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Young Adolescents' Perceptions of Environmental Issues: Implications for Environmental Education in Urban Settings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2015

Arjen Evert-Jan Wals
Arjen Evert-Jan Wals*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Education, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Despite good intentions, many environmental education (EE) projects seem to fall short in realising ambitious learning goals such as “helping citizens become environmentally knowledgeable, skilled and dedicated people who are willing to work individually and collectively, toward achieving and/or maintaining a dynamic equilibrium between the quality of life and the quality of the environment.” (Harvey cited in Hungerford et al., 1980). Without always challenging the nature and content of these goals, many researchers and practitioners are trying to resolve this discrepancy between the theory and practice of EE. Some have tried to instrumentally structure EE content matter by using hierarchical levels of universal goals and objectives (e.g. Hungerford et al., 1980; Marcinkowski, 1990) whereas others who question the value or the status of universal goals and objectives, have put emphasis on contextual development of EE within the school community (e.g. Bull et al., 1988; Robottom, 1987). However, relatively little attention has been paid to the way young people come to make sense of their own environment through their everyday interactions with(in) the lifeworld.

For more than fifty years constructivist approaches to learning have suggested that the pre-instructional perceptions (also referred to as “mini-theories” and “misconceptions”) of the learner play a key role in successful learning or lack thereof (Ausubel, 1968; Driver and Oldham, 1986; Freyberg and Osborne, 1981; Gilbert and Watts, 1983; Hasweh, 1986; Novak and Gowin, 1984, Wals, 1987) Yet, unlike the English teacher who is very capable of determining at what “level” her students are, environmental educators have little understanding of students' perceptions of the environment and environmental issues, and the “mini-theories” to which they lead.

Type
Research Article
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 8 , 1992 , pp. 45 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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