Implementing curriculum guidance on environmental education: the importance of teachers' beliefs

Abstract

Many observers have commented on disparities between the theoretical understandings of environmental education portrayed in academic literature and the environmental education that takes place in schools. In much of the literature and in curriculum documents there has been an increasing emphasis on promoting positive attitudes towards the environment, and the results of several surveys suggest that many teachers support this aim. This paper explores the beliefs of three geography teachers teaching controversial environmental issues in UK secondary schools. In contrast to the findings of prior studies, the teachers in this study feel strongly that they should try to avoid influencing students' attitudes, or imposing any kind of pro‐environmental agenda. There is a substantial divergence between the teachers' beliefs and the espoused aims of much environmental education literature and the geography syllabus they were following. This suggests that, unless curriculum developers take account of teachers' beliefs in designing new curriculum materials, those materials are unlikely to be implemented in their intended format.

Keywords:

• environmental education
• controversial issues
• geography education
• teacher attitudes
• teachers' beliefs

Acknowledgements

This paper reports research undertaken for a doctoral dissertation at the University of Oxford (Fido 1999). This research was made possible by an Economic and Social Research Council grant, together with the support of many staff and students in the Department of Educational Studies. I thank Ann Childs, Graham Corney, and Geoff Hayward for their indispensable advice and guidance, and all the teachers and students who participated in this research and who devoted great amounts of their time and energy to the study.

Notes

1. Curriculum guidance, in this context, consists of non‐statutory advice for teachers regarding environmental education.

2. The names of teachers and students are pseudonyms.

3. Similar to the form of ‘recursive comparative analysis’ described by Brown and McIntyre (1993) and Cooper and McIntyre (1996).

4. See Stradling et al. (1984) for a detailed discussion of these teaching approaches.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

D. R. E. Cotton

She provides support to lecturers undertaking educational research into higher education, with a particular focus on small‐scale action research. Her research interests are environmental education, e‐learning, and qualitative research methods.