Environment-related Education Research Articles

Implementation of The Adiwiyata Program by The Principal to Foster Students’ Morals towards The Environment

This study discusses the Adiwiyata Program implemented at Junior High School (SMPN) 2 Tanon. Adiwiyata is an environmental program in Indonesia that aims to increase school environmental awareness. This program encourages schools to integrate or include environment-related education in the curriculum. This research is qualitative with field research with data collection using case study techniques. Interviewing, observing, and documenting were the methods used for data collection. Data were analysed using interactive data analysis: data collection, reduction, presentation, and conclusion drawing. This research aims to find out how the principal implemented the Adiwiyata Program to foster students' morals towards the environment. The results of this study indicate that the principal has several programs that can support the implementation of the Adiwiyata program at the school; the programs implemented include: Including Adiwiyata in the learning curriculum, incorporating Adiwiyata values into the independent curriculum P5 project, implementing PHBS (Healthy Clean Living Behavior) and Go Green to students and teachers, carrying out daily pickets, carrying out Friday Kelingan Taman activities, making small parks, utilising organic and non-organic waste, and planning new programs. These activities refer to implementing the school's vision and mission to realise a healthy Adiwiyata school and form school members to have morals of caring for the environment.

Environment-related education topics within global citizenship education scholarship focused on teachers: A natural language processing analysis

Intergovernmental organizations (IOs) increasingly promote global citizenship education (GCE) and related topics. This paper analyses the body of scholarship on GCE that focuses on teachers and interprets the development of environment-related education (ERE) within the GCE discourse. Using a novel, data-rich methodology employing Natural Language Processing and Social Network Analysis, we trace how ERE is represented within the GCE scholarship and how this representation evolved during the last ten years. We argue that ERE topics have become increasingly prominent within the GCE discourse, as a tendency toward subject-specific discourse emerged in GCE, heavily influenced by intergovernmental organizations’ policies. It is important to trace and understand such transformations, given their possible influence on curricular development and classroom experiences. Future research directions and possible practical implications are discussed.

Exploring the Attitudes of Secondary Education Students on Environmental Education in Relation to their Perceptions on Environmental Problems: The Case of the Prefecture of Viotia

In this paper we explore the attitudes of secondary education students towards environmental problems and environmental education. The study took place in Viotia prefecture in Greece, a largely heterogeneous area with a high degree of industrialization and consequent environmental problems. Data were collected through a survey and the sample size was 1059 students. The main findings involve the relation of the students’ perceptions on environmental education with factors such as their awareness of environmental problems, gender, family background, type of school, and place of residence. The findings also indicate that the more aware of the environmental problems the students were, the more willing they were to participate in environmental education programs. Our findings could provide relevant insights for the design of Environmental Education implementation policies.

El fenómeno de los aludes a través de un itinerario didáctico en la Montaña Cantábrica

Se presenta un itinerario didáctico en relación al fenómeno de las avalanchas de nieve en el sector occidental de la Montaña Cantábrica. A través de siete paradas en espacios afectados por los aludes se analizan las características y factores causales, los efectos sobre el paisaje y las medidas de mitigación adoptadas. Los datos ofrecidos han sido extraídos de fuentes históricas y trabajo de campo, en el desarrollo de una investigación específica. Al ofrecer nuevos datos y analizar en detalle algunos eventos históricos, este trabajo contribuye a ampliar el conocimiento sobre el fenómeno de los aludes y su impacto en la Montaña Cantábrica. Pese a la inexistencia de itinerarios específicos sobre riesgos, los resultados de este trabajo muestran que este fenómeno resulta abordable a través de este recurso didáctico, constituyendo una herramienta eficaz para la educación ambiental en lo relativo a la ocurrencia de desastres y su necesaria prevención.

Configurations and Meanings of Environmental Knowledge: Transitions from the Subjective Experience of Students towards the Intersubjective Experience of Us

Environmental-related education has inherited the concepts of complexity and uncertainty from environmental science. However, these concepts still refer to the environment as an “object” that is separate from the knowing “subject,” and not as a phenomenon always inserted into a specific context. With the aim of contributing to generating contextualized environmental knowledge, this article explores the knowledge configuration itinerary regarding environmental issues that was developed by vulnerable students in public secondary schools located in peripheral municipalities of Santiago, Chile. The theoretical framework of complex thinking provides an epistemological opportunity to “read” and understand environmental knowledge within a web of co-determined spheres of social and community knowledge via the transition from “subjective understanding” to “intersubjective knowledge.” The knowledge configuration itinerary regarding the environment describes a transition from the sphere of the “self” towards an emplaced “us.” It was discussed that the incorporation of place in education is not only a pedagogical means, but also functions as an axis of meaning that highlights the multisemic nature of the environment in its different configurations. It was concluded that an educational project relevant to a global community must be founded upon those differences, as they provide opportunities for configuring knowledge as action and meaning.

Environmental Education and Science Education: Ideology, Hegemony, Traditional Knowledge, and Alignment

Environmental degradation and decreasing quality of life have galvanized a generation and launched a resurgence of attention to environmental matters, raising questions about environmental education policies and practices, and their relationship to science and social responsibility. Accordingly, many programs, policies, and frameworks have emerged worldwide in an effort to understand, develop and implement environmental education. However, amidst shared concern for the environment and the recognition of the central role of education in enhancing human-environment relationships, there exist widely differing discourses and practices under the banner of environmental education (SAUVÉ, 2005). In this paper I examine environmental education in relation to: 1) the range of ideological orientations, 2) the hegemony of school-based disciplines, 3) traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom (TEKW), and 4) alignment with science education. This paper stems from my interest in understanding the location (both theoretically and pragmatically) of environmental education discourses in contemporary schooling.

Environmental Education and Ecotourism for Sustainable Life: Literature Study

This study discusses the results of the research related to ecotourism and environmental education in relation to sustainable life. This study is a literature study. Data were obtained from articles and books related to environmental education and ecotourism and were analyzed using qualitative descriptive analysis techniques. The results show that the purpose of environmental education is to teach and educate the public about natural environment and ecosystems in order to sustain life. Ecotourism and environmental education are inseparable and must be mutually supportive. Ecotourism development requires environmental education as the base, as much as a tourist area can be used as a source for learning about environment for everyone. Environmental education is intended to improve knowledge about environment which encourages attitude and pro-environmental behaviors, as well as having a positive attitude towards ecotourism and environmental conservation. There is a strong positive correlation between environmental knowledge and people's attitudes towards ecotourism. The study shows that there was a positive correlation of 0.70, which confirms that environmental knowledge (EK) positively influences youth’s attitude towards ecotourism (EA).

Exploring Hybrid Third Spaces in the Place Mappings of Malawian Youth

This article is based on a study of Malawian youths’ understandings of place in relation to knowledge and practice and considers some implications for education. The study was conducted at Chinduzi Junior Farmer Field and Life Skills School in Machinga district in Malawi from September 2010 through January 2011. Data collection methods included place mapping and associated focus group discussions. The data were analysed following Collier and Collier’s (1986) method for analysing photographs. Youth mappings of their favourite places suggested aspects of both hope and despair. From the youths’ discussions, a sense of belonging was evident in the social relationships associated with the activities performed in their favourite places. The drawings also exhibited gendered features. Overall, the drawings and associated discussions revealed that the youth are largely rooted in their socio-cultural interactions within their community, but also influenced by globalisation – hence they operate within what Homi Bhabha (1994) calls ‘hybrid third spaces’. In these spaces, they use their imagination to create optimistic futures. These findings have implications for environment-related education. People are part of and shaped by place; at the same time, they shape place through everyday social practices. Thus, studies on environment-related education in a particular local context need to take into account variations in experience based on learners’ diverse backgrounds. Pedagogical engagements should consider the socio-cultural experiences of learners in particular contexts.

ACHIEVEMENT IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN RELATION TO MENTAL HEALTH OF THE STUDENTS AT UNDER GRADUATE LEVEL

Environment is a global concept today. Environmental education is a process that allows individuals to explore environmental issues, engage in problem solving, and take action to improve the environment. As a result, individuals develop a deeper understanding of environmental issues and have the skills to make informed and responsible decisions. Environmental Education is an approach to learning. Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics, ecology, earth science, atmospheric science, mathematics, and geography. Today our environment is being destructed due to various factors. One of the major causes of environmental destruction is human activities. Man with his great skill and adaptive power has brought lot of changes. It is time to realize that our Earth has limited resources. Educators and environment specialists are stressing that solution to the environment crises will require environmental awareness and understanding. Environmental awareness means to help social groups and individuals to acquire an awareness and sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems. The importance of environmental awareness cannot be overemphasized. We must understand that to improve the environment is to improve the quality of life. Environmental education programs need to be planned nationally as there is difference in the environmental priorities. Fast growing populations, high .intensity agriculture, human settlements and slum improvement, introduction of modern transport systems, increasing demands for energy and industrialization are the environmental priorities for developing countries whereas over exploitation of resources, industrial pollution and waste disposal are the main environmental priorities for developed countries. The present paper discusses about achievement in Environmental Education in relation to Mental Health, Environmental Awareness and streams at students of under graduation level

La pedagogía: el complemento estratégico de la educación ambiental

Este artículo parte de un proceso de investigación de carácter cualitativo y documental, bajo un enfoque her­menéutico y sociocrítico, con el cual se buscó analizar la importancia, funcionalidad, relación y pautas para la se­lección y aplicación de estrategias pedagógicas dentro de la Educación Ambiental. Se identificó que este tipo de educación se ha caracterizado por una serie de intenciones que se han visto limitadas por sus pocas estrategias, pese al hecho de ser interdisciplinar y transversal. Tal situación se evidenció en la Institución Educativa Departa­mental Nuestra Señora del Carmen, sede General Santander, del municipio de Lenguazaque, Cundinamarca. Por lo cual, se propuso como solución la formulación de una cartilla o catálogo didáctico en la que se plantearon una serie de estrategias, recomendaciones y pautas para el desarrollo didáctico de la Educación Ambiental en el aula, desde un proceso vivencial, reflexivo, conceptual, dinámico, participativo, creativo e innovador.

The effect of environmental innovation behavior on economic and environmental performance of 182 Chinese firms

This paper investigated the role of environmental innovation behavior in the economic and environmental performance of 182 Chinese firms. We established an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model and proposed seven hypotheses by combining TPB and environmental innovation theory. Through structure equation model, we found that attitude toward environment behavior, subjective environmental norm, perceived environment behavioral control positively impact environmental innovation intention. Environmental innovation behavior had a 0.232 larger effect on environmental performance than on economic performance. Production processes have a 0.028 greater positive influence on environmental performance than on economic performance. Enhancing environmental innovation promotes sustainable development. It is important to strengthen cleaner production processes to reduce environmental pollution. It is a significant obligation to conduct environment-related education or training for personnel within firms.

Report of the Working Group on Ethnobiology and Environmental Education related to Tursiops truncatus in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean

Ethnobiological studies and educational projects related to bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus, Montagu, 1821) are still incipient in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean (SWAO). We review studies conducted in the region, especially Brazil, where more information is available. Proposals to implement studies related to ethnobiology and environmental education in relation to the species are also presented.

Effects of CO 2 Emission on Health & Environment: Evidence from fuel ssources in Pakistani Industry

<span>Climate change, resulting from an increasing concentration of Gases (CO<span>2<span>, SO<span>2 <span>and NO<span>2<span>) in the <span>atmosphere caused by the use of fossil fuels in the industry, is now an established phenomenon and its <span>effects on health have been observed in most parts of the world including Pakistan. The environmental <span>concerns of Pakistan are associated with the adverse impact of expansion in population, change in the <span>living norms of individuals, modern advancement and construction of house schemes, increment in <span>transportation, no public awareness of environmental related education, mismanagement of natural <span>resources, widely unplanned urban and industrial expansions are the core hard issues. Studies of air and <span>water have revealed an alarming air quality especially in most urban and industrial areas and also serious <span>deterioration of surface and ground water quality was identified. The reason for this degradation is <span>emission of CO<span>2 <span>from the industrial sector. This investigation is to identify the contribution in fuel<br /><span>sources like solid, liquid and gas in the industries with overall emission of CO<span>2 <span>in the atmosphere and its<br /><span>impact on human health</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>

The Impact of an Environmental Educational Program of a School Garden on Pupils with Intellectual Disabilities—A Comparative Approach

The following research describes an attempt to combine environmental education through outdoor activities in Special Education. It examines the use of a school garden as a learning environment in Special Education by looking at the stances and opinions of 10 pupils, diagnosed with mild to moderate intellectual disability, towards Environmental Education and prognoses barriers that may occur in the learning process. Specifically, the study focuses on the skills and subject knowledge those students have cultivated through a project called “School Garden”, highlighting the ideas pupils have, regarding the position of environmental education in their school curriculum. Using descriptive statistical analysis to compare the two groups of pupils, this research suggests the further practice of Environmental Education in Special Education. The research took place in two Special Education Primary Schools in Greece, while the data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The main conclusions of the research were that students who participated in their school’s environmental educational program seem to be more familiarized with a range of concepts related to the environment and possess skills linked directly to Environmental Education in relation to their peers that did not engage in the project, while pupils who participated in the “School Garden”, unlike their peers, perceived outdoor activities of their school as part of the learning process, in formal education. This study proposes further research to take place in the area of Environmental Education and Special Education.

Risk and culture: variations in dioxin risk perceptions, behavioral preferences among social groups in South Korea.

ObjectivesThis study examined variations in the perceptions of dioxin risk among social groups defined by geographical living location, environmental education, and occupation. Dioxin risk perceptions were analyzed according to values, risk awareness, knowledge, and behavioral preferences.MethodsA quasi-experimental survey was designed and conducted on individuals from seven experimental groups in Jeonju city, South Korea, including: people living near incineration facilities; people living far from incineration facilities; governmental experts; nongovernmental organization members; office workers in developmental institutes or banks; students who were enrolled in environmental-related classes; and students who were enrolled in business-related classes.ResultsThe results show variations among groups in values, awareness and behavioral preferences. Particular attention should be given to the result that groups with higher connectedness- to-nature values show higher willingness-to-act (WTA) for risk reduction. Result s can be summarized as follows. First, awareness is associated with one’s geographical setting. Second, values and WTA behaviors are related to one’s environmental-related education and occupation. Third, values are significantly related to WTA behaviors.ConclusionsDifferent cultures, in terms of values or worldview, among groups influence their perceptions of dioxin risk and choices of risk reduction behaviors. It is important to consider values in communicating complicated long-term risk management involving public participation. Further research should be continuously conducted on the effects of multiple dimensions of values on one’s WTA for risk reduction behaviors.

In search for the ideological roots of non-formal environment-related education in Finland: the case of Helsinki Humane Society before World War II

So far the research on historical environment-related education has focused on scientific rather than ‘humanistic’ (including Romantic and religious) educational approaches and ideologies. In the field of non-formal education implemented by associations these have, however, been common. We used content analysis to study two membership magazines of a prominent Finnish animal welfare organization, Helsinki Humane Society, before the Second World War. Our results show that the educational ideology of Helsinki Humane Society was based on romanticist and humane ideas. They emphasized especially the development of a human being’s total personality and a kindness-to-animals ethic as a solution to social problems. In the early 1900s, humane education seems to have been an effective way of advancing the animal welfare cause, but its importance declined by the 1930s. We believe that today’s environmental and sustainability educators could benefit from a better understanding of how historical animal welfare organizations were able to combine romantic and humane ideas with environmental goals.

A EDUCAÇÃO COMO INSTRUMENTO DE PROTEÇÃO AMBIENTAL

This work relates to a reflexive action on education in formal education as an instrument oftransformation of institutional schooling behavior that concerns itself with issues about theprotection of the environment. The history of mankind drives the universe to environmentaldegradation, environmental damage caused by the rampant advancement of new technologies indifferent human activities without the sensitivity to make use of the environment and,consequently, without there being a constant environmental threat. The ideas addressedimportant posture support a broadcast about the environmental education in relation to the roleof education critical and reflective. Here if you want to demonstrate that every effort will onlyhave value when traçarmos goals for improving knowledge and awareness of environmentalcitizenship.

Socio-Scientific Issues in Education: Innovative Practices and Contending Epistemologies

In the past decade, we have seen the well-established discourse of environmental education (EE) supplanted by that of education for sustainability (EfS). In some ways this change in terminology has been no more than a slogan change, with the actual educational practices associated with EfS little changed from those qualified by EE (Campbell and Robottom 2008). Environment-related education activities under both terms frequently focus on socio-scientific issues – which serve as the chief organising principle for a range of related curriculum activities – and are shaped by the particular characteristics of these issues. Socio-scientific issues are essentially constituted of questions that are philosophical as well as empirical in nature. Socio-scientific issues consist in contests among dissenting social, economic and environmental perspectives that rarely all align, giving rise to debates whose resolution is not amenable to solely scientific approaches. Socio-scientific issues, then, exist at the intersection of differing human interests, values and motivations and are therefore necessarily socially-constructed. An adequate educational exploration of these issues requires a recognition of their constructedness within particular communities of interest and of the limitation of purely applied science perspectives, and, in turn, requires the adoption of curricular and pedagogical approaches that are in fundamental ways informed by constructivist educational assumptions – at least to the extent that community constructions of socio-scientific issues are recognised as being shaped by human interests and social and environmental context. This article considers these matters within the context of examples of environment-related practice drawn from two geographical regions. The article will argue that a serious scientific element is both necessary and insufficient for a rigorous educational exploration of socio-scientific issues within either the EE or EfS discourses, and will consider some implications for professional development and research in this field.

Using the communities of practice framework to examine an after‐school environmental education program for Hispanic youth

Environmental education researchers have called for a greater analysis of ‘learning’ in environmental education in relation to contemporary theories and explanatory frameworks of learning. Situated learning, as a prominent example, is a sociocultural theory that contends that learning is a social process that occurs as individuals participate in ‘communities of practice’. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the usefulness and applicability of the communities of practice framework to the analysis of learning in environmental education, focusing on the learning in after‐school environmental education programs for Hispanic youth. Results suggest that the framework can be applied to identify some environmental education programs as communities of practice, characterized by the development of joint enterprise, mutual engagement, and shared repertoire. The framework was also found to be useful in identifying and describing learning as bringing about changes in identity formation as a result of participation in the programs. Finally, we suggest that such programs, due to their free‐choice nature and multiple opportunities for participation, also offer suitable contexts for further research regarding the relevance of sociocultural theories of learning to environmental education practice.

Going to the bush: language, power and the conserved environment in southern Africa

English, in the words of Bill Bryson, ‘is one of the world's great growth industries’. Like some kind of metalanguage with its own Europe‐based meaning systems, it has constructed its own discourses in relation to Africa's conserved natural environment, nature documentaries, tourism and environmental education – at the expense of indigenous knowledge systems, cultural practices and languages. This paper examines the potency of English when it comes to notions such as that of the animal, the ‘wilderness experience’, hunting practices and ‘the African bush’ and how these meaning systems have percolated through to environmental education in relation to conserved areas in eastern and southern Africa. Drawing on critical language awareness theories and informal interviews and discussions with staff and students (representing a multitude of languages) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, the predominance and hegemony of English as the exclusive language of learning and teaching in environmental education is questioned.