education as knowledge focused education C-B. Environmental education as skills fo- cused education
C-A1. Education about the environment C-A2. Care of the environment C-B1. Problem-solving skills C-B2. Adaptation to the environment C-B3. Resource utilization
C-A. Environmental education as knowledge focused education
Most of the teachers based their conception of environmental education on knowledge acquisition. Knowledge in this context refers to the rational and logical part of human thinking that leads to the knowing of facts, ideas, concepts or information about something. Knowledge widens the scope of individuals understanding of phenomena. The respondents were concerned with two aspects in this category: education about the environment and education about care for the environment.
C-A1. Education about the environment
The majority of the respondents described environmental education as education about the environment. In this case the respondents were only concerned with the cognitive and awareness perspectives of environmental education. One of the teachers was concerned with sustaining lives, because she said that we need knowledge about the environment to sustain our lives. Also they referred to environmental education as education that directs a person on how to live in their environment so that they can lead a comfortable life, depending on the prevailing weather conditions of a particular place. Another teacher talked about knowledge about the environment in terms of security. He argued that some of the objects in the environment are dangerous. So he says that if we understand
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our environment, we will be in a position to know which things are safe and which ones are dangerous. To make their points, this is what Muso, Aziz and Retha said:
“It is education about the environment. For example, knowing about all the things in one/s environment, their functions and how they are used, because some of the things in the environment are dangerous” (Muso, M)
“Environmental education is education that is about the environment, meaning how you can understand it [ ...]” (Aziz, M)
“Environmental education is education which is offered to a person so that he/she can live in his/her environment based on the weather of that place. I mean to be able to cope with the environment of that particular place”. (Retha, F)
Some of the teachers when interviewed in phase two of the interview said that environmental education is education that makes an individual aware of the environment. Environmental awareness here refers to an individual’s ability to perceive, feel or be conscious of events, patterns and even objects in his/her surroundings. Increase in environmental awareness enables man to broaden his/her knowledge and also to consider the environment in a holistic way and as a result be able to identify any changes that may occur in their environment. Teachers argue that because the environment is something which is always there, people may not be aware of it, so environmental education is a means of developing awareness of the environment among the people. This kind of thinking can be illustrated in the following extracts from the interviews:
“Environmental education is education that enables an individual to be aware of his/her environment. Although the environment is always there, we might not be aware of it. We take it for granted!” (Pazi, M)
“As I understand, environmental education is education that enables us as human beings to know our environment and develop an awareness of the different things which are in our environment. Developing awareness is important because it helps an individual know the state of the environment.” (Sinta, F)
C-A2. Care of the environment
In this aspect, the teachers referred to environmental education as education which provides individuals with knowledge about how to take care of the environment. Care of the environment refers to the things that we can do for the environment, like keeping the environment clean and taking care of natural habitats. The following statements from teachers support this kind of perception. For example, some of the teachers said:
“Environmental education makes us know how we can take care of our environment.” (Mangowi, F)
“It is education which is concerned with the taking care of the environment” (Meya, M)
The teachers were asked to explain what they meant by taking care of the environment. The teachers mentioned different things that can be done to indicate care of the environment. For most of them, tree planting is at the centre of care for the environment. However, one of the teachers who had earlier
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training in environmental education raised the issue of controlling water pollution, proper waste management and controlling wild fires as ways of taking care of the environment. This is clear from the two following quotations:
“Examples of what we can do to take care of the environment are planting trees, taking care of forests and many other things. As you can see, we have taken care of our school environment by planting trees.” (Kasi, F)
“It is education which is concerned with the taking care of the environment. By taking care of the environment I mean planting trees, not washing in rivers, not setting fire to the forest, which is a serious problem here, and also managing wastes well. There are a lot of things which we can do to take care of the environment.” (Meya, M)
While Meya and Kasi focused on the how aspects about care for the environment, Ksheru and Sina when interviewed for the second time went further to explain why man has to take care of the environment. They said that man takes care of the environment so that he/she can live in a better environment and also for economic purposes. This can be seen from their statements below:
“It is skills or strategies which are given to a person so that he/she can take care of his or her environment so that he or she can live in a better environment which is clean, with fresh air and enough food.” (Ksheru, F)
“Environmental education is education which gives us skills on how to take care of the environment. And I think it is important that individuals understand how to take care of their environment because they will get fresh air, enough rain and enough food. Also, if the environment is taken care of it will be beautiful, hence attract tourists to come to our country. This will boost the economy of the country.” (Sina, M)
Despite the fact that teachers were concerned with care for the environment, in explaining how this can be done, their scope was limited to tree planting and taking care of the forests. This reflects the crucial problems of deforestation and wild fires which are rampant in the area. The teachers who focused on the why aspects were concerned with aesthetic factors like making the environment beautiful and good to live in and also one of the teachers was concerned with the economic aspect of the environment, namely tourism.
Generally, teachers thought that environmental education is education that mainly provides individuals with knowledge about the environment and how to take care of it. This view can be a result of thinking that the aim of education is to provide knowledge so that individuals can take action. The teachers go further in suggesting that when people get knowledge they develop awareness which may lead to care for the environment and the ability to act.