Teacher Opinions about Children’s Awareness of Zero-Waste and Recycling in the Pre-School Education Years

Abstract

It is a fact that, more than ever, the whole world needs to effectively use its natural and economic resources. In this regard, it is very important to raise awareness in society, starting from pre-school education. Awareness about zero-waste and recycling strategies should be gained by children during their pre-school education years because it will remain with them and will be one of the most important arguments for developing societal awareness about how to create a more livable world. Awareness about issues related to zero-waste and recycling are two essential topics to inform the economic future of the world; the responses of pre-school teachers about how to teach and promote awareness about zero-waste and recycling activities at the pre-school education level are significant. The aim of this study is to encourage the development of pre-school teachers by raising their awareness about zero-waste and recycling activities. The need for this research is linked to the lack of prominence about the concept of zero-waste in pre-school programs in Turkey, and also the limited inclusion of opportunities for pre-school students to learn about recycling strategies. This research uses a qualitative design and adopts a case-study approach. The study group was purposefully sampled using criterion-sampling. Interviews were conducted with forty pre-school education teachers who volunteered to support the research, had at least five years experience, and had received training about zero-waste and recycling activities. The interviews with pre-school education teachers were conducted once and took approximately fifty minutes. Content analysis and descriptive analysis approaches were employed. The research findings were based on each interview question, and tables were created under five headings. Research findings indicate that most of the pre-school education teachers stated the children’s awareness about zero-waste and recycling was insufficient during the pre-school education years. Teachers have stated that awareness about zero-waste and recycling can be enriched through the inclusion of specific content and the use of visual materials in pre-school education programs. It has also been determined that the use of abstract experiences based on concrete experiences help pre-school education teachers to promote awareness amongst children about zero-waste and recycling. Additionally, pre-school education teachers emphasized that using an educational game will make the learning process about zero-waste and recycling strategies more enjoyable and will also be the most suitable method in terms of the children’s age and levels of development. On the other hand, teachers have stated that in order to raise children’s awareness about zero-waste and recycling, there should be further studies conducted about how such awareness will contribute to the social and emotional development of children as well as studies about how children can learn-by-doing.