Environmental Knowledge of Participants’ Outdoor and Indoor Physical Education Lessons as an Example of Implementing Sustainable Development Strategies

Marcin Pasek,Michalina Kuska,Remigiusz Dróżdż,Elena Bendíková,Hanna Żukowska,Mirosława Szark-Eckardt,Magdalena Zając,Dariusz Jacek Olszewski-Strzyżowski

doi:10.3390/su14010544

Abstract

(1) Background: The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of physical activity outdoors in nature as part of physical education in schools on the level of knowledge and ecological attitudes. (2) Material and methods: A total of 220 students took part in the study, with 103 of them in the treatment group, which usually practiced outdoor physical education classes, and 117 in the control group, which practiced mainly indoor. The project lasted 21 months, covering the last two years of primary school. The authors used the Children’s Environmental Attitude and Knowledge Scale CHEAKS in this study. The authors sought for an answer to the question of whether bringing a young person closer to nature by participating in a greater number of outdoor physical education lessons results in in-depth environmental knowledge. (3) Results: The appearance of seven statistically significant differences in ecological knowledge in the final study in favor of the group having outdoor physical education lessons proves the cognitively and visually stimulating role of a natural environment for physically active people. The location of physical education lessons turned out to be a much stronger condition for in-depth knowledge than gender, place of residence, parents’ education level, and subjective assessment of the financial satisfaction level. (4) Conclusion: These results are an incentive to further developing the young generation’s contact with nature through outdoor physical education lessons.

Highlights

The phenomenon of modern humans moving away from nature has been widespread and signaled since the 1970s [1], becoming a root cause of unsustainability [2]
The findings proved the greater effects of lessons in open spaces, which made it possible to formulate a postulate to increase the volume of the classes of this type in physical education programs
Despite the lack of strong links between physical education, including field physical education and sustainable development, it should be mentioned that the international forum has identified as many as seven sustainable development goals that relate to physical activity, sport, and physical education [85]

Summary

Introduction

The phenomenon of modern humans moving away from nature has been widespread and signaled since the 1970s [1], becoming a root cause of unsustainability [2]. It is undeniable that humanity needs to reduce its distance from the natural world by learning more about it, while increasing its distance in the sense of direct human impact on ecosystems [7] This is currently difficult due to people living in increasingly dense metropolitan areas [8]. Those who experience this condition in their youth are likely to transfer this particular ignorance to their own children, leading to a persistent civilization trend [9].

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Discussion

Conclusion