Teacher Decision Making in the 1st Year of Implementing an Issues-Based Environmental Education Program: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The authors compared a qualitative study of teacher decision making during the 1st year of implementation of an environmental education curriculum. The authors examined perceptions of training, the program, of administrative and peer support, and the manner in which the program was implemented in each classroom. Administrators were perceived as supporting the program because it helped to facilitate other school goals. Participants perceived that others did not understand the program. Initially, participants found the training difficult because the program was different from what they were accustomed to doing. The researchers found that teachers' perceptions stemmed from cognitive changes that the program stimulated.

Key Words:

• issues-based environmental education
• teacher decision making
• teacher training

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sharon A. Shrock

Austin A. Winther is an assistant professor in the College of Education at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ. Trudi L. Volk and Sharon A. Shrock are professors in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.