In this category, teachers revealed that environmental education is not included into their subjects. Analysis of the teachers’ responses indicated that this category included teachers who were definite that there were no environmental education topics in their subjects and those who admitted that they were not sure whether environmental education was integrated into their subjects or not.
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C-H1. Certain of no environmental education integration
The teachers who were included into this sub-category were those who concretely expressed that environmental education is not shown in the syllabus, despite the fact that they are told that they have to teach it. This can be supported by the teachers’ utterances, as follows:
“I have not seen environmental education topics in the subject I teach. The education officers from the municipality tell us to teach environmental education, but when we look into the syllabus we do not find the topics, and even when we look into the books we do not see them. However, I try to include environmental education when I teach where I find it possible.” (Mwasu, F)
“I have not come across any environmental topic in my subject.” (Wamo, F) “In English for standard 6, there are no environmental education topics.” (Pesa, F)
From the teachers’ statements, it can be said that although it has been stated that environmental education should be integrated into all the subjects, the teachers’ experiences show that they cannot find environmental education topics in the subjects that they teach. However, some of the teachers are not quite sure if there are environmental education topics included into their subjects or not. This is revealed in the next sub-category.
C-H2. Uncertain of integration of environmental education
Since all the topics to be taught are usually stated clearly in the syllabus, the teachers who could not find topics that were directly related to environmental education admitted that they were not sure if there was any environmental education integrated into their subjects. They admitted that the environmental education content might be there, but since it is not stated clearly, then they have not noticed it, as shown in the following statements:
“No. I am not sure if in mathematics for standard five there are environmental topics. They might be there, but they are not stated explicitly.” (Kaji, M)
“In the Kiswahili subject for standard VII there are no environmental topics, but we can read passages on the environment and in structure we can make sentences related to things and situations in the learners’ environment. I am not sure if this is environmental education or just reading passages.” (Ksheru, F)
The teachers' voices above suggest that teachers are doubtful if there are any environmental education topics in the subjects that they teach. This implies that there could be environmental education topics included, but since they are not labeled explicitly as environmental education, the teachers have not been able to identify them.
Concerning the issue of teachers’ awareness of environmental education being integrated into the subjects that they teach, the teachers’ experiences can be divided into two categories. Some teachers revealed that there was no difficulty in identifying the environmental education components which are integrated into the subjects which they teach, while other teachers said that they experienced difficulties in finding out if they were integrated or not.
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In the first category, the teachers said in some subjects the environmental education topics are explicitly shown as topics, or as content to be taught, or even as a teaching and learning resource. Teachers teaching these subjects (science, social studies, languages and vocational skills) seem to be comfortable in integrating environmental education into their teaching.
In the second category, teachers seem to be dissatisfied because they are told to integrate environmental education into their teaching, but what is to be integrated is not stated clearly or is not indicated at all. This makes it difficult for teachers to know or decide what to integrate as they have to teach what is stated in the curriculum. Given this controversy it was necessary to ask the teachers how they think environmental education can be integrated into the curriculum so that it can be taught effectively as planned.
4.3.3 Teachers’ suggestions on integration of environmental education
into the curriculum
The discussion on teachers’ perceptions on how environmental education has been included in the curriculum was followed by teachers’ suggestions on how environmental education can be integrated into the primary school curriculum. This aimed at seeking teachers’ perceptions on how environmental education can best be included into the primary school curriculum to facilitate its effective implementation. As a result of the analysis, three categories could be distinguished.
The first category included teachers who thought that environmental education should be included in the school curriculum as an independent subject. The second category consisted of teachers who thought that it should be integrated
as topics into the different subjects, and the third category consisted of those
who thought that it should be integrated into a few subjects only. Within the three categories, there were seven aspects. The first category included teachers who suggested that by making environmental education an independent subject, it would be accorded subject status treatment, while others said that due to its vital significance, it needs to be an independent subject. Other teachers were of the opinion that if it is included in the curriculum as an independent subject, it would be covered adequately. The second category included teachers who talked about effective teaching and overloaded timetable. In the third category the teachers talked about the aspects of match and mismatch with subject content. The different categories and subcategories are shown in Figure 12 below and discussed in the following sections.
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Figure 12. Teachers’ suggestions for integrating environmental education into the curriculum