Investigation of environmental awareness and attitudes of children attending nature centred private kindergartens and public kindergartens

Abstract

The aim of the research is to examine the environmental awareness and attitudes towards the environment of 5–6-year-old children attending nature-centred private kindergartens and public kindergartens. The study group of the descriptive research that used a screening model consists of 48 children from nature-centred Private Maki Kindergartens and 48 children from public kindergartens in the province of Balikesir in the 2020–2021 academic year. A Personal Information Form and Environmental Awareness and Attitude Scale for Preschool Children, developed by Soydan and Samur (International Electronic Journal of Environmental Education, 7(1), 78–97, 2017) for 60–72 months old children, were used in the study. The scale consists of two sub-dimensions as Attitude Towards Environment (15 items) and Environmental Awareness (11 Items) and 26 pictures. The Cronbach α coefficients of the Environmental Awareness (.74) and Attitude (.78) Scale for Preschool Children and the overall scale (.82) were calculated. The data were collected by the researcher through one-on-one meetings with each child. The mean, mode, median, skewness and kurtosis values of the variables in the study were calculated. To determine whether the environmental awareness and environmental attitudes of the study group differ according to the school they attend, independent samples t-test was conducted. According to the results of the research, a significant difference was found in environmental attitudes and environmental awareness of children in nature-centred kindergartens compared to children in public kindergartens. Children attending public schools are less exposed to the environment. Preparing the Pre-School Education Program in an environment-friendly manner to increase the environmental awareness of children attending public schools will be effective in terms of making a difference in their attitudes towards the environment.

Innovations in professional activity: what students of specialty “Preschool Education” think about it

“…The range of relevant internal and external factors that contribute to the formation in students (of the specialty 012 Preschool Education), competencies in accordance with the Standard of Higher Education (CI, CG-2, CS-1, CS-9) is outlined [7,10,[13][14][15][16]. Based on the analysis of the latest publications, the essential content of innovations in the educational process of PEI was characterized [28][29][30][31][32][33], as well as the specifics of the training of students for their implementation (on the example of different countries) [23][24][25][26][27]; b) to determine the attitude of students studying on specialty "Preschool Education" to the implementation of innovations in professional activities there was developed a questionnaire "Innovations in the professional activities of preschool education teachers: what is it and what for?" considering the content of all the competencies mentioned above and the results of the theoretical review of the literature.…”

“…Introduction of elements of innovative activity in PEI has a number of advantages: it provides creative climate between teachers and children, develops creative abilities at the subjects of educational process [28]; increases the level of pedagogical skills in the context of the organization of play activities as a leading type in preschool age [29]; promotes the development of the social and emotional sphere of children [30]; changes their attitude to the environment [31] etc. It is the introduction of innovations by PEI teachers that develops their sense of professional responsibility for improving the quality of the educational process [32].…”

The importance of cultivating awareness of environmental matters in science classrooms: a cross-regional study

“…More recent studies also supply promising evidence for the role of EE in promoting students’ awareness of environmental matters. For example, in Biber et al’s (2022) study, 5- to 6-year-old children who attend nature-centred private kindergartens showed a significantly higher level of environmental awareness than their counterparts attending public schools in Turkey. Nature-centre kindergartens are designed to allow children to spend time outdoors and be exposed to natural environments through hands-on exploration of their environment; in nature-centre kindergartens, teaching staff should have competencies for both early childhood education and environmental education (Biber, Cankorur, Güler & Demir 2022; Cordiano et al 2019).…”

“…For example, in Biber et al's (2022) study, 5-to 6-year-old children who attend nature-centred private kindergartens showed a significantly higher level of environmental awareness than their counterparts attending public schools in Turkey. Naturecentre kindergartens are designed to allow children to spend time outdoors and be exposed to natural environments through hands-on exploration of their environment; in nature-centre kindergartens, teaching staff should have competencies for both early childhood education and environmental education (Biber, Cankorur, Güler & Demir 2022;Cordiano et al 2019). On the other hand, in traditional public schools, children often lack opportunities to be exposed to natural environments and build an emotional connection to nature, while spending too much time being sedentary in classrooms (Biber et al, 2022;Cordiano et al, 2019).…”

Students’ attitudes towards the environment and marine litter in the context of a coastal water quality educational citizen science project

“…Thus, promoting the affective domain of environmental literacy is an important tool to counteract the consequences of human activity and industrial production on the environment, such as marine litter and, particularly, the microplastics therein. Therefore, environmental education emerges as “an approach, a philosophy, a tool, and a profession” (Monroe, Andrews, & Biedenweg, 2008) with the objective of understanding environmental problems, while raising environmentally literate citizens and addresses the environment and sustainable resources and promotes positive attitudes towards the environment (Biber et al, 2022). Environmental education “empowers the individual to make informed decisions and act responsibly while dealing with these issues and problems” (Faize & Akhtar, 2020, p. 2).…”