Evaluation of a pedagogical model of education for environmental citizenship by students of primary education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.30935Keywords:
Education for Environmental Citizenship, Primary education, Design-Based Research, Pedagogical ModelAbstract
This article evaluates the implementation of a pedagogical model of education for environmental citizenship in primary education, in Portugal (students between 6 and 10 years old). The objective was to test a pedagogical model in a real scholar context, in order to be evaluated by the students themselves, seeking to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the perceptions of the primary education students about the environmental citizenship activities carried out?; (2) What learning resulted from the environmental citizenship activities carried out? This test is one of the iterations of a Design-Based Research aimed at conceiving a Pedagogical Model of Education for Environmental Citizenship in primary education, in Portugal. The implementation of the pedagogical model was carried out in four public primary schools, in Portugal, with 23 classes (supervised by 23 teachers), and around 500 students, in total, distributed over the 4 years of schooling. Based on direct observation, field notes and semi-structured interviews carried out with the students, it was possible to answer the research questions, identifying their perceptions about the environmental citizenship activities carried out and the respective learning that resulted from these activities. In general, after the realization of environmental citizenship activities, students developed competencies for environmental citizenship, changed their behavior and attitudes and demonstrated a willingness to participate more actively in the resolution of local environmental problems together with the school and local community, thus developing their empowerment for action.
This test is one of the iterations of a Design-Based Research aimed at conceiving a Pedagogical Model of Education for Environmental Citizenship in primary education, in Portugal.
The implementation of the pedagogical model was carried out in four public primary schools, in Portugal, with 23 classes (supervised by 23 teachers), and around 500 students, in total, distributed over the 4 years of schooling.
Based on direct observation, field notes and semi-structured interviews carried out with the students, it was possible to answer the research questions, identifying their perceptions about the environmental citizenship activities carried out and the respective learning that resulted from these activities.
In general, after the realization of environmental citizenship activities, students developed competences for environmental citizenship, changed their behavior and attitudes and demonstrated a willingness to participate more actively in the resolution of local environmental problems together with school and local community, thus developing their empowerment for action.
Downloads
References
Amaral, C., & Linhares, E. (2017). Educação em Ciências para a Cidadania: Práticas de ativismo com alunos do 1.ºCEB [Sessão em seminário]. In Atas do XVII Encontro Nacional de Educação em Ciências/I Seminário Internacional de Educação em Ciências (pp.34-42). Viana do Castelo, Escola Superior de Educação do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, 15-16 set. 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.15/2569
Amini, R. (2015). Outdoor based environmental education learning and its effect in caring attitude toward environment. Indonesian Journal of Science Education, 4(1), 43-47. https://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/jpii/article/view/3500
Ampuero, D. A., Miranda, C., & Goyen, S. (2015). Positive psychology in education for sustainable development at a primary-education institution. Local Environment, 20(7), 745-763. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2013.869199
Asah, S. T., Bengston, D. N., Westphal, L. M., & Gowan, C. H. (2018). Mechanisms of children’s exposure to nature: Predicting adulthood environmental citizenship and commitment to nature-based activities. Environmental Behaviour, 50(7), 807-836. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916517718021
Baptista, M., Reis, P., & Andrade, V. (2018). Let’s save the bees! An environmental activism initiative in elementary school. Visions for Sustainability, (9), 41-48. https://doi.org/10.13135/2384-8677/2772
Bardin, L. (2009). Análise de conteúdo (L. A. Reto & A. Pinheiro, Trads.). Edições 70.
Cho, Y., & Lee, D. (2018). ‘Love honey, hate honey bees’: Reviving biophilia of elementary school students through environmental education program. Environmental Education Research, 24(3), 445-460. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2017.1279277
Christidou, V., Tsevreni, I., Epitropou, M., & Kittas, C. (2013). Exploring primary children’s views and experiences the school ground: The case of a Greek school. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 8(1), 59-83. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1008595.pdf
Činčera, J., Pauw, J. B., Goldman, D., & Simonova, P. (2018). Emancipatory or instrumental? Students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of the EcoSchool program. Environmental Education Research, 25(7), 1083-1104. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2018.1506911.
Činčera, J., Romero-Ariza, M., Zabic, M., Kalaitzidaki, M., & Consuelo Díez Bedmar, M. (2020). Environmental citizenship in primary formal education. In A. C. Hadjichambis, P. Reis, D. Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, J. Činčera, J. B. Pauw, N. Gericke & M.-C. Knippels (Eds.). Conceptualizing environmental citizenship for 21st century education (Vol. 4, pp. 163-177). Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-20249-1_11
Cobb, E. M. (1977). The ecology of imagination in childhood. Columbia University Press.
Cobb, P., Confrey, J., diSessa, A., Lehrer, R. & Schauble, L. (2003). Design experiments in educational research. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 9-13. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X032001009
Collado, S., Rosa, C. D., & Corraliza, J. A. (2020). The effect of a nature-based environmental education program on children’s environmental attitudes and behaviors: A randomized experiment with primary schools. Sustainability, 12(17), e6817. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176817
Direção-Geral da Educação. (2018a). Aprendizagens Essenciais: Estudo do Meio (1º ano) [Currículo escolar]. Direção-Geral da Educação. http://www.dge.mec.pt/sites/default/files/Curriculo/Aprendizagens_Essenciais/1_ciclo/1_estudo_do_meio.pdf
Direção-Geral da Educação. (2018b). Aprendizagens Essenciais: Estudo do Meio (2º ano) [Currículo escolar]. Direção-Geral da Educação. http://www.dge.mec.pt/sites/default/files/Curriculo/Aprendizagens_Essenciais/1_ciclo/2_estudo_do_meio.pdf
Direção-Geral da Educação. (2018c). Aprendizagens Essenciais: Estudo do Meio (3º ano) [Currículo escolar]. Direção-Geral da Educação. http://www.dge.mec.pt/sites/default/files/Curriculo/Aprendizagens_Essenciais/1_ciclo/3_estudo_do_meio.pdf
Direção-Geral da Educação. (2018d). Aprendizagens Essenciais: Estudo do Meio (4º ano) [Currículo escolar]. Direção-Geral da Educação. http://www.dge.mec.pt/sites/default/files/Curriculo/Aprendizagens_Essenciais/1_ciclo/4_estudo_do_meio.pdf
Dobson, A. (1997). Environmental sustainability: A view from the terraces. Environmental Politics, 6(3), 176-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644019708414349
Dobson, A. (2003). Citizenship and the environment. Oxford University Press.
Dobson, A. (2007). Environmental citizenship: Towards sustainable development. Sustainable Development, 15(5), 276-285. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.344.
Fraefel, U. (2014). Professionalization of pre-service teachers through university-school partnerships: Partner schools for professional development: Development, implementation, and evaluation of cooperative learning in schools and classes [Conference paper]. In WERA Focal Meeting. Edinburgh, 19-21 nov. 2014. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.1979.5925
Hadjichambis, A. C., & Reis, P. (2020). Introduction to the conceptualisation of environmental citizenship for twenty-first-century education. In A. C. Hadjichambis, P. Reis, D. Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, J. Činčera, J. B. Pauw, N. Gericke & M.-C. Knippels (Eds.). Conceptualizing environmental citizenship for 21st century education (Vol. 4, pp. 1-14). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20249-1_1
Hadjichambis, A. C., Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, D., & Georgiou, Y. (2022). Evaluating a novel learning intervention grounded in the education for environmental citizenship pedagogical approach: A case study from cyprus. Sustainability, 14(3), e1398. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031398
Hodson, D. (2014). Becoming part of the solution: Learning about activism, learning through activism, learning from activism. In J. Bencze & S. Alsop (Eds.), Activist science and technology education (Vol. 9, pp. 67-98). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4360-1_5
Jordan, C., & Chawla, L. (2019). A coordinated research agenda for nature-based learning. Frontier Psychology, 10, e766. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00766
Kaufman, P. (2017). Critical contemplative pedagogy. Radical Pedagogy, 14(1), 1-20. https://www.academia.edu/31097956/Critical_Contemplative_Pedagogy
Kuo, M., Barnes, M., & Jordan, C. (2019). Do experiences with nature promote learning? Converging evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship. Frontier Psychology, 10, e305. https://doi.org/ 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00305
Kyburz-Graber, R. (2013). Socio-ecological approaches to environmental education and research: A paradigmatic response to behavioral change orientations. In R. B. Stevenson, M. Brody, J. Dillon & A. E. J. Wals (Eds.), International handbook of research on environmental education (pp. 23-32). Routledge
Lee, H., Janssen, J., & Wubbels, T. (2018). Collaborative learning practices: Teacher and student perceived obstacles to effective student collaboration. Cambridge Journal of Education, 48(1), 103-122. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/0305764X.2016.1259389
Leopold, A. (1949). A sand county almanac and sketches here and there. Oxford University Press.
Liefländer, A. K., Fröhlich, G., Bogner, F. X., & Schultz, P. W. (2013). Promoting connectedness with nature through environmental education. Environmental Education Research, 19(3), 370-384. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2012.697545
Lloyd, A., & Gray, T. (2014). Place-based outdoor learning and environmental sustainability within Australian primary schools. Journal of Sustainability Education. https://www.susted.com/wordpress/content/place-based-outdoor-learning-and-environmental-sustainability-within-australian-primary-school_2014_10/
MacQuarrie, S., Nugent, C., & Warden, C. (2015). Learning with nature and learning from others: Nature as setting and resource for early childhood education. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 15(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2013.841095
Mcmillan, J., & Schumacher S. (2001). Research in education: A conceptual introduction (5th Ed.). Longman.
Misiaszek, G. W. (2015). Ecopedagogy and citizenship in the age of globalisation: Connections between environmental and global citizenship education to save the planet. European Journal of Education, 50(3), 280-292. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12138.
Monte, T., & Reis P. (2021). Design of a pedagogical model of education for environmental citizenship in primary education. Sustainability, 13(11), e6000. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116000
Monte, T., & Reis, P. (2022). Avaliação de um modelo pedagógico de educação para a cidadania ambiental por especialistas em educação ambiental. Uni-Pluriversidad, 22(2), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.unipluri.349593
Monte, T., & Reis, P. (2024). Aplicación y evaluación de un modelo didáctico de educación para la ciudadanía ambiental en Portugal por maestras de primaria. Revista Eureka sobre Enseñanza y Divulgación de las Ciencias 21(1), e1504. https://doi.org/10.25267/Rev_Eureka_ensen_divulg_cienc.2024.v21.i1.1504
Moura, F. A. (2018). Estudo da aplicação do “Inquiry-Based Learning” através da ferramenta experimental “Photonics Explorer Kit” como complemento ao ensino da ótica no nível básico [Tese de doutoramento]. Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto. https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/handle/10216/118488
Mor, Y. (2010). A design approach to research in technology enhanced Mathematics education [PhD Thesis]. University of London. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10006478
Orr, D. W. (1990). Environmental education and ecological literacy. Education Digest, 55(9), 49-53. https://blogs.ubc.ca/lled3662017/files/2017/08/Orr_Environmental-Literacy-Ecoliteracy.pdf
Orr, D. W. (1994). Earth in mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect. Island Press.
Otto, S., & Pensini, P. (2017). Nature-based environmental education of children: Environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature, together, are related to ecological behaviour. Global Environmental Change, 47, 88-94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha. 2017.09.009.
Pallett, H. (2017). Environmental citizenship. In D. Richardson, N. Castree, M. F. Goodchild, A. Kobayashi, W. Liu & R. A. Marston (Eds.), International encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, environment, and technology (pp. 1-14). Wiley. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310705795_Environmental_citizenship
Pedroso, J. V. (Coord.). (2018). Referencial de Educação Ambiental para a sustentabilidade para a Educação Pré-Escolar, o Ensino Básico e o Ensino Secundário. Direção Geral de Educação. https://www.dge.mec.pt/sites/default/files/ECidadania/Educacao_Ambiental/documentos/referencial_ambiente.pdf
Plomp, T. (2013). Educational design research: An introduction. In T. Plomp & N. Nieveen (Eds.), Educational design research: An introduction (Part A, pp. 10-51). Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development. https://slo.nl/publish/pages/2904/educational-design-research-part-a.pdf
Ponte, J. P., Carvalho, R., Mata-Pereira, J., & Quaresma, M. (2016). Investigação baseada em design para compreender e melhorar as práticas educativas. Quadrante, XXV(2), 77-98. https://repositorio.ul.pt/jspui/bitstream/10451/28786/1/Ponte%2C%20Carvalho%2C%20MataPereira%2C%20Quaresma%20Quadrante_25%282%29_2016.pdf
Reis, P. (2013). Da discussão à ação sócio-política sobre controvérsias sócio-científicas: Uma questão de cidadania. Ensino de Ciências e Tecnologia em Revista, 3(1), 1-10. https://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/9577/3/DA%20DISCUSS%c3%83O%20%c3%80%20A%c3%87%c3%83O.pdf
Reis, P. (2020). Environmental citizenship and youth activism. In A. C. Hadjichambis, P. Reis, D. Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, J. Činčera, J. B. Pauw, N. Gericke & M.-C. Knippels (Eds.). Conceptualizing environmental citizenship for 21st century education (Vol. 4, pp. 139-148). Springer. https://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/42675/1/Reis2020_Chapter_EnvironmentalCitizenshipAndYou.pdf
Reis, P., & Tinoca, L. (2018). A avaliação do impacto do projeto “We Act” nas percepções dos alunos acerca das suas competências de ação sociopolítica. Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Ciência e Tecnologia, 11(2), 214-232. https://repositorio.ul.pt/handle/10451/34806
Shapiro, S. L., Lyons, K. E., Miller, R. C., Butler, B., Vieten, C., & Zelazo, P. D. (2015). Contemplation in the classroom: A new direction for improving childhood education. Educucation Psychology Review, 27, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-014-9265-3
Silva, C. J. (2018). Investigação na prática de ensino supervisionada II: Educação em ciências para a cidadania: Práticas de ativismo em contexto escolar [Relatório de estágio]. Instituto Politécnico de Santarém. https://repositorio.ipsantarem.pt/bitstream/10400.15/2170/1/Relat%c3%b3rio%20Final%20Mestrado-%20Carolina%20Amaral.pdf
Szczytko, R., Carrier, S. J., & Stevenson, K. T. (2018). Impacts of outdoor environmental education on teacher reports of attention, behavior, and learning outcomes for students with emotional, cognitive, and behavioral disabilities. Frontiers of Education, 3, e46. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00046.
Tavares, R., & Almeida, P. (2015). Metodologia Inquiry Based Science Education no 1.º e 2.º CEB com recurso a dispositivos móveis: Uma revisão crítica de casos práticos. Educação, Formação & Tecnologias, 8 (1), 28-41. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/17447
Ucan, S. (2017). Changes in primary school students’ use of self and social forms of regulation of learning across collaborative inquiry activities. International Journal of Educational Research, 85, 51-67. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2017.07.005
UNESCO. (2007). Operational definition of basic education: Theoretical framework. UNESCO Publishing. http://www.unesco.org/education/framework.pdf
UNESCO. (2015). Rethinking education: Towards a global common good?. UNESCO Publishing. https://unevoc.unesco.org/e-forum/RethinkingEducation.pdf
UNESCO. (2019). Educational content up close: Examining the learning dimensions of education for sustainable development and global citizenship education. UNESCO Publishing. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000372327
Vilches Norat, M. A., Fernández Herrería, A., & Martínez Rodríguez, F. M. (2016). Ecopedagogy: A movement between critical dialogue and complexity: Proposal for a categories system. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 10(1), 178-195. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408215625552
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Teresa Monte, Pedro Reis

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
1. The authors preserve their authorship and grant the Portuguese Journal of Education the right to the first publication. The work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License that allows sharing the work with the acknowledgment of initial authorship and publication in this Journal.
2. The authors have the right to take additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the published version of their work (e.g. to deposit in an institutional repository or as a book chapter), acknowledging the initial authorship and publication in this Journal.
3. The authors have the permission and are stimulated to post their work online (e.g. in an institutional repository or on their personal website). They can do this at any phase of the editorial process, as it may generate productive changes, as well as increase impact and article citation (see The Open Citation Project).
The work is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)