Assessing sustainability competence in future early childhood physical education teachers

Purpose This study aims to assess the self-perceived sustainability competence of pre-service teachers enrolled in early childhood Education programs with a specialization in physical education (PE) in Spain. The research addresses a gap in the literature concerning how sustainable development principles are internalized within initial teacher education, especially in disciplines traditionally considered peripheral to sustainability discourse Design/methodology/approach A total of 703 students (91.3% women) from a public Spanish university participated in the study. Data were collected using the physical education for sustainable development–early childhood student instrument questionnaire, an instrument adapted and validated from the original PESD to evaluate alignment with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) across social, environmental and economic dimensions. Exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis (Cronbach’s α = 0.955) and non-parametric tests (Mann–Whitney U, Kruskal–Wallis) were conducted to explore the structure of sustainability competence and its relationship with academic and attitudinal variables. Findings The results showed high levels of perceived competence, with the social dimension scoring the highest, followed by the environmental and economic dimensions. Statistically significant differences were observed according to academic year, prior sustainability training, sports experience and concern about the SDGs. Strong inter-dimension correlations (r > 0.7) supported a systemic view of sustainability. In contrast, no significant effects were found for gender or sports instructor experience. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is one of the first to explore sustainability competence in the context of early childhood PE. By providing empirical evidence on a rarely studied population, the study highlights the pedagogical potential of PE as a medium for fostering sustainability and supports the need for intentional, interdisciplinary integration of the SDGs in teacher education.