New at Leuphana: Prof. Dr Marit Kristine List – Sustainability on the curriculum

What do the school subjects of biology, politics, and geography have in common? “At their core, they can all address sustainability,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Marit Kristine List. Her research focuses on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)—that is, the question of how schools can teach topics such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and social justice—and what skills teachers need to do so.

Her research focuses on empirical educational research, competency assessment, and Education for Sustainable Development. In her work, she examines both students’ knowledge and teachers’ competencies.

Together with researchers from Germany and Switzerland, she worked on a model designed to systematically assess teachers’ competencies in the field of sustainable education. In the long term, Marit List hopes to develop a scientific test based on this model. The goal is to systematically describe the skills, knowledge, and professional attitudes teachers need for sustainability-oriented instruction. “So far, we still know too little about exactly which competencies teachers need,” she notes.

This is by no means limited to environmental knowledge. “For example, a teacher must not only understand what biodiversity loss means. They must also be able to contextualize political, social, and psychological interrelationships.” Lessons on species extinction can quickly touch on issues of consumption, global justice, or political responsibility. Education for sustainability therefore often requires interdisciplinary thinking.

Emotional stress also plays a role. “Teaching about the climate crisis or species extinction can trigger anxiety—in both students and teachers. That’s why I’m also interested in how teachers can professionally address these challenges without overwhelming themselves,” she explains.

Methodologically, Marit List relies primarily on a variety of methods from empirical educational research. Analyses using data from large international educational studies such as PISA are just as much a part of her work as qualitative interviews or psychological questionnaire studies. “There is no single ‘right’ method. Quantitative and qualitative research complement each other. What matters is which question needs to be answered,” she explains.

That is why she wants to equip her students with a broad knowledge of research methods—not just for the sake of research: “We live in an age rife with misinformation. That is precisely why students should understand how scientific findings are generated and critically evaluated,” explains Marit List.”

What particularly appeals to her at Leuphana is the interdisciplinary approach in practice: “Here, we work across disciplinary boundaries. That is exactly what we need for research on sustainability and education.”

(Box) Prof. Dr. Marit Kristine List studied psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science at the universities of Hamburg, Osnabrück, and Lawrence University in the U.S. In 2018, she earned her Ph.D. from Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel on achievement tests and competency assessment. From 2013 to 2018, she worked at the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN), after which she moved to the University of Kassel. From 2020 to 2024, she worked at the DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Educational Research and Educational Information before moving to the University of Greifswald in 2024. Since 2026, she has been an assistant professor of methods in empirical educational research at Leuphana University Lüneburg.