Ayhan KÜRŞAT ERBAŞ, Gaye Tuncer TEKSOZ, Ceren TEKKAYA

An Evaluation of Environmental Responsibility and Its Associated Factors: Reflections from PISA 2006

Problem statement: Contemporary global environmental problems havehighlighted the importance of acting responsibly towards naturalresources and the environment. The role of science education in shapinghow people interact with the environment, therefore, has gainedimportance. The science education community has responded to thischallenge by helping citizens develop responsibility for environmentalissues. Accordingly, “scientific literacy and the environment” was one ofthe research areas in the Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA) 2006. We attempted to examine patterns in Turkish students’environmental responsibility and to expose relationships between studentresponsibility for environmental issues and socio-demographic variables.We did this by assessing scientific literacy and evaluating anenvironmental database for Turkey in the context of PISA 2006.Specifically, the current study examined the extent to which Turkishstudents’ economic, social, and cultural status; school activities; parents’sense of responsibility and optimism regarding environmental issues andgender predicted their perceived responsibility towards the environment. Purpose of Study: This study evaluated students’ responsibility towards theenvironment and the relationship between perceived responsibility andseveral background variables, utilizing Turkish data obtained from theProgramme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006.Methods: Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was used to examine theassociation between dependent and independent variables.Findings and Results: The findings suggested that 15-year-old Turkishstudents’ responsibility towards the environment varied with respect tosuch socio-demographic variables as gender; economic, social and culturalstatus; availability of school activities related to environmental topics andparental sense of responsibility for and optimism about environmentalissues. Among these, although the association was negative, parental levelof optimism regarding environmental issues explained the greatestamount of variation in student responsibility towards the environment.This was followed by parental sense of responsibility for environmentalissues.Conclusions and Recommendations: The overall picture disclosed by thisstudy is one in which economic, social and cultural status (ESCS) is theprimary feature shaping awareness and responsibility toward theenvironment. It is important to note that this result was obtained bysampling 15-year-old students in Turkey, where there is no strategy forenvironmental education. That is to say, if we were to gather backgrounddata on environmental awareness and responsibility in Turkey (althoughthese would be below the OECD average), and if we were to identify howthis awareness and responsibility have shaped the country’s economic,social and cultural status, which differs by region, then we might be ableto make plans to develop a tendency toward environmentalconsciousness. Such change would be important for the developingworld. Being pessimistic about low ESCS coincides with lowenvironmental awareness and responsibility, but alternative means toameliorating this situation can be found by addressing national and evenregional factors.

PDF

___

Alp, E., Ertepinar, H., Tekkaya, C., & Yilmaz, A. (2008). A study on elementary school students’ environmentally friendly behaviours and associated variables. Environmental Education Research, 14, 129–143.
Barraza, L., & Walford, R. (2002). Environmental education: A comparison between English and Mexican school children. Environmental Education Research, 8, 171–186.
Berberoglu, G., & Tosunoglu, C. (1995). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of an environmental attitude scale (EAS) for Turkish university students. Journal of Environmental Education, 26, 40–44.
Bodur, M., & Sarigollu, E. (2005). Environmental sensitivity in a developing country: Consumer classification and implications. Environment and Behavior, 37, 487– 510.
Bord, R. J., & O'Connor, R. E. (1997). The gender gap in environmental attitudes: The case of perceived vulnerability to risk: Research on the environment. Social Science Quarterly, 78(4), 830–840.
Bourdieu, P. (1976). The school as a conservative force: Scholastic and cultural inequalities. In R. Dale, G. Esland, & M. MacDonal (Eds.), Schooling and capitalism (pp. 110–119). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Brundtland, G. (1987). Our common future: The World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bussey, K., & Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory of gender development and differentiation. Psychological Review, 106, 676–713.
Carlisle, E. J. (2007). The sources and patterns of environmental knowledge among American high school seniors. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Chu, H. E., Lee, E. A., Ko, H. R., Shin, D. H., Lee, M. N., Min, B. M., et al. (2007). Korean year 3 children's environmental literacy: A prerequisite for a Korean environmental education curriculum. International Journal of Science Education, 29, 731–746.
Dietz, T., Kalof, L., & Stern, P. C. (2002). Gender, values, and environmentalism. Social Science Quarterly, 83, 353–364.
Eisler, A. D., Eisler, H., & Yoshida, M. (2003). Perception of human ecology: Crosscultural and gender comparisons. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23, 89– 101.
Evans, G. W., Brauchle, G., Haq, A., Stecker, R., Wong, K., & Shapiro, E. (2007). Young children's environmental attitudes and behaviors. Environment and Behavior, 39, 635–659.
Gambro, J., & Switzky, H. (1999). Variables associated with American high school students’ knowledge of environmental issues related to energy and pollution. Journal of Environmental Education, 30, 15–22.
Holdsworth, R., & Boldero, J. (1996). The impact of parental work experience and education on environmental knowledge, concern and behaviour among adolescents. Environmental Education Research, 2, 287–249.
Kollmuss, A., & Agyeman, J. (2002). Mind the gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior? Environmental Education Research, 8, 239–260.
Lee, J. S., & Bowen, N. K. (2006). Parent involvement, cultural capital, and the achievement gap among elementary school children. American Educational Research Journal, 43, 193–218.
Makki, M., Abd-El-Khalick, F., & BouJaoude, S. (2003). Lebanese secondary school students’ environmental knowledge and attitudes. Environmental Education Research, 9, 21–32.
Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and personality. New York: Viking Press.
Musser, L. M., & Diamond, A. J. (1999). The children’s attitudes toward the environment scale for preschool children. Journal of Environmental Education, 30, 23–31.
Negev, M., Sagy, G., Garb, Y., Salzberg, A., & Tal, A. (2008). Evaluating the environmental literacy of Israeli elementary and high school students. Journal of Environmental Education, 39, 3–20.
Olli, E., Grendstad, G., & Wollebaek, D. (2001). Correlates of environmental behaviors: Bringing back social context. Environment and Behavior, 33, 181– 208.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2007). PISA 2006 – Science competencies for tomorrow’s world (Vol 1: Analysis). Paris: Author.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2009a). PISA 2006 technical report. Paris: Author.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2009b). PISA data analysis manual (2nd ed.). Paris: Author.
Ozden, M. (2008). Environmental awareness and attitudes of student teachers: An empirical research. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 17, 40–55.
Palmerg, I. E., & Kuru, J. (2000). Outdoor activities as a basis for environmental responsibility. Journal of Environmental Education, 31, 32–36.
Riechard, D. E., & Peterson, S. (1998). Perception of environmental risk related to gender, community socioeconomic setting, age, and locus of control. Journal of Environmental Education, 30, 11–20.
Shen, J., & Saijo, T. (2008). Reexamining the relations between socio-demographic characteristics and individual environmental concern: Evidence from Shanghai data. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 28, 42–50.
Schultz, P. W., & Zelezny, L. (1999) Values as predictors of environmental attitudes: Evidence for consistency across 14 countries. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19, 25–265.
Stern, P. C., Dietz, T., & Kalof, L. (1993). Value orientations, gender, and environmental concern. Environment and Behavior, 25, 322–348.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Taskin, O. (2009). The environmental attitudes of Turkish senior high school students in the context of postmaterialism and the new environmental paradigm. International Journal of Science Education, 31, 481-502.
Teksöz, G., Tekkaya C., & Erbaş A. K. (2009). Geographical regions as a silent predictor of responsible environmental behaviour, Hacettepe University Journal of Education, 36, 249–259.
Tikka, P. M., Kuitunen T. M., & Tynys M. S. (2000). Effects of educational background on students’ attitudes, activity levels, and knowledge concerning environment. Journal of Environmental Education, 31, 12–19.
Tuncer, G., Ertepinar, H., Tekkaya, C., & Sungur, S. (2005). Environmental attitudes of young people in Turkey: Effects of school type and gender. Environmental Education Research, 11, 215–233.
Tuncer, G., Tekkaya, C., Sungur, S., Cakiroglu, J. Ertepinar, H., & Kaplowitz, M. (2009). Assessing pre-service teachers' environmental literacy in Turkey as a mean to develop teacher education programs. International Journal of Educational Development, 29, 426–436.
United Nations. (1992). Report of the United Nations conference on environment and development (Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992). Retrieved November 4, 2008 from http://www.un.org/documents/ga/conf151/aconf15126-1annex1.htm
United Nations Environment Program. (1972). United Nations conference on the human environment. Retrieved November 4, 2008 from http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID =97
Van Liere, K. D., & Dunlap, R. E. (1980). The social bases of environmental concern: A review of hypotheses, explanations, and empirical evidence. Public Opinion Quarterly, 44, 181–197.
Worsley, A., & Skrzypiec, G. (1998). Environmental attitudes of senior secondary school students in South Australia. Global Environmental Change, 8, 209–255.
Yilmaz, O., Boone, W. J., & Andersen, H. O. (2004). Views of elementary and middle school Turkish students toward environmental issues. International Journal of Science Education, 26, 1527–1546.
Zelezny, L. C., Chua, P., & Aldrich, C. (2000). Elaborating on gender differences in environmentalism. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 443–457.