Investigation of Preschool Children’s Perceptions to Protect the Environment Through Drawings

Abstract

Abstract
 This study aimed at investigating the perceptions of children attending preschool education about protecting the environment through drawings. This study was carried out with a qualitative research method. The study group of this study consisted of 80 children among 48-60-month-old children attending preschool education in Nicosia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). In this study, the children were requested to explain their thoughts through drawings by asking the following question: “What can be done to protect the environment?” Then, the children were asked to describe their drawings orally. The descriptions of children were recorded in writing and analyzed. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the most common perception about protecting the environment was “not littering”. In addition to this, it was determined that the children had different perceptions as “not wasting water”, “not polluting nature”, “not starting a fire”, “not polluting the sea”, and “not cutting the trees”. It was concluded that the children had a perception of protecting the environment only from these aspects with the drawings that included reduce and respect dimensions of the 7R model. It was also concluded that they did not have a perception in the dimensions of reuse, rethink, reflect, recycle, and redistribute.

The Perceptions of the Children Attending the Preschool Education about Nature and Nature Pollution

“…How people perceive nature forms the basis of the humannature relationship. The relationship between human beings and nature has evolved (Hollstein, 2022;Hollstein & Smith, 2020;Kavaz et al, 2021). The industrial revolution in the 18 th century considered nature a raw material in production.…”

“…International steps have contributed to the formation of environmental education approaches and principles, and it has become essential to provide children with the necessary attitudes, values, and skills within the scope of environmental education in the countries' education policies (Doğan & Simsar, 2018;Fernández et al, 2019;Tanriverdi, 2009). The Turkish environmental education strategy aims at providing children with awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and skills to protect the environment and create environmental awareness (Kavaz et al, 2021;Soydan et al, 2013).…”