Abstract
Education for sustainability - understood as efforts to equip people with the knowledge and skills necessary to make environmental, social and economic decisions that consider the needs of present and future generations - has been incorporated in the official curriculum of Australia as a 'cross-curriculum priority'. This research sought to understand practising primary school teachers' integration of the sustainability cross-curriculum priority into the curriculum. In this study, nine primary school teachers in the Perth metropolitan region (five generalist; four specialists - including two science specialists) were interviewed about the extent to which the Western Australian Curriculum has guided and supported their teaching practices in relation to sustainability and the sustainability cross-curriculum priority. Through detailed and rich examples of classroom practice, the participants illustrated the web of interrelated factors that characterise the implementation of the sustainability cross-curriculum priority across various learning areas, including science. Participant experiences also alluded to the idea that the sustainability cross-curriculum priority is a valuable avenue for re-emphasising science concepts across learning areas. Overall, the most salient take-home message of this work is that, in addition to the various influences contributing to the implementation of the sustainability cross-curriculum priority (such as whether a school is considered sustainably built), teachers are the main actors in the implementation of sustainability and making informed decisions about how sustainability is to be incorporated in their teaching. However, in order for teachers to drive this implementation, their required level of support goes beyond the curriculum and includes active engagement from their school leadership teams.