National policy, local awareness: implementing environmental education in the primary schools of northern Greece

Abstract

In this essay the author uses a sample of Greek primary school teachers to investigate environmental education awareness in three counties of northern Greece. The author begins by outlining the status of environmental education in Greek primary schools. The author then states the study’s rationale by defining the term ‘awareness’ and moves on to discuss the methodological considerations that guided the project. This is followed by a presentation of the study’s findings. Here the author shows that environmental education awareness is influenced by several philosophical notions about nature and that its implementation is mediated by both local and state factors. This then allows the author to offer recommendations for enhancing the current practices of environmental education and discuss future perspectives for it in Greece.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Joy Palmer and M. D. Eddy for their help with this essay. Also, I would like to thank the teachers who participated in this study, the local education authorities who granted me permission to visit the schools of their jurisdictional area and last but not least the State Scholarship Fund of Greece, who funded my research.