Awareness of Vietnamese Primary Schoolteachers on Environmental Education

Abstract

This paper focuses on a survey of primary schoolteachers with the targets of evaluating their awareness on environmental problems, protection and education, and studying their role as teachers and their capacities to meet the requirements of environmental education. Teaching environmental education requires from teachers not only a deep and thorough awareness of environmental problems, protection and education but also a creative thinking power and the capacity to apply theoretical knowledge in general to a concrete local environment. The results of the survey show that Vietnamese primary schoolteachers lack both of the required qualities. In this regard, the following suggestions are proposed: (1) to place as high priority the creative thinking power and research abilities in the teachers' training objectives; (2) to organise courses on environmental problems, protection and education for in-service teachers; (3) to establish programmes and prepare learning materials well suited in each locality.