Integrating Green Chemistry and Sustainability Principles to a Secondary Science Curriculum: A Mixed-Methods Needs Assessment

• Published in: Journal of chemical education Vol. 101; no. 7; pp. 2765 - 2778
• Main Authors: Idul, Joevi Jhun A., Walag, Angelo Mark P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 09.07.2024; American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Attitudes; Chemistry; Curricula; Curriculum development; Education; Green chemistry; Mixed methods research; Needs assessment; Organic Chemistry; Qualitative analysis; Schools; Science Curriculum; Science Teachers; Sustainability; Teachers; Teaching methods; Philippines; needs analysis; mixed methods; green chemistry; sustainability; science education; secondary curriculum
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00341

Green chemistry as a subject has yet to become a standard practice in schools, particularly in the secondary curriculum. While there are initiatives to incorporate sustainability principles in education, the Philippines lags behind this trend. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the awareness, attitude, knowledge, perception, and views of Senior High School (SHS) science teachers in the Philippines (n = 43) toward green chemistry education. Through a mixed-methods design, this study assessed the need to integrate green chemistry and sustainability principles into the secondary science curriculum. By merging the quantitative and qualitative results, this study revealed that (1) there is a need to increase the awareness of science teachers toward green chemistry; (2) promoting a positive attitude can help in the integration of green chemistry; (3) teachers should be equipped with content and pedagogical knowledge to deliver green chemistry theories and principles; and (4) although the implementation of green chemistry integration is perceived as a challenge, there are potential solutions that can help in overcoming these barriers. These findings aim to provide baseline data for the effective implementation of a teacher development program that will capacitate Filipino teachers to deliver green chemistry concepts to the classroom.