Secondary Science Teachers’ Views on Environmental Citizenship in The Netherlands

Michiel Van Harskamp,Marie-Christine P J Knippels,Wouter R Van Joolingen

doi:10.3390/su13147963

Michiel Van Harskamp, Marie-Christine P J Knippels + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147963

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Jul 16, 2021
Citations: 7	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Utrecht University

Abstract

Environmental Citizenship (EC) is a promising aim for science education. EC enables people not only to responsibly make decisions on sustainability issues—such as use of renewable energy sources—but also to take action individually and collectively. However, studies show that education for EC is challenging. Because our understanding of EC practice remains limited, an in-depth, qualitative view would help us better understand how to support science teachers during EC education. This study aims to describe current EC education practices. What do secondary science teachers think sustainability and citizenship entail? What are their experiences (both positive and negative) with education for EC? A total of 41 Dutch science teachers were interviewed in an individual, face-to-face setting. Analysis of the coded transcripts shows that most teachers see the added value of EC but struggle to fully implement it in their teaching. They think the curriculum is unsuitable to reach EC, and they see activities such as guiding discussions and opinion forming as challenging. Furthermore, science teachers’ interpretation of citizenship education remains narrow, thus making it unlikely that their lessons are successful in fostering EC. Improving EC education therefore may be supported by explicit representation in the curriculum and teacher professional development directed at its implementation.

Highlights

Societies are dealing with complex environmental issues such as climate change, energy crises, and degradation of natural areas
We aim to describe the current situation of education for Environmental Citizenship (EC) in the Netherlands at the lower secondary level by answering the following questions: What do
Science Teacher Definitions of Sustainability and Citizenship. When teachers described their definition of sustainability, planet aspects were by far the most common of the triple bottom line, with about half of the teachers’ answers falling in that category (19/41, Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Societies are dealing with complex environmental issues such as climate change, energy crises, and degradation of natural areas. These issues create a need for citizens who are analytic, who can make decisions based on personal, social, and scientific considerations, and who are able to put these into practice. Learning Competences of the EU explicitly feature sustainability elements in their description of citizenship competence [1]. Another example is the Sustainable Development Goals, set by the UN, in order to globally align policies and development plans with the sustainability agenda [2].

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