Towards environmental questions

keys for multidisciplinar training

Resumen

Introduction

The concept of Environmental Education (EE) contains a variety of objectives, based on the improvement of the human-nature relationship. Therefore, the EE should be implemented in schools, as they represent institutions that create the foundations for the construction of concepts and values, directing subjects right sustainable environment behaviours.

Objectives

We aim to explore the interactive correlation between social, scholar, familiar and psychological related variables which could influence the subjects behaviours in environmental related questions.

Methods

A cohort of 500 subjects belonging from the Viseu district, studying in basic-level, from the economy-middle-classe (45.0%), were analysed. The majority were females (50.6%) from urban areas (57.4%) and with an average age of 13 years old (M=13.38). Different protocols of analysis were applied, using distinct tools to examine the collected data. The used scales of measurement were previous validated and gauged for the Portuguese population. Moreover, in the present work we constructed a new data-evaluation scale, called “Scale for School performance in Environmental Education”, which was validated and presented significative consistency/reliability value (Cronbach’s Alpha =0.861).

Results

The results pointed out female living in urban areas as subjects having the more positive attitudes in questions related to environmental care (M=18.05). Religion practices (M=109.4) and familiar functionality (F=4.603; p=0.010) were shown as significative variables in the promotion of positive environmental behaviours. However, the most significative value, explaining the major percentage of subjects attitudes variances (R²=18%; p=0.000), was the role of School entities promoting EE, encouraging positive environmental behaviours. The subjects Self-Knowledge was also presented as a statistically significative value, evidencing an interaction/ correlation between the environmental responsibility and the behavioural factor showed as a determinant and predictive in what concerns to subjects environmental attitudes.

Conclusions

Psychological variables, family and school context, associated with the attitudes of young adolescents towards the environment and should therefore be considered when designing and implementing programs and support interventions for environmental education.