ESG-Aligned OER Innovation for Sustainable Teacher Education

Many South African schools face educational resource shortages that hinder effective teaching and learning. This study investigates a community-driven Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative implemented within a teacher education programme at a South African university, where Bachelor of Education (BEd) students (n = 400) from first to fourth year across the Vanderbijlpark and Potchefstroom campuses were engaged in designing sustainable Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSM) from recyclable materials. A purposively selected qualitative subsample (n = 53) participated in the study. Framed within an interpretivist and qualitative phenomenological design, data were collected through structured written reflections capturing participants’ experiences of the project. The findings show that creating OER from recyclable materials strengthened resourcefulness, collaboration, and awareness of educational inequality, while also encouraging more accessible and context-responsive teaching practices. The study contributes to understanding how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-aligned operational innovation can foster self-directed learning and sustainable teacher education in under-resourced contexts.