Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T01:34:55.024Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Asking The Participants: Students' Views on Their Environmental Attitudes, Behaviours, Motivators and Barriers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2012

Kelsie Prabawa-Sear  and
Catherine Baudains
Kelsie Prabawa-Sear*
Affiliation:
Eco Change Consulting, Australia
Catherine Baudains
Affiliation:
Murdoch University, Australia
*
Address for Correspondence: Kelsie Prabawa, Senior Consultant, Eco Change Consulting, PO Box 1078, Hillarys WA 6923. E-mail: kelsie@ecochangeconsulting.com.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study investigated student views on the relationship between their environmental attitudes and behaviours and their thoughts about barriers and motivators to environmentally responsible behaviours. The environmental attitudes and behaviours of students participating in a classroom-based environmental education program were measured using two Likert scales that had been tested for internal consistency and validity using the Rasch polytomous measurement model. Focus groups were held for students to comment on the results from the two questionnaires and provide suggestions with regards to the barriers and motivators influencing their behaviour. The findings of the study support previous research about the relationship between attitude and behaviour and the students' comments on the results provided insight that has not been widely reported elsewhere. Conclusions were drawn regarding the most significant barriers to specific environmental behaviours for high school students and how environmental education programs could be designed and delivered more effectively in secondary schools with the aim of engendering environmentally responsible behaviours in students.

Keywords

student voiceadolescentsattitudesenvironmental behavioursenvironmental educationbarriers
Type
Research Article
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , 2011 , pp. 219 - 228
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behaviour. Organisational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 50, 179–211.Google Scholar
Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude–behaviour relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84(5), 888–918.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrich, D., & Styles, I. M. (1998). The structural relationship between attitude and behaviour statements from the unfolding perspective. Psychological Methods, 3(4), 454–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrich, D. (1988). Rasch Models for Measurement (Vol. 68). Newbury Park: Sage Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. (2009). Living sustainably: The Australian Government's national action plan for education for sustainability. Retrieved from http://www.environment.gov.au/education/publications/pubs/national-action-plan.pdfGoogle Scholar
Ballantyne, R., Fein, J., & Packer, J. (2001). Program effectiveness in facilitating intergenerational influence in environmental education: lessons from the field. The Journal of Environmental Education, 32(4), 8–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barratt Hacking, E., & Barratt, R. (2007). Editorial. Environmental Education Research, 13(4), 419–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barratt Hacking, E., Cutter-Mackenzie, A., & Barrratt, R. (in press). Children as researchers: The potential of environmental education research involving children. In Stevenson, R., Wals, A., Brody, M., & Dillon, J. (Eds.), The handbook of research on environmental education. Washington: American Educational Research Association.Google Scholar
Borden, R.J., & Schettino, A.P. (1979). Determinants of environmentally responsible behavior. The Journal of Environmental Education, 10(4), 35–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheong, I., & Treagust, D.F. (2001, December 2–6). Multiple research approaches for research in environmental education and application of findings. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education, Fremantle, Western Australia.Google Scholar
Cutter-Mackenzie, A. (2010). Australian Waste Wise Schools Program: Its past, present and future. The Journal of Environmental Education, 41(3), 165–178Google Scholar
Dwyer, W., Leeming, F., Cobern, M., Porter, B., & Jackson, J. (1993). Critical review of behavioral interventions to preserve the environment: Research since 1980. Environment and Behavior, 25(3), 275–321.Google Scholar
Ellis, C. (2007). Information item 4.3; Results of community survey; South Metropolitan Regional Council.Google Scholar
Firth, R., & Plant, M. (1996). Education for the environment: from rhetoric to realism. Harris, G., Blackwell, C. (Ed.), Environmental issues in education. (pp. 191–207). Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Gross, S., & Niman, C. M. (1975). Attitude–behaviour consistency: A review. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 39(3), 358–368.Google Scholar
Hart, R.A. (2008). Stepping back from ‘the ladder’: Reflections on a model of participatory work with children. In Reid, A., Jensen, B.B., Nikel, J., & Simovska, V. (Eds.), Participation and learning: Perspectives on education and the environment, health and sustainability (pp. 19–31). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.Google Scholar
Holbert, R., Kwak, N., & Shah, D. (2003). Environmental concern, patterns of television viewing, and pro-environmental behaviors: Integrating models of media consumption and effects. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 47(2), 177–196.Google Scholar
Hsu, S.-J. (2004). The effects of an environmental education program on responsible environmental behaviour and associated environmental literacy variables in Taiwanese college students. The Journal of Environmental Education, 35(2), 37–48.Google Scholar
Kaplan, S. (2000). Human nature and environmentally responsible behavior. Journal of Social Issues (Fall 2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kollmuss, A., & Agyeman, J. (2002). Mind the gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior? Environmental Education Research, 8(3), 239–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krueger, R., & Casey, M. (2000). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Lofland, J., Snow, D., Anderson, L., & Lofland, L.H. (2006). Analysing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson.Google Scholar
McKenzie-Mohr, D., Nemiroff, L., Beers, L., & Desmarais, S. (1995). Determinants of responsible environmental behaviour. Journal of Social Issues, 51(4), 139–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKenzie-Mohr, D., & Smith, W. (1999). Fostering sustainable behavior. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.Google Scholar
Millennium Kids Inc. (2009). Millennium Kids Projects. Retrieved from http://www.millenniumkids.com.au/index2.aspGoogle Scholar
Nagel, M. (2005). Constructing apathy: How environmentalism and environmental education may be fostering ‘learned hopelessness’ in children. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 21, 71–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
New Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. (2004). See change: Learning and education for sustainability.Google Scholar
Prabawa-Sear, K. (2010). Barriers to environmental behaviour change: A case study of the behaviours and attitudes of Year 11 and 12 practical geography students. (Unpublished masters thesis). Murdoch University, Western Australia.Google Scholar
Rasch, G. (1960/1980). Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests. (2 ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Rickinson, M., Lundholm, C., & Hopwood, N. (2009). Environmental learning: Insights from research into the student experience. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.Google Scholar
Rickinson, M. (2001). Learners and learning in environmental education: A critical review of the evidence. Environmental Education Research, 7(3), 207–320.Google Scholar
Salter, Z., Venville, G., & Longnecker, N. (2011). An Australian story: School sustainability education in the lucky country. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 27(1), 149–159.Google Scholar
Smithson, J. (2008). Focus groups. In Alasuurti, P., Bickman, L., & Brannen, J. (Eds.), The Sage handbook of social research methods (pp. 357–369). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Stanisstreet, M., & Boyes, E. (1996). Young people's ideas about global environmental issues. In Harris, G., Blackwell, C. (Eds.), Environmental issues in environmental education (pp. 37–52). London: Arena.Google Scholar
Stern, P. (2000). Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 407–424.Google Scholar
Stevenson, R. (2007). Editorial. Environmental Education Research, 13(2), 129–138.Google Scholar
Swan River Trust. (2010). River Rangers Leaders' Manual.Google Scholar
Tilbury, D., Coleman, V., & Garlick, D. (2005). A national review of environmental education and its contribution to sustainability in Australia: School education. Report prepared by the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES) for the Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government. Sydney: ARIES.Google Scholar
von Borgstede, C., & Biel, A. (2002). Pro-environmental behaviour: Situational barriers and concern for the good at stake. Goteborg Psychological Reports, 32(1), 1–10. Retrieved from http://www.psy.gu.se/download/gpr021.pdfGoogle Scholar
Western Australia Department of Environment. (2005). Summary report on the EEAC's first survey of environmental education programs in Western Australia. Published report by Department of Environment, Perth.Google Scholar
Wray-Lake, L., Flanagan, C., & Osgood, D. (2010). Examining trends in adolescent environmental attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors across three decades. Environment and Behavior, 42(1), 61–85.Google Scholar
Willis, S. (1999). A focus on outcomes: So obvious and so self-evident. (Unpublished paper) Murdoch University, Western Australia.Google Scholar
Zelezny, L.C. (1999). Educational interventions that improve environmental behaviours: A meta-analysis. The Journal of Environmental Education, 31(1), 5–14.Google Scholar