Students’ Environmental Paradigms: A Cultural Perspective

Abstract

The nature of the world’s environmental challenges has changed considerably in recent decades. Environmental education is the primary shield against continued climate change. This study explores students' environmental paradigms from a cultural perspective. The study sample consisted of 322 male and female students from Kuwait University; the scope was twofold: gender and environmental knowledge. A self-administered survey questionnaire was used to collect the necessary data. The findings were as follows: 1) a valid and reliable Arabic form of New Environmental Paradigm scale was verified; 2) Dual beliefs appeared in the sample population’s responses about all aspects of the environmental paradigms; 3) Subjects showed the strongest agreement with assertions regarding the possibility of an eco-crisis and the fragility of nature’s balance. The greatest relative disagreement was with statements related to the reality of limits to growth; 4) pre-exposure to environmental courses has impact on students’ responses to NEP scale; 5) Females only scored higher (with a high score representing a pro-ecological belief) than did males. The researchers concluded that an environmental scale should be carefully constructed and evaluated with respect to characteristics of the cultural context, and especially the religious beliefs of the population being studied.