Influences and Experiences Affecting the Pro‐environmental Behaviour of Educators

SUMMARY

This paper examines the relative importance of various categories of influence and formative life experiences on the development of environmental educators’ knowledge and concern for the environment. The authors analyse the ways in which the importance of influences may change through time or be affected by the subject's age. Conclusions are drawn and discussed, including the crucial role of the family and of childhood experiences outdoors in promoting the development of concern for the environment and pro‐environmental adult behaviour.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joy A. Palmer

JOY A. PALMER is Reader in Education, Director of The Centre for Research on Environmental Thinking and Awareness and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Durham, England.

Jennifer Suggate

JENNIFER SUGGATE is Research Assistant with the Durham‐based and ESRC‐funded Emergent Environmentalism Research Project (Palmer, Suggate and Matthews).