Present, Absent, or Tardy? A Study of the Barriers, Bridges, and Beliefs Concerning Environmental Education Among a Cohort of Sixth Grade Teachers in Nova Scotia

Abstract

The increasing importance of formal environmental education underscores a teacher's role in the development of knowledge, attitudes, and actions toward nature. This qualitative study explores how a cohort of sixth grade teachers (18) in Nova Scotia conceptualize environmental education and perceive teaching challenges. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and subjected to thematic analysis. Findings suggest that integrating environmental education into a classroom depends on teacher values and that a lack of financial and curricular resources, education, and support cause marginalization in these teachers’ classrooms. Five different challenges (a lack of access to nature, few hands on experience opportunities, too much information, lack of interconnected thinking in schools, and lack of willingness to change by those in charge) point to areas of environmental education research needing further investigation.