ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOL: MEANING, THEMES AND VISION

Abstract

Environmental problems are faced all over the world. The quality of the environment has a tendency to deteriorate, so environmental education becomes one of the essential conditions for continued existence. In order to improve the situation, it is necessary to raise public awareness and encourage behaviour change. It is obvious that environmental education is needed, which would raise people’s level of awareness, and encourage them to change their behaviour, accordingly, changes would take place in the field of production and industry, consumption habits, and the relationship with the environment itself. Environmental education is especially important in primary school. In forming children’s environmental awareness, a great responsibility falls on the primary school teacher, therefore his preparation in the field of environmental education must be adequate. Empirical qualitative research aimed to reveal how future primary school teachers understand the meaning of environmental education, the topic, and what kind of realisation vision they have. 136 students from two Lithuanian universities, future teachers of preschool and primary education participated in the study. Verbal research data were analysed using the quantitative content analysis method. The research results allow us to state that environmental education is treated as significant, the themes of environmental education cover various areas that can and should be studied in primary school. Future teachers’ environmental education implementation vision at school includes both cognitive and practical-behavioural components. Keywords: environmental education, qualitative research, primary school, pre-service teachers