Examining Preservice Teachers’ Environmental Knowledge and Self-Efficacy Beliefs Regarding Environmental Education

Abstract

In this study, pre-service teachers’ environmental knowledge and self-efficacy beliefs regarding environmental education were compared. A total of 521 students who have been attending their study in science education, social sciences education, primary teaching and pre-school teaching programs at two state universities in Turkey, participated in the study. The data collection tools used in the research consisted of the personal data form, the environmental knowledge test constructed by the researcher, and the self-efficacy beliefs scale for environmental education. According to results of the research, there were differences in the level of environmental knowledge of preservice teachers according to the departments they studied and their gender while there were no significant differences according to the level of classes they studied. Gender differences favoured higher level of knowledge of male preservice teachers. Other differences were generally found to be between preschool preservice teachers and the other preservice teachers. There were significant differences between preservice preschool teachers and the other groups in the dimension of academic competence perception of self-efficacy. The results of the study revealed that preservice preschool teachers had lower scores than other groups in terms of environmental knowledge and self-efficacy beliefs regarding environmental education. There was no relationship between knowledge and self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers. These results shed light on the importance of developing a holistic and systematic teacher training approach in relation with environmental education.

Keywords

• Preservice teachers
• environmental knowledge
• environmental education
• self-efficacy

References

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