage adult learners to connect daily life and work experiences with SD matters on a local level (M=4.09; SD=0.713). Additionally, 90.7% of the participants agree or strongly agree with the statement that adult education institutions should aim towards reaching ESD goals (M=4.06; SD=0.601). A high percentage of participants (71.0%) recognize the importance of their own role in the context of promoting SD (M=3.77; SD=0.877), which indicates somewhat better results compared to the study conducted by Mróz et al. (2018). They noticed that only a third of the teachers recognize and successfully define the teacher's role in ESD.
However, even though the participants agree that they should encourage adult learners to connect daily life and work experiences with SD matters on a local level, only more than half of them (60.4%) agree or strongly agree that controversial and actual matters regarding social, economic, and environmental interests have to have a significant place in the adult education teaching process (M=3.62; SD=0.754). This result could be explained in part by the teachers' assumptions regarding the program overload in adult education. Therefore, just over a quarter of the participants (26.8%) agree or strongly agree with the statements that adult education programs are overloaded with training contents, thus leaving no space to include additional SD content (M=2.86; SD=0.960), while a significant Additionally, the results of other studies testify to the overload of curricula representing a significant issue during the inclusion of SD in teaching, showing that the majority of teachers evaluate that they lack the time to teach SD due to curricula overload (Martins et al., 2006).
On average, the participants disagree that ESD does not represent an efficient framework for solving the sustainability problem (M=2.43; SD=0.834), that ESD topics are too complex for implementation in adult education teaching process (M=2.33; SD=0.774) as well as with the statement that they do not think about ESD (M=2.34; SD=0.965), which indicates that more than half of the participants recognize the importance of SD implementation in adult education and positive attitudes towards ESD. The abovementioned results are additionally supported by the fact that no less than 60.5% of the participants agree or strongly agree that ESD should be an obligatory subject in faculties' teaching tracks (M=3.71; SD=0.893).
Further analysis sought to determine the existence of statistically significant differences in attitudes towards ESD in regards to independent variables by using a t-test and ANOVA. Statistically significant differences (t (84) The results showed that full-time teachers in adult education institutions recognize the importance of SD in the adult education context to a greater extent than the other groups.
It is visible that a significant percentage of participants (more than 30%) self-evaluates that they either do not know or are not sure whether they agree or disagree with half of the statements on ESD in the adult education context, which indicates the participants' general lower familiarity with the ESD concept and weaker knowledge about it, something that the results of other studies have also warned about (Mróz et al., 2018). These results are additionally supported by the participants' self-evaluation about ESD (Table 6). On average, the participants evaluate their knowledge about ESD as lower compared to knowledge about SD -only from the "sufficient" mark to "good" (M=2.45; SD=1.014). Just under a half (41.9%) evaluate their knowledge on ESD as good, a quarter (24.4%) as sufficient, while a similar percentage of teachers (22.1%) evaluate it as insufficient. Only 9.3% of the participants believe they possess very good knowledge about ESD, while only some of them evaluate their knowledge as excellent (2.3%). In accordance with the previously presented results, it is possible to conclude that the participants are only partially familiarised with both SD and ESD concepts, which suggests that additional education about these concepts is needed for adult education teachers.

Adult Education Teachers' Competencies for SD
The participants self-evaluated the possession of a total of 28 generic (Table 7) and specific (Table 8)   More than half of the participants self-evaluate that they completely or to a large degree possess awareness about the social, political, and ethical dimension's existence (M=4.05; SD=0.734), the ability to work as part of an interdisciplinary team (M=3.99; SD=0.694), the ability to encourage innovation, creativity, and critical thinking (M=3.98; SD=0.703), the ability to non-violently solve conflicts/encourage non-violent conflict resolution (M=3.97; SD=0.694), the ability to use methods and techniques to encourage, motivate, and empower adult learners (M=3.91; SD=0.680) as well as the ability to self-reflect in the context of SD (M=3.77; SD=0.663).

Adult education teachers' generic competencies for SD
It can be concluded that the participants self-evaluate that they completely or to a large degree possess the competencies for using different teaching methods, techniques, and styles in adult learning (didactic competency), interpersonal competency, competency for dealing with diversity and managing group dynamics, competencies for motivating and empowering adult learners as well as personal competency.
However, it is visible that participants on average self-evaluate that they only partially possess competencies directly connected with SD and ESD -the ability to critically reflect on personal professional practice in the ESD context (M=3.44; SD=0.791), the ability to predict and encourage social changes in line with SD (M=3.19; SD=0.847) and the set of knowledge needed to teach about SD topics and content (M=3.02; SD=0.867), i.e., professional competency in the SD context as well as theoretical and practical knowledge about SD (Table 7), which is similar to the results of others studies (Borg et al., 2012;Vukelić et al., 2018).
Further analysis sought to determine statistically significant differences in the self-evaluation of possessing competencies among different groups of participants. In regards to age, a statistically significant difference was found in the self-evaluation of possessing the ability to connect subject contents with sustainable development content (F(4.81)=2.597, p<0.05), where participants in the 30 to 39 age group possess the mentioned competency to a lesser extent (M=3.13; SD=0.718) compared to participants in the 50 to 59 age group (M=3.80; SD=0.834). Age explains 11% of the variance in attitude towards the abovementioned competency (η 2 =0.114). Differences between other groups were not found.
Additionally, a statistically significant difference was found in the self-evaluation of possessing the set of knowledge needed to teach about SD topics and content in regards to years of service in adult education (F(2.83)=3.139, p<0.05). Participants with 6 to 10 years of service show a statistically significant difference compared to participants with 11 or more years of service, where participants with 6 to 10 years of service possess the mentioned competence to a lesser extent compared to participants with 11 or more years of service (M=3.26; SD=0.999). Participants' years of service explains 7% of the variance in the self-evaluation of possessing the mentioned competency (η 2 =0.070). These  Note. The column with * refers to the generic competencies label (A1-A7) (Buiskool et al., 2010).
results show that relatively older teachers and those with more years of service in adult education feel more competent teaching about SD topics and content as well as connect these contents with the contents of the subject they teach.

Adult education teachers' specific competencies for SD
Similarly to the self-evaluation of generic competencies, the participants on average self-evaluate that they to a large degree possess most of the listed competencies (Table 8), where more than 80% of the participants self-evaluate that they completely or to a large degree have the ability to implement modern technology in teaching (M=4.14; SD=0.785), the ability to lead and encourage adult learners to study independently (M=4.09; SD=0.697) and the ability to connect daily life with the subject's contents (M=4.08; SD=0.733). It is encouraging that a relatively high percentage of participants (76.7%) self-evaluate that they are open to innovation and changes in teaching, which represents one of the key preconditions for the implementation of SD content in adult education teaching and one of the virtues of teachers as the agents of change (Kušić et al., 2016;Van der Heijden et al., 2015). On the other hand, the teachers self-evaluate that they only partially possess the skills needed to conduct action studies with the purpose of improving the adult education teaching process (M=3.28; SD=0.966) as well as the ability to connect adult learners' previous experience and knowledge with ESD goals (M=3.28; SD=0.849), i.e., competencies connected with the self-evaluation of adult learners' educational needs in the SD context as well as evaluation with the aim to improve the learning process.
The two competencies which the teachers self-evaluated as ones they possess to a lesser extent compared to other competencies are essential for the implementation of SD content in adult education teaching -the ability to plan and create curriculum containing SD outcomes and contents (M=3.21; SD=0.792) and the ability to plan and create curriculum based on transformative learning theory (M=3.15; SD=0.952), i.e., competencies connected with the creation of learning processes and programs about SD. Moreover, only a third of the participants self-evaluate that they completely or to a large degree possess the abovementioned competencies, which indicates a need to encourage the development of these competencies among adult education teachers in order for them to become competent in implementing SD in their teaching.
Variance analysis determined a statistically significant difference in participants' answers in self-evaluation of the ability to connect adult learners' previous experience and knowledge with ESD goals in regards to the participants' age and years of service in adult education. In regards to age (F(4.81)=4.006, p<0.05), a statistically significant difference was found between participants from the 40 to 49 age group and those from the 50 to 59 age group, where participants from the 40 to 49 age group self-evaluate that they possess the mentioned competency to a lesser extent (M=2.88; SD=0.971) compared to participants from the 50 to 59 age group (M=3.80; SD=0.696). Age explains 17% of the variance in possessing this competency (η 2 =0.165).
In regards to years of service in adult education (F(2.83)=4.064, p<0.05), a statistically significant difference was found between participants with 6 to 10 years of service and participants with 11 or more years of service. Moreover, the participants with 6 to 10 years of service self-evaluate that they possess the mentioned competency to a lesser extent (M=2.85; SD=0.671) compared to participants with 11 or more years of service (M=3.52; SD=0.996). Years of service explains 9% of the variance in possessing the abovementioned competency (η 2 =0.089). Similar to the self-evaluation of possessing the ability to connect the subject's contents with SD content and the knowledge needed to teach about topics and content connected with SD, relatively older teachers as well as teachers with more years of service in adult education self-evaluate themselves as more competent in connecting adult learners' previous experiences and knowledge with ESD goals.

CONCLUSION
In recent years, adult education has been recognized more and more as one of the keys to reaching the SDGs. Yet insufficient attention is given to the implementation of SD in adult education. The successful implementation of SD in adult education is mostly in the teachers' hands, and in order to successfully implement it, teachers need to possess a set of various competencies. This is the reason why the implementation of this concept has been challenging, as teachers frequently self-evaluate themselves as insufficiently competent to teach about SD.
Based on the results obtained in the study, which was conducted on a sample of teachers employed in Croatian adult education institutions, it can be stated that the teachers who participated are familiar with the concept of SD. Additionally, they recognize the importance of their own role in the context of promoting SD as well as the importance adult education institutions play in achieving ESD goals. The teachers who participated in the study generally have positive attitudes towards SD and ESD, but they only possess basic knowledge of these concepts. The teachers self-evaluate their knowledge about SD as good, while their knowledge about ESD ranges from sufficient to good, indicating the need to ensure that adult education teachers get enough opportunities for additional learning and professional training in SD and ESD fields.
Furthermore, the study shows that the teachers completely or in large part possess almost all the generic and specific competencies for SD, but they only partially possess the competencies that are directly connected with it -professional competency in the context of SD as well as theoretical and practical knowledge about SD. The teachers' self-evaluations show that they possess the two competencies that are essential for the implementation of SD content in adult teaching -competencies in creating learning processes incorporating SD and programs about SD -to a lesser extent compared to other competencies, which indicates the need to further empower teachers in this direction.
Even though the results of this study, due to certain methodological restrictions (purposive and convenient sample, i.e., the small number of participants, the selection of competencies for SD according to the competencies model for adult learning professionals), do not allow for generalisations, they can serve as a source of information needed to identify certain challenges and opportunities in terms of SD implementation in adult education. As only a small number of scientific papers examines this area in the context of education, we hope that this one will represent a valuable addition to the understanding of SD implementation in adult education as well as provide assistance in identifying future research directions.