Primary School Students' Attitudes towards Reading

This study investigates the applicability to upper primary school children of a multidimensional conceptualization of attitude towards reading which previous research (Lewis and Teale, 1980; Teale and Lewis, 1981) had shown to be useful for characterizing the reading attitudes of secondary school students. Self-report scales designed to measure Individual Development, Utilitarian, and Enjoyment dimensions were found to be both internally consistent (α= 0.65 to 0.88) and stable (r_tr= 0.73 to 0.86). Concurrent validity data based on peer ratings are also provided. Factor analyses showed that primary school students also hold attitudes about reading which are multidimensional. Enjoyment was clearly one facet of their feelings about reading. Although the primary school students did not discriminate between valuing reading as a means of facilitating success at work and at school, they did consistently discriminate between valuing reading and enjoying it. Implications for pedagogical and research issues arising from this conceptualization of attitude towards reading are also discussed.     

The Effects of Children's Age and Sex on Acquiring Pro-Environmental Attitudes Through Environmental Education

Environmental education programs aiming to enhance children's environmental attitudes in a pro-environmental direction require background information, such as age and sex differences, to ensure appropriate design. We used the 2-MEV model with its domains preservation and utilization of nature to assess a four-day program at an educational field center with students 9–10 and 11–13 years of age. A pre- and post-retention test design revealed younger students to be more responsive concerning positive attitude shifts than older students, whereas the sexes were equally influenced. Program developers should consider that education has a stronger effect on young children's environmental attitudes.     

浅析艾米莉·狄金森诗歌中对自然的态度

艾米莉·狄金森的诗歌擅长以含蓄而迂回的简洁语言传达复杂深邃的思想,自然是她诗歌创作中不变的主题。艾米莉·狄金森的自然主题的诗歌可以分为两大类,展示了对大自然截然不同的态度。一方面,受超验主义影响,她歌颂赞美大自然,颂扬人类与自然的和谐相处。另一方面,她揭示大自然的敌意,并表现她对自然神秘和强大能力的恐惧和敬畏,探索人与自然的疏离。这个悖论在她不同性质的诗,甚至在同一首诗都有所表现。分析狄金森自然诗中她对自然的态度,探索她的生活和诗歌本质的主题,可以更好的理解狄金森的内心世界。     

Jordanian and British Primary Schoolchildren's Attitudes Towards the Environment

The paper explores the important but neglected field of primary schoolchildren's attitudes towards the environment using a specifically designed scale in Arabic and English. It reports attitude differences towards the environment and three domains -- pollution, waste and animals and plants -- according to nationality and gender. Overall the findings show that environmental education programmes produce only slightly positive attitudes. Consideration is given to the further research required to enhance such programmes.     

An Exploratory Case Study of Dutch Children's Attitudes Toward Consumption: Implications for Environmental Education

This critical essay based on empirical study draws upon research on the differences in attitudes toward consumption among Dutch upper-elementary school children with different socioeconomic backgrounds. This article examines two strands of theory: critical literature on the conceptualization and practice of sustainable consumption, and the theory of postmaterialist values. By synthesizing these strands of theory the author outlines a number of paradoxes and challenges in theory and practice of consumption and lays a foundation for teaching sustainable consumption at the upper-elementary school level. The Cradle-to-Cradle framework is proposed as a form of strategically significant environmental education that can be used for teaching consumption.     

昭通地区中小学教师继续教育态度调查

从中小学教师继续教育的态度,继续教育的方式,课程设置等问题进行了抽样调查,结果表明,中小学教师对继续教育的态度在总体上是积极上进的,但也有部分教师对继续教育缺乏正确的认识和科学的态度,不同级别的中小学教师在不同的态度上有差异。     

生态伦理视域下的儿童自然教育

儿童是自然的一部分,与自然有着天然的紧密联系。生态伦理视域下的儿童自然教育以儿童和自然为双重视角,既要通过自然环境来实现儿童的成长与发展,也要在教育过程中为儿童树立正确的生态观、环保意识来为自然环境的可持续性发展提供未来保障。儿童的自然教育要同时兼顾自然物和自然性,而要实现这双重目标,就要为儿童创造回归自然的外在条件,让教育教学回归感觉以及实现自然游戏权利的合法化。     

Exploring the New Ecological Paradigm Scale for Gauging Children's Environmental Attitudes in China

A Chinese version of the revised NEP Scale was generated and adopted in a survey among 507 students (age 10 to 12 years old) from three elementary schools in Shenzhen, China. The results show an acceptable level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .65) but some abnormalities on the modified NEP scale: items 1 and 7 presented very low item-total correlations (≤.10); factor analysis generated five unclearly-patterned factors. The abnormalities on the modified scale, in light of a focus group interview during item modification stage, are partially attributed to some fundamental problems on the original revised NEP Scale per se on one hand, and may be partially understood as cultural differences in interpreting statements on the scale between China and Western nations on the other.     

论小学教育专业的性质和特点

小学教育专业是培养小学教育工作的专业人才,服务于小学教育事业发展的师范教育专业。小学教育专业虽然名为＂小＂,但它不等于低水平专业,不等于综合化专业,也不同于中等教育专业、不同于教育学专业。它具有师范性、教育性、基础性、启蒙性、综合性、活动性、整体性、系统性等特点。     

Environmental Education and Children's Agency at the Time of the Anthropocene

During the Anthropocene, the epoch characterized by humans’ destructive actions on earth, a few seminal questions may be raised: What have we done? How can we do better? This type of questioning is of course echoed in environmental education, related educational policy and research. There is, however, a difference between general and educational discourses: in the first instance, the collective ‘we’ refers to mainly adult human beings; in the second, to children. The distinction may seem trivial, but it is in fact quite important: If humans have destroyed the earth and caused children the loss of their futures, then adult humans and children humans cannot be positioned in the same place in terms of humanity and agency. What's more, adults cannot look to children and their agency for hope or for a future. Children's agency thus demands a reorientation and a certain re-theorization. This paper deliberates on the type of children's agency that is promoted by various environmental discourses—human, posthuman and other—and discusses what kind of agency children can possibly attain.     

A Qualitative Study on Turkish Preschool Children's Environmental Attitudes Through Ecocentrism and Anthropocentrism

This study explores preschool children's attitudes towards environmental issues with a focus on the issue of gender as a factor affecting their attitudes. The study sample comprised 40 preschool age children living in Ankara, Turkey. The research adopted a qualitative approach, and the data were collected through interviews in which a questionnaire was administered. The interview questionnaire was adapted from ‘The Children's Attitudes Toward the Environment Scale-Preschool Version’ which contains 15 interview questions and sub-questions. The findings of our study indicate that most of the 5–6-year-old children initially appear to have ecocentric attitudes towards environmental issues in all the dimensions. However, when the children explained their reasons for choosing one of the two pictures, their responses were evaluated as emanating from anthropocentric attitudes. No difference in the attitudes of the preschool children was detected in relation to their gender. In conclusion, this study shows that the educational programmes at the preschool stage need to be broadened and improved, particularly in the provision of outdoor study in natural settings for the children to develop a more ecocentric attitude towards the environment.     

Attitudes towards Innovations in Primary Schools: A Study of In-Service Teachers

This is a study of how a group of primary school teachers in Singapore dealt with the possibility of introducing informal educational innovations in their school settings. “Informal innovations” here refers to the voluntary adoption of new teaching methods, techniques and ideas acquired during an in-service teacher education programme, namely, the Further Professional Certificate in Education (FPCE) programme conducted by the Institute of Education, Singapore. Did these teachers attempt, when back in their schools, to experiment with the new ideas and methods of teaching they had been exposed to during the one year of the FPCE programme? What factors worked for, and against, attempts at innovations in their primary schools? Were there structural constraints and socio-psychological obstacles that they had to negotiate in order to adopt innovations in classroom and educational practices? If innovative ideas had remained dormant, was this because the teachers were unconvinced about the practicality and relevance of these ideas for the classroom and the school? These questions serve as the focal points of a small study involving 66 primary school teachers. Of the 66 teachers, sixteen had resumed work at school for nine months after they completed their in-service attachment at the Institute of Education (IE). The remaining 50 were in the midst of their in-service training when they participated in the study.     

The Attitudes of Physical Education and Sport Students towards Information and Communication Technologies

Studies that examine the attitudes toward information and communication technologies (ICT) among physical education and sport students, pre-service teachers and teachers are fairly limited, even though the investments in information and communication technologies at schools and universities have reached an efficient level. This study investigates the attitudes of physical education and sport students and pre-service teachers towards ICT, and the relationship between their attitudes and certain variables such as age, gender, departments, computer familiarity, frequency of computer use and computer ownership. Computer attitude scales were administered to 337 students and pre-service teachers of physical education and sports, and the data collected were analyzed statistically. It was found that the students and pre-service teachers of physical education and sports have positive attitudes toward information and communication technologies, and there are significant correlations between their attitudes and certain variables such as gender, grade, computer ownership, and computer instruction. Recommendations are provided.     

河北省特教师范生对特殊教育态度的调查研究

本文通过对河北省特殊教育专业师范生对特殊教育态度的现状调查,了解在当今深化改革时期,现有的师范教育体系、教学状况是否能够满足学生发展的需求,是否能够满足基层特教改革的需要,并从教育和学生的实际情况出发,就河北特殊师范教育的教改方向提出了一些建议,以培养合格的特教师资力量,促进基层特殊教育的发展。     

Primary Teachers’ Literacy and Attitudes on Education for Sustainable Development

This paper reports on research concerning Greek in-service Primary teachers’ perceptions about environmental issues and attitudes towards Education for Sustainable Development. A questionnaire with multiple-choice and open-ended questions was used in order to gain more comprehensive understanding of their thoughts. The analysis of data revealed that teachers hold misunderstandings or misconceptions of the conceptual meaning of the terms “sustainability” and “renewable source of energy”. Furthermore, the implementation rate of environmental programs in schools is relatively low considering teachers’ interest in the issues. This is due to lack of familiarity with new methodological approaches which promote environmental matters. By taking into account these research findings, possible implications arising from supporting teachers to implement environmental programs in schools are discussed and suggestions for overcoming the outlined difficulties are made.     

Environmental Knowledge and Attitudes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess perceived environmental education (EE) curriculum needs in the United States (K-16). The Environmental Education Curriculum Needs Assessment Questionnaire (EECNAQ) was developed, validated, and direct-mailed to 169 randomly selected professional environmental educators (58.6% return rate). The EECNAQ elicited perceptions about the desired status and the current state of EE curricula, the need for curriculum development, the anticipated use of curricula teachers, and the need for inservice teacher education. These five major questions were posed relative to fifteen goals which reflected the Tbilisi objectives and four levels of environmental literacy. The findings reveal a consensus among the professional participants that the EE goals are important ones, that they are not being met to a large extent in existing curricula, that extensive needs exist for both goal-oriented curricula and teacher education, and that the goaloriented curricula would be used by teachers.