Factors Contributing to Intergenerational Communication Regarding Environmental Programs: Preliminary Research Findings

Abstract

ABSTRACTGiven the increasing recognition of the potential for school students to act as catalysts of environmental change, research is needed to determine the extent to which school environmental education programs can facilitate intergenerational communication and learning in the home and wider community. The present paper reports on preliminary findings from a pilot study based on two environmental education programs. Four factors were investigated in terms of their influence upon the extent to which school students discussed the programs at home: student response to the program; student environmental orientation; parent environmental orientation; and family communication properties. In this study, program and family communication factors exerted the greatest influence on the frequency of discussions concerning environmental education programs experienced by students. Suggestions are made for ways in I which environmental education programs can be designed in order to facilitate student-parent communication about environmental issues.