CHAPTER 3: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 41
3.15. Exploring studies on teachers’ understanding of Environmental Education
This section of the literature review looks at studies of teachers’ perceptions and understanding of environmental issues in society as a means of developing their environmental knowledge base. As a move from general studies about sustainable development and global sustainability, the trend in investigating teachers’ views, is a good and welcome development; signalling that teachers are seen as key agents in curriculum change and innovation, especially on SD and sustainability.
A qualitative study by Summers, Kruger, Childs and Mant (2010) explored 12 primary school teachers’
understanding of environmental issues, such as global warming, ozone layer depletion and the carbon cycle through interviews. The results showed a mixed understanding of environmental issues ranging from very low, through moderate to reasonable understanding. Further studies among teachers at Serbian primary schools Stanišić and Maksić (2014) found insufficient training for environmental education. Many studies acknowledge inadequate teacher training related to EE and ESD as being a major shortcoming of teacher education. In the Serbian case, problems had occurred during these teachers’ education, where environmental and health education had not been sufficiently represented or developed. The authors indicate that further preparation of the teachers for teaching these topics could be a simple matter of additional training at seminars or on their own personal initiative, motives and activities (Stanišić & Maksić, 2014). Under such circumstances, it can be argued that teacher education and training on ecology, preservation of the environment and pedagogy at university level is a starting point for the successful realisation of environmental education carried through for younger. The problem with school pupils’ lack
of environmental knowledge may lie with the teachers themselves. In this regard, a survey in the United Kingdom of 170 primary school teachers’ knowledge and understanding of environmental issues revealed a considerable lack of understanding in areas such as the carbon cycle, global warming, and the energy exchange between the Sun, Earth and space (Summers, Kruger, Childs & Mant, 2010).
A comparison of teachers’ knowledge and understanding of sustainability as needed to effectively teach the new domain of education for sustainable development (ESD) in a discipline based pedagogy was undertaken by Summers and Childs (2007). A questionnaire was used to solicit conceptions of SD from 21 Geography and 40 Science teachers. Results showed that the geography teachers had more substantial knowledge and appreciation of the centrality of the environment as the focal point of sustainable development than had the science teachers. This justifies the congruence of geography and environmental issues and that geography is the home of sustainability.
Another study on teachers’ knowledge and understanding of sustainability and sustainable development was undertaken by Burmeister, Jacob and Eilks (2013) using a semi-structured interview with experienced secondary school chemistry teachers. The study established that the teachers were aware of sustainability, although most of them failed to give a correct theoretical definition of either sustainability or sustainable development. Respondents acknowledged the importance of implementing ESD into chemistry education despite their own knowledge deficits of subject matter, knowledge of sustainability and pedagogical content knowledge related to ESD in chemistry. This study once again highlights the need for sufficient subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in respective disciplines that carry SD and sustainability.
Among two cohorts of pre-service teachers taking the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in the United Kingdom, Corney and Reid (2007) investigated the teachers’ learning about subject matter and pedagogy in ESD, using proformas and interviews. This study reports on the teachers having subject matter content knowledge in geography but not having pedagogical content knowledge related to teaching geography while infusing ESD concepts. The need to relate subject matter knowledge with pedagogical content knowledge comes again to the fore and emphasises the close relationship between SMK and PCK.
Teacher attitudes towards and knowledge about EE among science teachers’ in three international teaching communities in Bolivia, the USA and Turkey were explored by Campbell, Medina-Jerez, Erdogan, and Zhang (2010) using a questionnaire. Results showed significant differences between these three
communities with respect to teachers’ knowledge about global environmental issues and teachers’
rationales for including EE in their science classroom instruction. Although a global effect, environmental challenges are specific to a geographical location. Therefore, the environmental challenges being experienced Bolivia, as a developing country should be compared to those faced in the USA and Turkey, which could explain the differences in teachers’ understanding.
Effective EE at university depends on having effective teachers. In this regard, Van Petegem, Blieck and Ongevalle (2007) used a questionnaire to assess lecturers and student teachers’ environmental conceptions and awareness in three Zimbabwean teachers’ colleges. Results revealed that not only student teachers but also lecturers confused certain environmental issues. One of the three colleges had better environmental programmes in its curriculum, especially in traditionally environmental related subjects of Geography, Chemistry and Agriculture. It means there is paucity on understanding EE in Zimbabwe. For this current study this indicates the importance of introducing students to different ecological and environmental issues in order to shift their orientation to actual commitment. In the Van Petegem et al. (2007) study it was found that outdoor experiential education for a sufficient duration influenced the adolescents’ preferences towards the environment and nature usage (Van Petegem et al., 2007). Yavetz, Goldman and Pe’er (2014) measured the level of appropriate environmental behaviour among new students in three major teacher education colleges in Israel and found low level of environmental literacy of those teachers. This means that pre- service teachers need training on environmental issues as they progress in their studies using various methods as confirmed by longitudinal studies referred to above.
In the same study by Yavetz, Goldman and Pe’er (2014) on the student teachers’ attainment of environmental literacy in relation to their disciplinary major during undergraduate studies, it was found that the science disciplines of biology, agriculture, chemistry and geography were conventionally viewed as the most suitable disciplines for preparing environmental educators, because these subjects deal with topics of ecology, natural resources and issues related to human impact on the environment. This positions the current study that investigated pre-service geography teachers’ understanding and learning of EE in the context of Zimbabwe’s curriculum.
Differing contexts in local surroundings, degrees of industrialization and pollution in Zimbabwe, Europe, and USA might play an important role in shaping peoples’ perceptions of the natural environment. The environment is a social and cultural construct wherein natural resources are defined as property of the poor (Korhonen & Lappalainen, 2004). In most societies the natural environment is regarded as the common
man’s property, which defines their attitudes towards nature. Moreover, in Sothern African people’s livelihood depends on the quality and availability of the natural resources (Lotz-Sisitka, 2012).
In Canada, teachers who were regarded as environmental educators were studied by Cordina and Mifsud (2016) and found to have difficulties in implementing EE at the conceptual level, the level of teacher responsibility and at the practical level.
Similarly, Cutter-Mackenzie and Smith (2003) claim that many primary school teachers in Queensland, Australia, appeared to be functioning with knowledge at a level they call ‘ecological illiteracy’. They attribute this in part to EE being poorly represented in teaching training courses. Healey and Jenkins (2000) also reported on a perceived attitudinal hostility to teaching EE amongst secondary teachers, due partly to the absence of adequate preparation for engagement with EE. This deficit had caused feelings of disillusionment and disempowerment.
Summers ,Childs and Mant (2000) argues that scientific knowledge is one important aspect of the complex knowledge base, apart from the pedagogical knowledge with Yencken, Fein and Sykes (2000) arguing that environmental cognition involves belief systems and values apart from knowledge. Therefore, teacher development should embrace subject knowledge content and pedagogical content knowledge as well values consistent with environmental protection.
Many research studies across all sections of education have been concerned with implementing EE in elementary, middle and high schools, which then warranted the need for environmental literacy for teachers at university, as observed by Cutter and Smith (2001) and Cutter-Mackenzie and Smith (2003). These studies concluded that that high school teachers did not have sufficient knowledge about environmental issues such as acid rain, ozone layer depletion, greenhouse effect and renewable energy sources, as was later also indicated form studies by Spirpoulou, Antonakaki, Kontaxaki and Bouras (2007). Studies by Desjean-Perrotta, Moseley and Cantu (2008) revealed that elementary pre-service teachers had insufficient knowledge to be considered environmentally literate and therefore, during their teacher training, effective integration of EE (SK and PK) was necessary. A further survey study by Liu et al. (2015) used a questionnaire to survey teachers’ environmental literacy and revealed that 50% of the surveyed teachers held misconceptions about global warming and biodiversity loss.