Developing cognition of environmental sustainability through education 108 80
issues and challenges
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31686/ijier.vol5.iss7.726Keywords:
Curriculum Reform, Education, English Language Teaching, Environmental, SustainabilityAbstract
Environmental sustainability focuses on protecting environmental resources such as water, land, forests and biodiversity, among others. The relationship between human beings and nature is essential. Human beings need a healthy productive life without undermining the environmental needs of present and future generations. Social communities ought to develop their economy making intellectual decisions pertaining to the management of their natural resources so as not to compromise the needs of future generations. The study sought to establish the effectiveness of the approach used in teaching environmental education in secondary schools in Kenya by investigating the cognition of first year university students about environmental concerns and their effects. Qualitative research methodology was used. The techniques used to generate data were interviews and audio-recording. Findings revealed that respondents lacked cognition about how human beings negatively affect the environment and the challenges experienced by them as a result of the negative effects. The approach used in teaching environmental education in secondary schools in Kenya is not effective. It goes against the principle of using the preventive approach to protect the environment through education. It is essential to develop appropriate policies and reform the curriculum in basic education to enable learners to move from nature appreciation and awareness to education for an ecologically sustainable future. Environmental Education can be used as a context of integration for learning with other subjects including English Language Teaching.
References
Bamberg, S.; Moeser, G. (2007). "Twenty years after Hines, Hungerford, and Tomera: A new
meta-analysis of psycho-social determinants of pro-environmental behaviour".
Journal of environmental psychology 27 (1): 14–25.
doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2006.12.002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2006.12.002
Cohen, L. Manion, L. & Morrison, K. (2007). Research Methods in Education. London. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203029053
Routledge Falmer.
Gruenewald, D.A. (2004). "A Foucauldian analysis of environmental education: toward the
socioecological challenge of the Earth Charter". Curriculum Inquiry. 34 (1): 71–107.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-873x.2004.00281. x.
Education Resources Information ZCentre (ERIC), 2002. Outdoor, Experiential, and
Environmental Education: Converging or Diverging Approaches. ERIC Development
Team. Available at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED467713
Jwan, J. O. & Ong’ondo, C. O. (2011). Qualitative Research: An Introduction to Principles
and Techniques. Eldoret: Moi University Press.
Kenya Vision 2030 Research Team, (2007). A Globally Competitive and Prosperous
Kenya. Government Printers. Nairobi.Manyasi , N. B. and Onchera, P.O. (2013). “Instruction of Reading for Nationhood: English
Language Teachers’ Cognition in Kenya” Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational
Research and Policy Studies (JETERAPS) 4(5): 698-705. © Scholarlink Research Institute
Journals, 2013 (ISSN: 2141-6990).
McKeon, R. (2002) Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit, Version 2, Center for
Geography and Environmental Education, University of Tennessee.
Pooley, J.A.; O'Connor, M. (2000). "Environmental education and attitudes - Emotions and DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916500325007
beliefs are what is needed". Environment and behavior 32 (5): 711–723.
doi:10.1177/0013916500325007. jeteraps.scholarlinkresearch.org DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916500325007
Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005 on a Policy Framework for Education, Training and
Research. Government Printers. Nairobi
Smyth, J.C. (2006). "Environment and education: a view of a changing scene". Environmental
Education Research 12 (3-4): 247–264. doi:10.1080/13504620600942642. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620600942642
Stohr, W. (2013). "Coloring a Green Generation: The Law and Policy of Nationally-Mandated
Environmental Education and Social Value Formation at the Primary and Secondary
Academic Levels". The Journal of Law and Education 42 (1): 1–110.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization., 2014a. Ecological Sciences
for Sustainable Development. [online] Available at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/naturalsciences/
environment/ecological-sciences/capacity-building-and-partnerships/educationalmaterials.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization., 2014b. Shaping the Future
We Want: UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. [pdf] Paris: UNESCO.
Available at: <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002301/230171e.pdf>
Walsh, J., D. Wuebbles, K. Hayhoe, J. Kossin, K. Kunkel, G. Stephens, P. Thorne, R. Vose, M. Wehner, J.
Willis, D. Anderson, S. Doney, R. Feely, P. Hennon, V. Kharin, T. Knutson, F. Landerer, T. Lenton, J.
Kennedy, and R. Somerville, (2014): Ch. 2: Our Changing Climate. Climate Change Impacts in the
United States: The Third National Climate Assessment, J. M. Melillo, Terese (T.C.) Richmond, and G. W.
Yohe, Eds., U.S. Global Change Research Program, 19-67. doi:10.7930/J0KW5CXT. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7930/J0KW5CXT
http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-climate.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Beatrice Namusonge Manyasi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyrights for articles published in IJIER journals are retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. The journal/publisher is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. It is the author's responsibility to bring an infringement action if so desired by the author for more visit Copyright & License.
