Exploring an Environmental Awareness of Economics Teachers

Abstract

Environmental education has long been taught in schools. Still, the impact and results of environmental education that have been carried out in schools have not been seen, both in society and the environment. Teachers have a key role in helping students develop awareness of the importance of preserving and protecting the environment. By providing a comprehensive understanding of environmental issues, teachers can help students understand the negative impact of human behaviour on the environment and why it is important for them to become agents of change who care about the environment. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions, beliefs, and practices of caring for the environment among teachers. The population of the study was high school economics teachers in Semarang City, the sampling technique used was saturated sampling, totalling 136 teachers—data collection techniques using questionnaires and data analysis using descriptive and independent sample t-tests. The results showed that the average perception, belief and practice of caring for the environment obtained a fairly high score. In addition, from the results of the independent sample t-test, no differences were found between male and female teachers in terms of perceptions, beliefs and practices of caring for the environment.