Green Teaching, Growing Confidence: Effects of Interdisciplinary Teaching Initiatives on HBCU Teacher Candidates’ Self-Efficacy

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of an environmental education initiative on the self-efficacy of preservice teachers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) who were enrolled in a reading methods course. University faculty collaborated with Project Learning Tree (PLT) to provide training in environmental education (EE) activities to these preservice teachers (PSTs). Students participated in literacy-based outdoor learning activities designed to facilitate investigative inquiry led by PSTs. Employing a mixed-methods design, the researchers evaluated the overall effect of participation in environmental education activities on interdisciplinary teaching self-efficacy. Data were collected from surveys administered before and after the PLT training. Results showed significant gains in reading and environmental education teaching efficacy. Open-ended responses submitted by participants in the study addressed self-reflection about personal teacher identity and the initiative’s overall likelihood of integrating literature into later classroom interdisciplinary curricula.