THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTIONS/ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF BOTSWANA

Kennedy M. Kanene

Abstract


The study investigated the impact of Environmental Education (EE) on the perceptions and attitudes of secondary school students concerning environmental sustainability in selected schools in Botswana. The objectives were set to: i) investigate the teaching of EE in secondary schools; ii) examine the perceptions and attitudes of EE students towards environmental sustainability. A qualitative research design guided data collection where interview protocols, observation schedules, and document analysis were employed for the gathering of data. The main research findings were that EE is indeed integrated in teaching subjects at secondary school level in Botswana. The teaching of EE is fundamentally teacher-centered resulting mainly in enriching students’ knowledge about the environment without really providing them with the capacity to act for environmental sustainability. Subsequently, the teaching of EE in the studied schools has failed to transform the perceptions and attitudes of students towards responsible and action oriented environmental stewardship.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


perceptions, environmental education, sustainability, conservation

References


Adeolu, A.T., Enesi D.O & Adeolu, M.O. (2014). Assessment of Secondary School Students’ Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Waste Management in Ibadan, Oyo State. Journal Resource of Environmental Science, Vol. 3(5), 66-73

Atlhopheng, J. M. (1998). Environmental Issues In Botswana: A handbook. Gaborone:

Lightbooks.

Botswana Government (1994). The revised National Policy on Education, Gaborone: Government Printers.

Ifegbesan, A. (2008). Exploring secondary school students’ understanding and practices of waste management in Ogun State, Nigeria. International Journal of Environmental Science, Vol. 3(3): 201-215.

Jensen, B. B. (2002). Knowledge, Action and Pro - Environmental Behavior. Environmental Education Research. Vol. 8 (3), 325 - 334.

Ketlhoilwe, M. J. (2013) Governmentality in environmental education discourses: a qualitative Study of teachers in Botswana. International Research in Geographical and environmental education Vol. 22 (4), 1-12.

Ketlhoilwe, M. J. (2007). Environmental education policy interpretation challenges in Botswana Schools. In Southern African journal of environmental education. Vol. 24, (1), 171-184

Kimaryo, L. A. (2011). Integrating environmental education in primary school education in Tanzania: teachers’ perceptions and teaching practices. Finland: Åbo Akademi University Press.

Kollmus, A. A. (2002). Mind gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro–environmental behaviour. Environmental Education Research, 8, 239 -260.

Ndarunga, A. (2013). Environmental communication: A review of information sources and communication channels for enhanced community-based natural resource management in the Greater Mara region of Kenya. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development Vol. 7(1), 61–70.

Palmer, J. A. (1998). Environmental education in the 21st century: theory, Practice, Progress and Promise. London: Routledge.

Silo, N. (2013). The plight of Sanitation In Selected Botswana Schools - Acritical Concern. European Scientific Journal, 9(2), 1857 - 1881.

Silo, N. (2015). Using Science as a Tool for infusing Environmental Education in the School Curriculum–a Barrier to Education for Sustainable Development. European Journal of Educational Studies 7(1), 11-22

Stenvenson, R. B. (2007). Schooling & Environmental Education: Contradictions in Purpose & Practise. Journal of educational research, 13(2), 67-79.

Sundar, I. (2010). Teaching & Learning Methods In Environmental Education. New Deli: Sarup Book Publisher.

United States Environmental Protection Agency (2015) https://www.epa.gov/children/studentcurriculum retrieved 14/06/2016

UNESCO. (1978). http://www.epa.gov/enviro retrieved on 18/05/2016.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejae.v0i0.183

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright © 2015 - 2023. European Journal of Alternative Education Studies (ISSN 2501-5915) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms.

All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).