ERIC Number: EJ1483164
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Oct
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1082-3301
EISSN: EISSN-1573-1707
Available Date: 2024-10-07
Are They Ready for Sustainability? A Study of the Environmental Attitudes of Early Childhood In-Service Teachers
Hua Luo1,2; Wai Chin Li1
Early Childhood Education Journal, v53 n7 p2641-2654 2025
In recent years, early childhood education for sustainability has received increasing attention. However, research on early childhood teachers in relation to this issue remains marginalized. Teachers' environmental attitudes support children's nature play and are strongly associated with sustainability. According to previous studies, environmental knowledge is important to pro-environmental attitudes. This article used a quantitative survey to explore the environmental attitudes of 832 early childhood in-service teachers and determined the relationship between their environmental knowledge and attitudes. The Two Major Environmental Values (2-MEV) scale was adopted to examine the environmental attitudes of the participants, including conservation and utilization. The outcomes showed that the participants had a more positive attitude toward environmental conservation and a less positive attitude toward environmental utilization. Although their environmental knowledge was relatively low, it significantly predicted their environmental attitudes toward both conservation and utilization, but the impacts were minimal. The 2-MEV scale cannot fully resolve controversies regarding the relationship between teachers' environmental knowledge and attitudes. More attention should be given to other aspects of teachers' jobs, such as job satisfaction and culture.
Descriptors: Sustainability, Teacher Attitudes, Early Childhood Teachers, Conservation (Environment), Knowledge Level, Attitude Measures, Positive Attitudes
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1The Education University of Hong Kong, Department of Science and Environmental Studies, Tai Po, China; 2Guangzhou College of Technology and Business, International Education School, Guangzhou, China

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