Developing Teacher Training Curricula to Promote Ecological Awareness at Tertiary Education

Abstract

Thesis Title: Developing Teacher Training Curricula to Promote Ecological Awareness at Tertiary Education This research had been planned to develop the Teacher Training Curricula to respond to the society’s call to promote ecological Awareness at tertiary education. The aim was to help produce more knowledgeable, motivated and responsible teachers and active citizens through improved and sustainable teacher education. The researcher proposed to adopt the Curriculum Development route to secure this objective. The researcher had based his approach on a combination of a model presented by Hungerford and Volk (1990). In broad general terms the curriculum development task of this nature had adopted constructivist approach of learning theory. The research had undertaken the task of developing and proving a curriculum pertaining to one of the courses that may be taught as part of Teachers’ training curriculum. The course thus developed had been purpose-designed to enhance ecological awareness among trainee teachers. An Awareness scale had measured the pre-test and post-test levels of ecological awareness and relative gain had been used as an indicator of the success of the class experiment. The prosecution of central hypotheses had followed a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Curriculum development process had been guided by the following framework: (1) Review of Literature to establish the state of research on the subject, (2) content analysis of the prevailing curriculum in one of the ICT Teachers Training Institutes, (3) Development of the curriculum and the teaching contents/materials of one of the courses especially oriented to enhance ecological awareness in trainee teachers, (4) Class experiment, (5) assessment of gain, and (6) assessment of the success of the class experiment. The study had been significant in enhancing the effectiveness of teachers’ training curricula in promoting ecological concerns at tertiary level of education. It had been expected that trainee teachers made conscious of their environmental responsibilities would help educate our future generations along these lines and produce environmentally responsible citizens. This would in turn help achieve national agenda on environmental protection aimed at preventing further damage to environment and initiating a recovery. Key Words (1) Environmental Science, (2) Environmental Activism, (3) Environmental Advocacy, and (4) Environmental Justice