Dissertation committee:
Γαλάνη Αποστολία, Επίκ. Καθηγήτρια, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Καλαϊτζιδάκη Μαριάννα, Αναπλ. Καθηγήτρια, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης
Μαυρικάκη Ευαγγελία, Αναπλ. Καθηγήτρια, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Μυλωνάς Μωυσής, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Βιολογίας, Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης
Παρασκευόπουλος Στέφανος, Καθηγητής, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Ειδικής Αγωγής, Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλία
Σκορδούλης Κωνσταντίνος, Καθηγητής, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Φλογαΐτη Ευγενία, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Εκπαίδευσης και Αγωγής στην Προσχολική Ηλικία, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Summary:
The rise in the importance of environmental issues in combination with a reduction in the quality of human life have led, especially during the last decade, to an intensification of the dialogue among theoreticians in the field of Environmental Education / Education for Sustainable Development (EE/ESD) about the course of its development in formal education. Approximately 27 years after the formal establishment of environmental education in Greece, and despite the pilot attempts for its integration in the formal education system (e.g., Innovative Programs, Flexible Zone, New School, Sustainable School, and as elective courses), its relationship with the school curriculum still remains marginal; carrying out the major changes required for the purpose of including the reformational nature of ΕΕ/ESD in the Greek educational system is a long-term process fraught with difficulties. Therefore, we believe it is necessary to explore, formulate, and develop ways to strengthen the position of ΕΕ/ESD within the existing educational system by reinforcing the foundations for the development of its goals.
More specifically, Environmental Literacy (EL) is considered to be the ultimate goal of EE/ESD. The enormous environmental challenges that modern world has to face can only be engaged by environmentally literate citizens. Based on this, EL emerges as a primary societal goal that should concern the general public and not only the experts. The educational policy makers worldwide point out the need to collect and evaluate scientific data from EL surveys (knowledge, affect, skills, and environmentally responsible behavior) at a national and international level, while covering a wide range of age and educational levels (e.g., children, teenagers, adults). Surveys of this type have not yet been carried out in Greece.
The school is considered to be fundamental for the development of EE/ESD. Thus, in order to identify possible shortcomings of the Greek educational system and also to suggest implications for educational policy and practice, it was considered important to assess the level of EL of those who have graduated secondary education (Unified Lyceum). Therefore, the sample (participants) was made up of 1010 graduates of Greek Unified Lyceum. The 3 EL components which were assessed in the present research using the written questionnaire GELI (Greek Environmental Literacy Instrument) - which was specifically developed and validated to conduct this research - were: knowledge, affect and environmentally responsible behavior. Subsequently, we investigated the factors which influence the EL level of these graduates, especially those which are part of the formal education.
The results of the present dissertation have shown an increased level of affect (attitudes, awareness, intention to act) of graduates of Greek secondary school. However, this level of affect was not necessarily accompanied by analogous environmentally responsible behavior. One of the main reasons for this was found to be the significant deficit in basic knowledge of ecology and environmental issues due to inefficient or inadequate teaching of ecology. Addressing the deficits in knowledge could potentially improve the overall EL level of secondary-school graduates, therefore enhancing the ability of graduates to address current and future environmental issues.
Among the factors that have been found to affect significantly the EL level of the graduates of Greek secondary schools are the family (the level of education and the degree of environmental sensitivity of their parents), the existence of significant life experiences and school. In particular, with regard to formal education, the present work studied and identified specific reasons which are related to Ecology Teaching and are responsible for the inability of Primary and Secondary education in Greece to contribute to a greater degree of EL in its graduates.
This study is one of the first attempts to evaluate EL level in Greece, and is the first which focuses specifically on the EL level of post-secondary school students in Greece. It is expected that GELI, the research instrument developed for this study, will contribute to further research in this area, in the gathering of data from Greece and the correlation and comparison with similar studies abroad. Finally, this study offers proposals to education professionals who are involved in curriculum development, as well as for teachers and educators at all levels in the educational system who are involved with teaching of ecology and environmental issues. We do hope that the findings of this research will be taken into account and will contribute to the dialogue towards educational policy decisions in Greece.
Keywords:
Environmental Εducation, Education for Sustainable Development, environmental literacy, ecology, Greece
