Comparing Teachers' and Students' Perspectives on Conservation Education

As the pace of global environmental change quickens, conservation leaders place increasing emphasis on educating young people about environmental issues. Educators generally consider a thorough environmental education to include decision-making, critical thinking, and citizenship skills, along with an understanding of human-nature relationships. To impart all these skills, education must engage children at the appropriate ages and with the appropriate teaching methods. This article sought to discover whether teachers' and students' perspectives align when it comes to which ages and teaching methods are best suited to environmental and conservation education. Although some researchers distinguish between environmental education (EE) and conservation education, this article's authors use the terms somewhat interchangeably.

Previous research suggests that beginning EE at a young age can facilitate the development of positive environmental attitudes. Additionally, repeated exposure to conservation education can facilitate positive attitudes and increased comprehension of environmental problems and their solutions. Yet more evidence regarding the effectiveness of specific classroom EE approaches is necessary to guide curriculum planning and design. Researchers conducted surveys to compare perspectives of teachers and students on which age ranges are most receptive to EE and what types of lessons are most effective.

The researchers conducted two surveys, each within a single school district in Kansas. The first questionnaire collected data from 70 K-12 teachers representing all grade levels. The questionnaire asked for the teachers' preferred teaching methods, as well as their thoughts on how receptive students at various grade levels are to environmental education. The second questionnaire gathered data from 350 students in grades 9-12 at a single high school in the same district. This approach ensured that many of the students had taken in classes with the teachers surveyed earlier, making the comparison of their responses meaningful. This questionnaire asked for students' opinions on conservation education, including its importance in schools, and how it should be taught.

Students and teachers overwhelmingly agreed that conservation and the environment should be taught in schools, and that these lessons should be given continuously throughout their education. Over half of students said that teachers and classes were the biggest influences on their environmental attitudes. These results corroborate the idea that teaching about the environment in school presents a promising opportunity to significantly improve students' environmental knowledge and attitudes.

Over a third of teachers believed that high school students were the least receptive of any grade levels to environmental education. Instead, teachers generally suggested that presenting EE in the 4th-6th grades would be most effective. These results were not consistent with the responses of high school students, though; the majority of students believed that high school was an appropriate time to provide EE. Most teachers and students agreed that participatory lessons were more effective than other teaching methods, like lectures and assigned readings.

This study only examined a single school district, which may hinder the applicability of these results in other locations. Additionally, the questionnaire measured self-reported interest in EE, rather than a potentially more objective measure, such as engagement or test scores. Further research could examine other metrics of academic success to supplement the results of this survey.

Since students and teachers agreed that conservation education should span students' K-12 education, the researchers recommend that school curricula address the environment at every grade level, including age-appropriate content and activities. They suggest that teachers should use participatory lessons to improve student engagement with environmental topics, particularly in high school. The finding that most high school students were receptive to EE—even though teachers did not perceive this—should give high school teachers greater confidence in incorporating environmental and conservation topics into their lessons.