A Correlation between SDG 4 (Quality Education) and Emotional Disposition of Teacher Educators in Hyderabad District

Abstract

The present study explores the correlation between SDG 4 (Quality Education) engagement and emotional characteristics of teacher educators in the Hyderabad district of Telangana. With the global push towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education under SDG 4 has become a critical priority for educators, policymakers, and researchers alike.” understanding how teacher educators emotionally perceive and engage with educational quality enhancement is critical. A stratified multistage random sampling design was adopted. The study involved 60 teacher educators (30 Male and 30 female) from government and private teacher education institutions. The Structured SDG Goal 4 Engagement Scale was developed by the researcher to measure teacher educators’ engagement with the principles of Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education. The scale underwent content validation through a panel of five experts in education, psychology, and sustainable development, who reviewed items for clarity, relevance, and alignment with SDG-4 targets. Items with a content validity index (CVI) of ≥ .80 were retained. For reliability, a pilot study was conducted on a sample of 30 teacher educators (not included in the main study). Internal consistency reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, which yielded an overall value of α = .86, indicating high reliability. The Structured SDG Goal 4 Engagement Scale demonstrates acceptable validity and reliability, making it suitable for use with teacher educators in the present study. Two standardized tools were used: the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to assess emotional characteristics, and a self-structured SDG 4 Engagement Scale based on UNESCO indicators to assess their involvement in SDG 4 practices. Descriptive statistics (mean, SD) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation, t-test, and regression analysis) were employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed a positive but weak correlation between both positive and negative emotions with SDG4 engagement. However, the relationship with negative emotions was marginally significant (p = 0.058). No significant differences in SDG 4 engagement were observed across gender or locale. The findings suggest that emotions alone exert only a limited influence on SDG 4 involvement, as indicated by the weak correlation and the low explained variance (6.9%). This implies that while emotional disposition contributes to teacher educators’ engagement with SDG 4, other contextual or institutional factors not captured in this study may play a more significant role. This research emphasizes the need for emotionally intelligent teacher training programs to align with SDG goals. It calls for further large-scale studies to explore how affective dispositions of educators influence sustainable educational outcomes.