Environmental Education in Western Australian Secondary Schools

Abstract

This paper reports on research carried out to investigate the extent of environmental education in Western Australian secondary schools. The research found: a high level of support for environmental education amongst teachers, that environmental education was being pursued to some extent in all responding schools, that there existed areas of neglect which were often politically controversial and divisive contemporary issues, and that city schools were generally more involved in environmental education than country schools and public schools more than private schools.Barriers to the further implementation of environmental education in schools are identified and recommandations made to improve the availability and standard of environmental education in Western Australian secondary schools.