Abstract
Although most researchers agree that environmental education is very important to develop pro-environmental behavior (PEB) in children, it is uncertain whether environmental education has positive outcomes, especially in Indonesian schools. This study tried to get some insight into whether green school students will have a higher nature relatedness and thus will behave more environmentally friendly, compared with students from schools with a regular national curriculum. In this study, 304 elementary public schools’ students and 229 green schools’ students participated. Data were collected through self-report scale, behavioral observation and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The result shows that green school student’s, as well as children from public school, do not differ in their appreciation and understanding of their interconnectedness with all other living things on the earth. In other words, their nature relatedness (NR) are relatively similar. As hypothesized, if faced with the choice to act environmentally friendly, the PEB of green school students were significantly higher than public school students. But interestingly, information from FGD reveals that green school children PEB is not based on knowledge or concern for the environment, but rather a result of habituation and social modelling of their friends. On the other hand, public schools students have the knowledge, but they do not implement it in daily lives because they are not used to do it. It is concluded that environmental education curriculum does have a role in shaping students PEB, but to develop a sustainable PEB in young children, schools should focus on environmental knowledge, to develop and internalized pro-environmental value, and they should also develop ways to habituate PEB.
Highlights
Most researchers agree that environmental education is very important to develop proenvironmental behavior (PEB) in children, it is uncertain whether environmental education has positive outcomes, especially in Indonesian schools
We aim to prove that students score in nature relatedness (NR) will have a positive correlation with PEB
This means that the first hypothesis is not supported by our data, in which we found that students who had high NR values would not necessarily show a high PEB too, or vice versa
Summary
A cross-sectional survey method was used to collect data from 229 green schools’ students. The authors have to adapt the scale to suit the conditions in Indonesia and to make sure that elementary students will understand the statements given Before using it for data collection we calculated the reliability and internal validity. To measure PEB, the author combined scores from a self-report PEB scale (how often the participants use plastic plates, glass, straws and bags in the past week), observation and FGD. The purpose of the FGD is to explore the students reasoning of their decision to use which utensils for eating and drinking their reward To score their actual PEB, the reason of their decision was considered. Data from the questionnaire and PEB score was analysed through independent sample t-test in with the SPSS program
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