Teachers and their Perception of Environmental Education, Awareness and Behavior in a Developing Country: A Case study of Meru, Kenya
(2016) HEKM50 20161Department of Human Geography
Human Ecology
- Abstract
- In order to analyze the current situation of environmental knowledge and education in a developing country such as Kenya, from the perspective of the locals, ten teachers from five secondary schools in Meru County were interviewed. The semi-structured interviews aim to provide an understanding of the implementation of environmental issues in schools and its influence of the awareness and the behavior of people from the point of view of teachers.
The results show that teachers and students receive knowledge about environmental issues through various channels. In secondary schools in Meru County, it is conveyed as a complementary topic in all subjects. Yet teachers state that some subjects put a stronger focus on environment issues than... (More) - In order to analyze the current situation of environmental knowledge and education in a developing country such as Kenya, from the perspective of the locals, ten teachers from five secondary schools in Meru County were interviewed. The semi-structured interviews aim to provide an understanding of the implementation of environmental issues in schools and its influence of the awareness and the behavior of people from the point of view of teachers.
The results show that teachers and students receive knowledge about environmental issues through various channels. In secondary schools in Meru County, it is conveyed as a complementary topic in all subjects. Yet teachers state that some subjects put a stronger focus on environment issues than others do. The results further highlight that differing characters and interests of a teacher influence the way and frequency of how environmental issue are conveyed during lectures. All teachers, however, point out that it is an important issue and that humans should take care of the environment. The majority of the interviewed teachers seem to be well informed about local environmental problems and this knowledge is then partly passed on to the students. With regard to implementation, there is nonetheless a lack of frequency and intensity. In practice, the focus strongly lies on natural science and rarely touches the social aspects involved. People do not act in accordance with what they have learned and the interviewees list various reasons for this behavior, such as not feeling responsible for it, not seeing the consequences of it or their own personal background. Through the means of literature and teachers statements, potential improvements of environmental education are discussed. Furthermore, this thesis points out the complexity and underlying aspects of environmental education and behavior (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8873754
- author
- Jatzko, Katja LU
- supervisor
-
- Thomas Malm LU
- organization
- course
- HEKM50 20161
- year
- 2016
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Kenya, teachers´ perception, environmental education, human ecology, environmental awareness, environmental behavior
- language
- English
- id
- 8873754
- date added to LUP
- 2017-05-22 14:34:24
- date last changed
- 2017-05-22 14:34:24
@misc{8873754,
abstract = {{In order to analyze the current situation of environmental knowledge and education in a developing country such as Kenya, from the perspective of the locals, ten teachers from five secondary schools in Meru County were interviewed. The semi-structured interviews aim to provide an understanding of the implementation of environmental issues in schools and its influence of the awareness and the behavior of people from the point of view of teachers.
The results show that teachers and students receive knowledge about environmental issues through various channels. In secondary schools in Meru County, it is conveyed as a complementary topic in all subjects. Yet teachers state that some subjects put a stronger focus on environment issues than others do. The results further highlight that differing characters and interests of a teacher influence the way and frequency of how environmental issue are conveyed during lectures. All teachers, however, point out that it is an important issue and that humans should take care of the environment. The majority of the interviewed teachers seem to be well informed about local environmental problems and this knowledge is then partly passed on to the students. With regard to implementation, there is nonetheless a lack of frequency and intensity. In practice, the focus strongly lies on natural science and rarely touches the social aspects involved. People do not act in accordance with what they have learned and the interviewees list various reasons for this behavior, such as not feeling responsible for it, not seeing the consequences of it or their own personal background. Through the means of literature and teachers statements, potential improvements of environmental education are discussed. Furthermore, this thesis points out the complexity and underlying aspects of environmental education and behavior}},
author = {{Jatzko, Katja}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Teachers and their Perception of Environmental Education, Awareness and Behavior in a Developing Country: A Case study of Meru, Kenya}},
year = {{2016}},
}