How young children think they can act for the environment: the case of forest and waste

Thirty 6-year-olds from two public schools located in a small provincial town in Greece were used as a sample in an explorative study into the mental models young children hold concerning forest destruction and waste. The study also explored how these mental models might be interrelated either withi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEducation 3-13 Vol. 46; no. 3; pp. 249 - 263
Main Author Iliopoulou, Ifigenia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Long Marston Routledge 16.04.2018
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
child
Conservation (Environment)
ECE
Ecology
EfS
Elementary school students
Environmental education
Environmental impact
Foreign Countries
forest
Forestry
Freehand Drawing
Interviews
Kindergarten
Mental models
Natural Resources
Public Schools
Qualitative Research
Social Responsibility
Statistical Analysis
Student Attitudes
Sustainability
Values
Visualization
waste
Workshops
Young Children
Greece
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Summary:Thirty 6-year-olds from two public schools located in a small provincial town in Greece were used as a sample in an explorative study into the mental models young children hold concerning forest destruction and waste. The study also explored how these mental models might be interrelated either within each issue or between issues. The analysis of data collected in interviews indicates that the mental models held by young children appear to be oriented towards two different trains of thought: one that relates to direct actions for the short-term addressing of problems and one that relates to preventive actions and caring for sustainability. Furthermore, children's own thoughts about their individual contributions to the two environmental problems under study, appear to interrelate with those of collective contributions. More specifically, children seem to share common ideas on the environmental issues discussed as they voiced the opinion, 'I can help if I do something that addresses the issue'. Implications for education are also discussed in this paper.
ISSN:0300-4279
1475-7575
DOI:10.1080/03004279.2016.1236829