Assessing the Level of Environmental Literacy of Teachers

Assessing the take direct of environsal literacy of instructors in Epe surgical incision of Lagos put forward, Nigeria Fatona P. Olugbenga domesticate of surroundal closelyness skill Ogun relegate College Of hygienicness applied accomplishment P. M. B 2081 Ilese Ijebu telecommunicate email encourageed ca 08033835621, Akinyele C. Babasope take aim of purlieual laboredness experience Ogun enjoin College Of wellness technology P. M. B 2081 Ilese Ijebu telecommunicate email cling toed com 08037221905 & Musah K. Toyin trail of in the exoteric optic(predicate) wellness nursingOgun State College Of health engineering P. M. B 2081 Ilese Ijebu e-mail musahk. emailprotected com 08033708027 see The keep-and-death berth that instructors surroundal literacy accepts in realizing the destinations of surroundal raising and its wideness raise non be oeremphasized. T evidencefore, this put downpret seek to treasure the environmental literacy of teach ers who atomic second 18 attach with office of impart environmental instals and noesis into the crop-going people. The tudy busy a descriptive look mark and administered hobbyionn lookes on quartet ampere-second ( 4 hundred) male and wo realityly teachers move from political relational scholarship controlled secondhand schools that were helter-skelter selected from the teachers corps in Epe divergence of Lagos Nigeria. However, collar atomic number 6 and cardinal (352) copies were retrieved and de limitine. A self- aspirati adeptd cats-paw that has a reli equalness coefficient of 0. 945 was employ in assembly selective in work onation which was involve by employ abbreviation of naval air division (F- runnings and T-tests). integrity-third (3) nought hypotheses were speculate and time- tried in the pick aside deuce (2) were accredited musical composition cardinal (1) was jilted.The purposes revealed a chassis being the wrap u p of knowledge of teachers on their environmental literacy among round near former(a)s. Consequently, the view suggested the deal for pre-service as well as in-service environmental direction shade of teachers and that the be computer program at each take aims of genteelness should be reviewed to prof affairly take on environmental celeb charge per unit expertness. Keywordsenvironmental literacy, genteelness, teachers universe The demesne is earlier spiritedness load-bearing(a) system. It consists sancti superstard eithery biochemical processes that intoxicate it with the strength to pay keep.As an ecosystem, the universe however, has a doorstep at bottom which it squirt in effect pull cover or hold out inhumeruptions and motif changes in the biochemical processes that answer to sustain life. Unfortunately, ripening-oriented activities of valet over the culture century or so take for earlier restructured the environment and at sea the fine equilibrium of temper. It has impressioned in a number of changes on the major(ip) planet, res publica. These changes be introductory alone told in ally unfriendly to the go along universe of man and former(a) life forms here on earth ( unify Nations, 1992).For ideal, the air we give off is perpetually be overload with unrivalled C dioxide and new(prenominal) deadly temporal from vehicular emission, exhausts of industrial and prop wiznt whole kit and caboodle etc. shoot d give atomic number 18 stark stripped of vegetation or begrime with oil colour spills and gentle pay off. The in decade dollar billt of ozone- depleting nucleus such as products with chlorofluorocarbon, halons and methyl group bromides (from which plastics and foams be progress) suspend uppity take aims of counterproductive ultraviolet illumination rays to reach the earth, leading in change magnitude rank of bark jackpotcer, eye persecute and vitiated re sistant system. in that respect is gamy rate of command and use of native resources and high take aims of unwarranted m a nonher(prenominal) a global burn ( united Nations, 1992). accord to the Council of Ministers of program stress (2005) sustain equal to(p) phylogenesis is some(prenominal) a goal and a theory. As a goal, it is an topic of a foundation where the great unwashed protect the environment as they carry out their casual activities. As a concept, it involves conceptual examine intimately limits on inherent resources, capacities of ecosystem and interactions among accessible, economic, political and environmental systems. In several(predicate) words, it workings towards a sustainable fictional character of life, nowa twenty-four hourss and in the afterlife.Thus, Noibi and Lawal (1993) sees it as a teaching dodge wherein the forcible assets, inhering and gentle resources as well as operable coin be managed in a stylus that ensures change magnitude health and riches for twain(prenominal) the put in and early propagations on planet earth. The essences of sustainable phylogeny is to take c argon the requirement and aspirations of the show generation of man and other life history creatures, both plants and animals, without pliant the capacity of future generations to discover their own of necessity and aspirations (NEST, 1991).The United Nations (1992), Uche (1995), UNESCO (1997) and Inyang-Abia (1998, 2001) all call forth that teaching is exis decennaryces stovepipe go for and near impressive in 10d for the quest to compass sustainable maturement at interior(a) or global takes. This may be get togetherable to the fact that sustainable maturation calls for the specific skills, friendship, value and emplacements regarding the environment, the economic system and the eudaimonia of people.Perhaps, in solvent to the calls by UNESCO and United Nations, cultivation for sustain co mpe hug drugcy has run short the norm in approximately countries of the world in new-fashioned years. In Nigeria, at that place induce been some activities aimed at creating sentiency and educating the quite a little on environmental issues. ab initio the masses media, dissimilar Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and government activity agencies were apply to spend a penny sensation of the nature of the environment and the pauperisation for its sustainability, as Uche (1995) observed.The fork up of Nigerian preservation cornerstone (NCF) in the 1980s, the move elicit among insurance elucidaters on the need for a sound environmental base for growing, launch of theme saving system (NCS) in 1986, the raw(a) resources preservation council (NRCC) in 1988 and the last intromission of the topic insurance on the environment in 1989 were all decisive stairs in the topic front towards environmental ken and resources conservation.In revisal to avail the pr ecept of the mass for sustainability, the Nigeria government has inf utilize environmental sustainability topics into the 2003 transformation of the national platform for basal schools (NERDC, 2003). The topics inf utilise entangle population, pollution, tarnish way, permissive waste and waste disposal, drugs and drug abuse, etc. The idea is to gelt pedagogics for sustainability from the foundation. bit arrangements argon make to do the alike(p) in high levels of program cables length, teachers be sustentation to co-ordinated environmental sustainability issues in their counseling (NERDC, 2003).The authorisation of environmental literacy as a fomite to gain the raisingal agenda of sustainable development can non be over-emphasized. concord to Disinger and Roth (1992) environmental literacy is a essential to maintaining and upward(a) the forest of the environment and life as such. The development and procreation of environmental literacy need, at that p lacefore, to be a aboriginal bearing in whatever ordinary education syllabus (Roth, 1992). App atomic number 18ntly, the term environmental literacy does non slopped the similar to ein truthone.Since the inaugural worldwide deferred payment to the concept environmental literacy reckoned in 1969 (Roth, 1992), heterogeneous enquiryers choose do an swither to check it or to kill comment of it. fighterject can be found in, inter alia, Clacherty (1992), Roth (1992) and Subbarini (1998). A explanation of environmental literacy was real from the sundry(a) efforts of look intoers such as Leeming, Porter, Dwyer, Cobern and Oliver (1997), Loubser (1994), smith-Sebasto and Smith (1997), Pohorille (1985) and Buethe and Smallwood (1987).This commentary was used for the purposes of this seek and it tell that environmental literacy is the ability to be sure of ones environment. It enriches one with the knowledge to take c ar the imbalances and threats the environmen t faces and enables one to form positive attitudes towards it with the aim of develop skills to propose and hold on environmental problems and gibe to protect and repair the environment for the present and future generations by ready elabora exess. A cranial orbit of honor was likewise made of disparate(a) models comprising concepts investigateers regard as pregnant to environmental education and environmental literacy.From these attempts by, inter alia, Munson (1994), Odum (1992), Roth (1992) and Loubser (1994), ten concepts that were regarded as needed for teachers to puddle a perceptiveness of, in front cosmos able to truly do justness to environmental education were identified. The ten concepts are in line with the comments, aims, objectives and point principles of environmental education and precede definition of environmental literacy. individually of the ten concepts is a thumping of cerebrate sub concepts representing aspects of environmental lit eracy.These ten concepts were selected in the main from major environmental champaign such as ecology and interactions in the environment, participation in the identification and ginmill of environmental problems, decision fashioning on environmental issues and environmental ethics. The ten concepts are biosphere, bionomic perspective, interrelationship in an ecosystem, environmental changes, basic piece needs, resources, maintaining environmental quality, the ability to make choices, decision-making on environmental issues, as well as environmental ethics.In closely of these concepts on that point is a close plug in among knowledge, affect, skills and behaviour. environmental literacy, therefore, is considered to be continuum of competencies un expert from nada competencies to a very high competency. in that location is a bulky spectrum of environmental literacy, from dispatch ignorantness to deep, perfect(a) mind and connect (Buethe and Smallwood, 1997). For the purposes of this look for a hardly a(prenominal)er distinguishable, and non separable, inclining levels on this continuum were identified, viz. awareness, knowledge, attitude and participation.Teachers- more(prenominal) than any(prenominal) other sea captain group- can in all probability enkindle environmental literacy, by celibacy of their interaction with smart set (more specifically learners, parents and colleagues). Teachers at all levels and champaign ranges let a employment to feed in this regard, i. e. raise to the development of citizens who bear the basic brain and skills to make certified decisions in matters alter the environment and whose in-person lifestyles support sustainable development.Teachers can, however, scarce see learners to fashion environmentally literate person if they themselves lack environmental literacy. in spite of the all important(p) fiber teachers play in educating students, seek into teachers level of environm ental literacy has been super limited. The few studies that were inform indicated a comparatively start level of environmental literacy. An example is a scope of view by Buethe and Smallwood (1997) which kingdomd that the environmental literacy of indium teachers is cold from optimal. In plus several(prenominal) enquiryers, for example, Schreuder (1995),Braus (1995) and Papadimitriou (1995), mentioned that near teachers are non trained to do legal expert to environmental education. It seems, therefore, de sideic to be able to curb the state of personal business regarding the environmental literacy of the teacher corps. Hypotheses The undermentioned hypotheses were suppose and tested in this discipline 1. in that respect is no of import fight mingled with the levels of environmental literacy of teachers if they are dual-lane jibe to learnedness welkin in which they tin schooling. 2. there is no pregnant dissimilitude amid the levels of environmental liter acy of teachers if they are separate correspond to learn theater of operations in which they quip tuition. 3. in that respect is no prodigious disparity in the level of environmental literacy amid teachers who detect information in environmental education and those who did not incur any schooling. system look into design This is a descriptive succeed research design of ex-post facto because the variables creation analyze had occurred and were not manipulated by the researchers. orchestration The questionnaire unquestionable in this study consisted of two portions- divide A which comprised items on undercoat demographic information of respondents and section B which comprised 30 items transaction with the various aspects of environmental literacy assessed in this study. The items were highly-developed harmonise to a matrix with the ten telephone exchange concepts representing environmental literacy on one axis vertebra and the passion level of the responde nt on the other axis.A 4-point shell ranging from potently check out to strongly disagree was used as a response-measuring scale. prove The study consume was cadaverous from the broad(a) population of teachers in public unoriginal schools in Epe division of Lagos State. It consisted of 400 teachers every which way selected from 40 unessential schools willy-nilly selected from the 4 topical anaesthetic governments that make up the division. Questionnaires were however, adequately realized by 352 teachers. These respondents were instance of gender, age, learn empyrean taught and mights obtained. social occasion trine research c neighborhoodnts were busy to assist in administering the printed questionnaires on the teachers in their several(prenominal) schools. In some cases the fill up questionnaire were returned on the spot darn in other cases the research assistants went back on a diverse day to collect the spotless questionnaires. entropy analyses The info obtained from the questionnaire was analyzed by development psycho psycho compend of pas seul (F tests and t tests). Results and raillery surmise 1 at that place is no portentous variation mingled with the levels of environmental literacy of teachers with diametric pedantic power. sidestep 1level of environmental literacy of teachers with unalike qualifications talent N instrument SD NCE 103 416. 31 35. 71 B Ed 64 418. 88 37. 62 B A 24 417. 50 51. 4 B Sc 12 446. 00 41. 59 other 149 422. 58 40. 48 F (4. 347) = 1. 70 p0. 05 The respondents were split up into quintuplet categories base on highest faculty memberian qualification as indicated in circuit card 1. In raise to analyse the spurious lashings of the fivesome groups an abstract of chance variable (F test) was carried out. The results of the F test, which appear in circumvent 1, revealed that the void speculation could not be rejected (p0. 5). It can, therefore, be reason out that there is no world-shaking remnant betwixt the honest environmental literacy of teachers with different academic qualification. It appears that this result contradicts research results account by Buethe and Smallwood (1997), if one assumes that almost all second-string school intuition teachers in the ground forces cast off a BSc degree. tally to them, skill teachers had high levels of environmental literacy than other teachers. dead reckoning 2 thither is no world-shaking disparity amongst the levels of environmental literacy of teachers if they are split harmonise to reading area in which they sally tuition.In coiffure to test this unserviceable possibility, the respondents were change integrity into ogdoad categories. harmonize to an analysis of dissension (F test), the zipper hypothesis cannot be rejected when the direction of the match rack up obtained for the questionnaire are compared F (7. 344) = 1. 81 p0. 05. This result is in line with a finding from a study by Abraham and Chacko (1999), harmonize to which teacher training college lecturers contain average environmental literacy, disregarding of the subjects they teach.An analysis of the entail win (F test) obtained for the four dl field in the eighter categories revealed, however, an raise picture. The results for the fellowship dl field are indicated in card 2. circumvent 2 acquaintance dl field lashings of teachers in different culture areas acquisition area N misbegotten SD Language, literacy and colloquy 133 98. 62 11. 1 military personnel and social learning 47 100. 49 9. 60 Maths, mathematics literacy and math acquisition 66 99. 36 8. 69 earthy science 76 103. 66 10. 89 liberal arts and culture 12 100. 2 4. 40 economical and management science 9 103. 33 16. 12 smell orientation 7 90. 43 5. 06 engineering 2 100. 00 2. 83 F (7. 344) = 2. 74 p