Environmental Education Centers as delivery hubs for environmental knowledge in Greece

Publicly funded Environmental Education Center (EEC) programs exist in the United States, Canada, Australia, and many European Union countries. The authors defined EECs as places where the primary goal is to provide environmental education (EE) as a supplement to the education system. EEC networks in the US, Australia, Canada, and certain EU member countries are the most deeply established. In the US, Australia, and Canada, EECs receive economic and political support at varying levels by region, so the strength of their network and functions are not the same everywhere. Previous studies have found that despite pro-environmental attitudes, few teachers practice environmental education, most often due to a lack of funding. Other studies have reported reasons for not practicing EE as teachers not knowing how to apply it or teachers being unable to incorporate EE within strict school day schedules. Little research exists on perceptions of EECs, but what does exists shows positive perceptions and correlations between perception of the center and the quality of the staff.

The researcher used questionnaires to survey attitudes among Greek in-service teachers towards EE and to see how EECs contribute to implementation of EE. The researchers sampled 100 schools, stratified by geography, grade of education, and public versus private to ensure a representative sample. 22 schools responded with a total of 110 primary and secondary school teachers. The questionnaire included questions that required a 1-10 scale, with 10 being the highest, the most important, or the most useful, depending on the question. Analysis of the data included frequencies, averages, and correlations that were done through least squares linear regressions.

The results of this study are very promising for the success of EECs. The average score of importance of EE, out of 10, was a 9.23, which is extremely high. Females and those with postgraduate degrees correlated with higher average scores of importance, but it does not vary with age, years of service, or geography. Despite this high belief in the importance of EE, only 33% of the teachers surveyed actually implemented an EE project in the classroom. Those that did not implement EE project cited workload or lack of training as barriers. Even of those that did implement it, 97% cited difficulties when teaching, including the inflexible school schedule, lack of funding, and lack of knowledge. Overcoming these difficulties, 97% of those that implemented EE project saw benefits, including heightened interest among students in environmental issues, better cooperation among students, increased knowledge of environmental topics, lessened behavioral problems, and better participation. These benefits don't just apply to EE lessons but the classroom as a whole.

Such benefits are worth the difficulties, as 71% of teachers who have implemented one EE project decide to do at least 1 more. Teachers in progressively older classrooms cited lower importance of EE programs to the general education process. Thus, EE should be taught starting at a young age. Additionally, teachers who have visited an EEC for training think that EECs contribute much more than those who haven't visited one and those who work closer to EECs also have a better attitude towards them. There is positive correlation between a school's distance from the nearest EEC and the following EE statistics: frequency of implementation of EE projects, frequency of seminar attendance on EE topics, frequency of educational visits to EECs, number of EE projects, number of educational visits to EECs.

Limitations of this study were not discussed. The author recommends that three good ways to see optimal outcomes from EE are to start teaching it early, to shift the education system that supports unity of subjects as opposed to division, and training teachers specifically on EE. Because this study found correlation between distance to EECs and likelihood of implementing EE projects, the researcher recommends a spatial study on EEC distribution. The author also advises future research to be done on whether EE practices are transferable across national borders.