The role of landscape and urban planning disciplines to encourage environmental education among primary school children

作者：Ozguner Halil^*; Cukur Duygu; Akten Murat

来源：Energy Education Science and Technology Part B: Social and Educational Studies , 2011, 3(3): 369-386.

• Environmental education
• Nature conservation
• Ecological self awareness
• Landscape design
• Urban planning

This study aims to determine attitudes of primary school students toward the environment and to explore the role of planning disciplines to support formal education in achieving ecological self-consciousness. The method and characteristics of existing nature conservation approaches and environmental education given through the socialization process of modernism were first examined. Then, a survey has been carried out among 5th and 8th grade students (n=1176) in 25 primary schools of Isparta, Turkey to determine students' environmental knowledge and attitudes. The results revealed that although formal education increases students' environmental knowledge, it fails to develop an ecological self consciousness among the students. To achieve this, the study suggests that the awareness of nature could be developed primarily during childhood by encouraging nature and natural landscapes in the living environment of the child and by enabling the children to experience nature in these spaces during their daily life. Landscape and urban planning disciplines have important roles to play in accomplishing this task and should take responsibility and work with educationalists to support environmental education by providing physical environments where children can better experience nature during their daily life course.

• 出版日期2011-7