Teachers’ environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior: An application of CNS and EID scales

Halkos, George and Gkargkavouzi, Anastasia and Matsiori, Steriani (2018): Teachers’ environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior: An application of CNS and EID scales.

Abstract

Environmental education’s teachers are responsible to endow students with the knowledge, values, attitudes and skills necessary to protect and sustain the environment. The current study investigates Greek teachers’ environmental attitudes, behavior and knowledge via Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) and Environmental Identity (EID) Scale. The approach combines applied methodological research like item analysis and Factor Analysis. Teachers’ derived scores in both scales were high confirming their positive attitudes in terms of the environment. Furthermore, teachers have positive environmental attitudes, showing pro-environmental behavior but also a moderate level of environmental knowledge.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Environmental attitudes; pro-environmental behavior; teachers; CNS; EID scale.
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I29 - Other; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q56 - Environment and Development ; Environment and Trade ; Sustainability ; Environmental Accounts and Accounting ; Environmental Equity ; Population Growth; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q57 - Ecological Economics: Ecosystem Services ; Biodiversity Conservation ; Bioeconomics ; Industrial Ecology

References

Bamberg, S. & Moser, G. (2007). Twenty years after Hines, Hungerford and Tomera a new meta-analysis of psycho-social determinants of pro-environmental behavior. Journal of environmental Psychology, 27, 14-25.

Bonaiuto, M., Carrus, G., Martorella, H. & Bonnes, M. (2002). Local Identity Processes and Environmental Attitudes in Land Use Changes: The Case of Natural Protected Areas. Journal of Economic Psychology, 23 (5): 631–653. doi:10.1016/ S0167-4870(02)00121-6.

Borg, C., Gericke, N., Höglund, H.O & Bergman, E. (2014). Subject- and experience-bound differences in teachers’ conceptual understanding of sustainable development. Environmental Education Research, 20(4), 526-551.

Boubonari, T., Markos, A. & Kevrekidis, T. (2013). Greek pre-service teachers’ knowledge, attitudes and environmental behavior towards marine pollution. The Journal of Environmental Education, 44, 232–251.

Brügger, A., Kaiser, F.G. & Roczen, N. (2011). One for all? Connectedness to nature, inclusion of nature, environmental identity, and implicit association with nature. European Psychologist, 16 (4), 324-333.

Bruni, C.M. & Schultz, P.W. (2010). Implicit beliefs about self and nature: Evidence from an IAT game. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 95–102.

Cakır, M., Serhat, I. and Özgür Kıvılcan, D. (2009). Understandings of current environmental issues: Turkish case study in six teacher education colleges. Educational Studies, 36(1), 21-33.

Carolan, Μ.S. (2006). Scientific knowledge and environmental policy: why science needs values. Environmental Sciences, 3(4), 229-237.

Carter, L. (2007). Sociocultural Influences on Science Education: Innovation for Contemporary Times. Science Education, 92, 165-181.

Chapman, D., & Sharma, K. (2001). Environmental attitudes and behavior of primary and secondary students in Asian cities: An interview strategy for implementing an eco-schools programs. The Environmentalist, 21, 265–272.

Chawla, L. & Cushing. D.F. (2007). Education for strategic environmental behavior. Environmental Education Research 13(4), 437–452.

Chiu, Y. T. H., Lee, W. I., & Chen, T. H. (2014). Environmentally responsible behavior in ecotourism: Antecedents and implications. Tourism Management, 40, 321–329.

Chu, H.E., Lee, E.A., Ko, H.R., Shin, D.H., Lee, M.N., Min, B.M. & Kang, K.H. (2007). Korean year 3 children’s environmental literacy: a prerequisite for a Korean environmental education curriculum. International Journal of Science Education, 29, 731–746.

Cincera, J., & Krajhanzl, J. (2013). Eco-Schools: What factors influence pupils' action competence for pro-environmental behavior? Journal of Cleaner Production, 61, 117-121. Retrieved on http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.06.030.

Clayton, S. & Opotow, S. (2003). Identity and the Natural Environment. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Collado, S., Staats, H. & Corraliya, A.J (2013). Experiencing nature in children’s summer camps Affective, cognitive and behavioral consequences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 33, 37-44.

Daskolia, M., Flogaitis, E., and Papageorgiou, E. (2006). Kindergarten teachers’ conceptual framework on the “ozone layer depletion”: Exploring the associative meanings of a global environmental issue. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 15(2), 168-178.

Davis, J.L., Le, B., Coy, A.E., (2011). Building a model of commitment to the natural environment to predict ecological behavior and willingness to sacrifice. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 31, 257-265.

Dawson, V. (2012). Science teachers’ perspectives about climate change. Teaching Science, 58(3), 8–13.

De Leeuw, A., Valois, P., Morin, A., & Schmidt, P. (2014). Gender differences in psychosocial determinants of university students' intentions to buy fair trade products. Journal of Consumer Policy, 37, 485-505.

Díaz-Siefer, P., Neaman, A., Salgado, E., Celis-Diez, J.L. & Siegmar Otto (2015). Human-Environment System Knowledge: A Correlate ofPr o-Environmental Behavior. Sustainability, 7, 15510-15526.

Dobson, A. (2007). Environmental Citizenship: Towards Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development, 15, 276–285.

Dono, J., Webb, J. & Richardson, B. (2010). The relationship between environmental activism, pro-environmental behavior and social identity. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 178-186.

Dove, J. (1996). Student teacher understanding of the greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion and acid rain. Environmental Education Research, 2, 89–100.

Dresner, M., Handelman, C., Braun, S. & Rollwagen-Bollens. G. (2015). Environmental Identity, pro-Environmental Behaviors, and Civic Engagement of Volunteer Stewards in Portland Area Parks. Environmental Education Research, 21 (7), 991–1010.

Duerden, M.D. & Witt, P.A. (2010). The impact of direct and indirect experiences on the development of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 379–392.

Dunlap, R., & Van Liere, K. (1978). The new environmental paradigm. Journal of Environmental Education, 9, 10-19.

Dunlap, R., Van Liere, K., Mertig, A., & Jones, R. E. (2000). Measuring endorsement of the new ecological paradigm: A revised NEP scale. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 425-442.

Dutcher, D. D., Finley, J. C., Luloff, A. E. & Johnson, J. B. (2007). Connectivity with nature as a measure of environmental values. Environment and Behavior, 39, 474–493.

Ekborg, M. (2003). How student teachers use scientific conceptions to discuss a complex Environmental issue. Journal of Biological Education, 37 (3), 126-132

Esa, N. (2010). Environmental knowledge, attitudes and practices of student teachers. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 19, 39–50.

Fielding, K. S., & Head, B. W. (2012). Determinants of young Australian's pro-environmental actions: the role of responsibility attributions, locus of control, knowledge and attitudes. Environmental Education Research, 18, 171-186.

Flogaitis, E., Daskolia, M., Liarakou, G. (2005) Greek kindergarten teacher’s practice in environmental education, an exploratory study. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 3 (3), 299-320.

Frantz, C., Mayer, F. S., Norton, C., & Rock, M. (2005) There is no “I” in nature: The influence of self-awareness on connectedness to nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25(4), 427-436.

Frick J., Kaiser F.G. & Wilson M. (2004). Environmental Knowledge and Conservation Behavior: Exploring Prevalence and Structure in a Representative Sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 37(8), 1597-1613.

Gatersleben, B., Murtagh, N. & Abrahamse. W. (2012). Values, Identity and pro-Environmental Behaviour. Contemporary Social Science: Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences, 9 (4), 374–392.

Geng L., Xu J., Ye L, Zhou W., Zhou K. (2015). Connections with Nature and Environmental Behaviors. PLoS ONE 10(5): e0127247. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127247

Goldman, D., Yavetz, B. & Pe’er, S. (2006). Environmental literacy in teacher training in Israel: environmental behavior of new students. The Journal of Environmental Education, 38, 3–22.

Gosling, E. & Williams, J.H.K. (2010). Connectedness to nature, place attachment and conservation behavior: testing connectedness theory among farmers. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 298-304.

Graziani, P., Cabral, D. & Santana, N. (2013) Environmental Education Evaluation at the School: An Example in Sao Nicolau Island, Cape Verde,. Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 12(2), 88-107.

Green-Demers, I., Pelletier, L. G., & Menard, S. (1997). The impact of behavioral difficulty on the saliency of the association between self-determined motivation and environmental behaviors. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 29, 157-166.

Greenwald, A.G., McGhee, D.E. & Schwartz, J.L. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464–1480.

Groves, F. & Pugh, A. (1999). Elementary pre-service teacher perceptions of the greenhouse effect, Journal of Science Education and Technology, 8(1), 75-81.

Hadler M & Haller M. (2011). Global activism and nationally driven recycling: The influence of world society and national contexts on public and private environmental behaviour. International Sociology, 26, 315-345.

Halkos, G. (2011). Nonparametric Modelling of Biodiversity: Determinants of Threatened Species. Journal of Policy Modelling, 33(4): 618 – 635,

Halkos GE (2015) Climate change actions for sustainable development. International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development 9: 118–136,

Halkos, G. and Jones, N. (2012). Modeling the effect of social factors on improving biodiversity protection. Ecological Economics, 78: 90-99.

Halkos, G. and Matsiori, S. (2012a) Assessing the Economic Value of Protecting Artificial Lakes. MRPA Munich Personal RePEc Archive 59211.

Halkos, G. and Matsiori, S. (2012b). Determinants of willingness to pay for coastal zone quality improvement. The Journal of SocioEconomics 41: 391-399.

Halkos, G. and Matsiori, S. (2013) The Relationship between People’s attitude and Willingness to Pay for River Conservation. MPRA - Munich Personal RePEc Archive 50560.

Halkos, G. and Matsiori, S. (2014). Exploring social attitude and willingness to pay for water resources conservation. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 49: 54-62.

Heidari, F. & Heidari, M. (2015). Effectiveness of Management of Environmental Education on Improving Knowledge for Environmental Protection (Case Study: Teachers at Tehran’s Elementary School). International Journal of Environmental Research, 9(4), 1225-1232.

Herman B.C, Feldman, A. & Vernaza-Hernandez, V. (2015). Florida and Puerto Rico Secondary Science Teachers’ Knowledge and Teaching of Climate Change Science. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 1-21.

Hidalgo, M.C, Hernandez, B., Lambistos, M.J. & Pisano, I. (2011). Evaluating pro-environmental bahavior: Differences between low- and high- involvement behaviors. International Journal of Hispanic Psychology, 4(1), 45-54.

Howell, A.J., Dopko, R.L., Passmore, H.A. & Buro, K. (2011). Nature connectedness: associations with well-being and mindfulness. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 166-171.

Hsu, S. & Roth, R.E. (1999). Predicting Taiwanese secondary teachers’ responsible environmental behavior through environmental literacy variables. Journal of Environmental Education, 30, 11–19.

Jensen, B. (2002). Knowledge, action and pro-environmental behavior. Environmental Education Research, 8(3), 325–334.

Jurowski, C., Uysal, M., Williams, D. R., & Noe, F. P. (1995). An examination of preferences and evaluations of visitors based on environmental attitudes: Biscayne Bay National Park. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 3, 73 –86.

Kainth, G.S. (2009). Environmental Awareness among School Teachers, The Icfai Unıversity. Journal of Environmental Economics, 7(1):35-50.

Kaiser, F.G. & Fuhrer, U. (2003). Ecological behavior’s dependency on different forms of knowledge. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 52(4), 598–613.

Kaiser, H.F. (1960). The application of electronic computers to factor analysis. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 141–151.

Khalid, T. (2003). Pre-service high school teachers’ perceptions of three environmental phenomena. Environmental Education Research, 9, 35–50.

Kiesling, F. M., & Manning, C. M. (2010). How green is your thumb? Environmental gardening identity and ecological gardening practices. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, (3), 315-327.

Kil, N., Holland, S.M. & Stein, T.V. (2014). Structural relationships between environmental attitudes, recreation motivations, and environmentally responsible behaviors. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 7-8 (14), 16-25.

Kollmuss, A. & Agyeman, J. (2002). Mind the gap: why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior? Environmental Education Research, 8(3): 239-260

Liarakou G., Gavrilakis C. & Flouri E. (2009). Secondary School Teachers’ Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Renewable Energy Sources. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18 (2): 120-129.

Liarakou, G., Daskolia, M., Flogaitis, E. (2007). Investigating the Associative Meanings of ‘Sustainability’ among Greek Kindergarten Teachers. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 1(5), 29-36.

Liefländer, A. K., Fröhlich, G., Bogner, F. X & P. W. Schultz. (2013). Promoting Connectedness with Nature through Environmental Education. Environmental Education Research, 19 (3): 370–384.

Liefländer, A. K. & Bogner. F. X. (2014). The Effects of Children’s Age and Sex on Acquiring Pro-environmental Attitudes through Environmental Education. The Journal of Environmental Education, 45 (2), 105–117.

Liefländer, A.K. (2015). Effectiveness of environmental education on water: Connectedness to nature, environmental attitudes and environmental knowledge. Environmental Education Research., 21, 145–146.

Littledyke, Μ. (2008). Science education for environmental awareness: approaches to integrating cognitive and affective domains. Environmental Education Research, 14(1), 1-17.

Liu, Shiang-Yao., Yeh, Shin-Cheng., Liang, Shi-Wu., Fang, Wei-Ta & Tsai., Huei-Min (2015). A National Investigation of Teachers’ Environmental Literacy as a Reference for Promoting Environmental Education in Taiwan. The Journal of Environmental Education, 46(2), 114-132.

Luo, Y. & Deng, J. (2008). The new environmental paradigm and nature-based tourism motivation. Journal of Travel Research, 46, 392–402.

Mandrikas, A., Mavrikaki, E. & Skordoulis, C. (2013). Success in fulfilling Greek Teachers’ Needs in Environmental Education through an In-service Training Course in the Maraslios Teacher Training School. Journal of Studies in Education, 3(4), 112-135. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/jse.v3i4.4405

Mayer, F.S. & Frantz, C.M. (2004). The connectedness to nature scale: a measure of individuals' feeling in community with nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24: 503-515.

Mc Ewen, B., Clement, P., Gericke, M.P, Nyberg, E., Hagman, M. & Landstrom, J. (2015). Female and male teachers’ pro-environmental behavior, conceptions and attitudes towards nature and the environment do not differ: Ecofeminism put to the test. Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, 16 (1),1-30.

McKeown, R., & Hopkins, C. (2002). Weaving sustainability into pre-service teacher education programs. In W.F. Filho (Ed.), Teaching sustainability at universities: Towards curriculum greening, Frankfurt: Peter Lang. pp. 251–274.

Michail, S., Stamou, A.G., & Stamou, G.P. (2007). Greek primary teachers’ understanding of current environmental issues: An exploration of their environmental knowledge and images of nature. Science Education, 91, 244–259.

Milfont, T.L. & Duckitt, J. (2010). The environmental attitudes inventory: A valid and reliable measure to assess the structure of environmental attitudes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 80–94.

Mobley, C., Vagias, W.M. & DeWard, S.L. (2010). Exploring additional determinants of environmentally responsible behavior: The influence of environmental literature and environmental attitudes. Environment & Behavior, 42, 420–447.

Munoz, F., Bogner F., Clément P. & Carvalho G. S. (2009). Teachers' conceptions of nature and environment in 16 countries. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29, 407-413.

Nisbet, E.K., Zelenski, J.M. & Murphy, S.A. (2009). The nature relatedness scale: linking individuals' connection with nature to environmental concern and behavior. Environment & Behavior, 41 (5), 715-740.

Oerke, B., & Bogner, F. X. (2010). Gender, age and subject matter: impact on teachers’ ecological values. Environmentalist, 30, 111-122.

Olivos, P., Aragonés, J. I. & Amérigo, M. (2011). The connectedness with nature scale and its relationship with environmental beliefs and identity. International Journal of Hispanic Psychology, 4, 5-19.

Olivos, P. & Aragonés, J. I. (2011). Psychometric properties of the Environmental Identity Scale (EID). Psyecology, 2 (1), 65-74.

Omoogun, A. C. & Omoogun, R. M. (2013). In-service Training Program Preference of Teachers in the Multidisciplinary Approach of Implementing Environmental Education. Journal of Studies in Education, 3(2), 255-263.

Oskamp, S. (2000). A sustainable future for humanity? How can psychology help? American Psychologist, 55, 496-508.

Otto, S. & Kaiser, F.G. (2014). Ecological behavior across the lifespan: Why environmentalism increases as people grow older. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 40, 331–338.

Papadimitriou, V. (2004). Prospective primary teachers’ understanding on climate change, greenhouse effect and ozone layer depletion. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 13 (2), 299-307.

Pe’ er, S., Goldman, D.,& Yavetz, B. (2007). Environmental literacy in teacher training: Attitudes, knowledge, and environmental behavior of beginning students. The Journal of Environmental Education, 39 (1), 45-59.

Perkins, H., & Brown, P. R. (2012). Environmental values and the so-called true eco-tourist. Journal of Travel Research, 51, 793–803.

Phenice, L.A. & Grifffore, J.P. (2003). Young children and the natural world. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 4 (2), 167-171.

Restall, B., Conrad, E. (2015). A literature review of connectedness to nature and its potential for environmental management, Journal of Environmental Management, 159, 264-278. Retrieved on http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.05.022

Robinson, M. & Crowther, D. (2001). Environmental science literacy in science education, biology and chemistry majors. The American Biology Teacher, 63, 9–15.

Robinson, M., Tibanyendera, B. & Seltzer-Kelly, D. (2007). Knowledge and attitudes of Ugandan pre-service science and mathematics teachers toward global and Ugandan science- and technology-based problems and/or threats. Bulletin of Science, Technology Society, 27, 142–153.

Rozcen, N., Kaiser, F.G., Bogner, F.X & Wilson, M. (2014). A Competence Model for Environmental Education. Environment and Behavior, 46(8), 972–992.

Sadik, F. & Sadik, S. (2014). A study on environmental knowledge and attitudes of teacher candidates. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 2379 – 2385. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.577

Saha, B. and Maji, S. (2013). Building the sustainable development through environmental education: a conceptual study. Review of Research in Education, 2(4), 1-3.

Schultz, P.W. (2001). Assessing the structure of environmental concern: concern for the self, other people, and the biosphere. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21, 327-339.

Schultz, P.W., Shriver, C., Tabanico, J.J. & Khazian, A.M. (2004). Implicit connections with nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24 (1), 31-42.

Schultz, P., & Tabanico, J. (2007). Self, identity, and the natural environment: Exploring implicit connections with nature. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37(6), 1219-1247

Smith-Sebasto, N. (1995). The effects of an environmental studies course on selected variables related to environmentally responsible behavior. The Journal of Environmental Education, 26(4), 30–34.

Spiropoulou, D., Antonakaki, T., Kontaxakaki, S., & Bouras, S. (2007). Primary teachers’ literacy and attitudes on education for sustainable development. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 16, 443–450.

Stir, J. (2006). Restructuring teacher education for sustainability: Student involvement through a strengths model. Journal of Cleaner Production, 14, 830–836.

Summers, M., Kruger, C., Childs, A. & Mant, J. (2000). Primary school teachers’ understanding of environmental issues: an interview study. Environmental Education Research, 6, 293–312.

Tam, K.P. (2013). Concepts and measures related to connection to nature: similarities and differences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 34, 64-78.

Taylor, N., Doff, T., Jenkins, K. & Kennelly, J. (2007). Environmental Knowledge and Attitudes Among a Cohort of Pre-service Primary School Teachers in Fiji. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 16(4), 367-379.

Thapa, B. (2010). The mediation effect of outdoor recreation participation on environmental attitude-behavior correspondence. The Journal of Environmental Education, 41, 133 –150.

Tikka, P.M., Kuitunen, T.M. & Tynys, M.S. (2000). Effects of educational background on students’ attitudes, activity levels, and knowledge concerning environment. The Journal of Environmental Education, 31, 12–19.

Tuncer, G.,Tekkaya, C.,Sungur, S., Cakiroglu, J., Ertepinar,H. & Kaplowitz, M. (2009). Assessing pre-service teachers’ environmental literacy in Turkey as a means to develop teacher education programs. International Journal of Educational Development, 29, 426–436.

Wilson, P. I. (2001). Deregulating endangered species protection. Society and Natural Resources, 14, 161-171.

Wise, S. B. (2010). Climate change in the classroom: Patterns, motivations, and barriers to instruction among Colorado science teachers. Journal of Geoscience Education, 58(5), 297–309.

Wynveen, C. J., Kyle, G. T., & Sutton, S. G. (2013). Environmental worldview, place attachment, and awareness of environmental impacts in a marine environment (Advance online publication). Environment and Behavior, 46(8), 993-1017.

Yavetz, B., Goldman, D., & Pe’er, S. (2014). How do pre-service teachers perceive ‘environment’ and its relevance to their area of teaching? Environmental Education Research, 20, 354–371.