This study aims to investigate learners’ perceptions of action-oriented, holistic, and pluralistic learning environments and to examine how these perceptions relate to their perceived action competence.
An online survey based on the Self-Perceived Action Competence for Sustainability Questionnaire (SPACS-Q) was distributed among learners at the International Islamic University Malaysia. A total of 180 learners currently or previously enrolled in the education for sustainable development (ESD) courses participated in the study.
The findings indicate that perceiving learning environments as action-oriented, pluralistic, and holistic positively correlates with the dimensions of action competence (knowledge of action possibilities, willingness to act, and confidence to engage in sustainability actions), except that the relationship between perceived action-oriented learning environments and confidence was not statistically significant.
The findings emphasise the need for educators to design ESD courses that integrate action-oriented, pluralistic, and holistic learning environments along with reflective activities to enable learners to explore new ideas while reflecting on their previous learning experiences.
The findings provide practical value for educators seeking to design meaningful learning experiences that strengthen students’ ability to engage with sustainability challenges.
The study contributes to the limited empirical evidence on how perceived action-oriented, holistic, and pluralistic ESD learning environments can shape learners’ perceived action competence within community-based higher ESD courses.
