Pro-ecological Views of Kosovar Teachers Measured by Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm Statements

Abstract

Abstract The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale is a survey-based metric devised to measure the environmental concerns of groups of people through using a standard survey instrument. This is the first research to measure how in-service teachers perceive the NEP scale in Kosovo. The aim of the current study was to assess the concerns of teachers in Kosovo about environment in the age of Anthropocene by supporting anthropocentric or eco-centric views through using NEP scale as a standardized instrument. Thus, the research was an attempt to investigate how teachers perceived changes in the environment and how much they agreed with the 15 NEP statements. This study followed a quantitative methodology, employing a questionnaire to secure socio-economic data about the teachers, the information sources that they used for environmental information, their perceptions about changes in the environment in the past decade, expectations for the next decade, and the support of the NEP’s statements. A total number of 88 primary school teachers (teaching grades 1–5) participated in this study who came from three most populated regions of Kosovo. The teachers responded to the questionnaire based on their teaching experience, sources of environmental information which they used, their perceptions and expectations in the environmental changes, and their attitudes toward the NEP statements. The results of the research showed that teachers’ concerns about environmental developments were mostly consistent with the views of the NEP scale or pro-ecological worldviews. The survey results provided a positive indication that Kosovar teachers sought to offer a new eco-centric worldview for the next generation, instead of the anthropocentric one in which they had been living.