Teachers’ barriers dealing with environmental education programs’ implementation in Greek secondary schools

Abstract

This study highlights the barriers that secondary teachers in Greece face dealing with the implementation of Environmental Education programs throughout a period of more than 30 years in the Greek educational system. Participants were 20 secondary teachers, emanating from various disciplines. Seven were “senior” teachers, having implemented EE projects before its official institutionalization, in 1990, and 13 were “junior”, meaning that they implemented EE projects during the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). In-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were used to identify teachers’ views about the barriers they faced regarding changes or transformations in the realization of EE during the periods under focus. Collected data were subjected to grounded theory analysis and revealed that there were similarities and differences concerning the barriers encountered in the periods of study. Barriers are of structural, financial and economic nature as well as pedagogical and epistemological. These refer to the position of EE into the secondary schools and to the orientation of the school within the general educational system. Results indicate rather a restriction of EE into schools instead of expansion and flourishment following the international progress made, in theoretical and practical level, and the experience that have been gained worldwide after decades of practicing.

Keywords:

• EE barriers
• structural and financial factors
• pedagogical and epistemological perceptions
• educational system orientation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eirini Ntona

Eirini Ntona is a teacher in secondary education, and she has been working in an Environmental Education Center for the last 13 years. She received her Ph.D. in Environmental Education from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Her research interests are focused on students and teachers’ attitudes about environmental issues with emphasis on environmental education.

Alexandros Georgopoulos

Alexandros Georgopoulos is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Education at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. His research interests include early childhood environmental education, experiential education, and peace education.

Georgios Malandrakis

George Malandrakis is an Assistant Professor in Environmental Education/Education for Sustainable Development at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. His research interests include, but are not limited, to students’ views and ideas about environmental issues, the teaching of footprints, urban sustainability education, sustainability ethics development, pre-service and in-service teacher training as well as the development of teaching/learning sequences concerning sustainability issues.

Polyxeni Ragkou

Polyxeni Ragkou was an Assistant Professor in Environmental Education at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Her research interests include teaching techniques and methodologies in Environmental Education (EE), evaluation in Environmental Education, pre- service and in-service training in EE, production of educational material in EE, Environmental Education and Development, Environmental Education and Press, and Adult Education in EE.