Awareness and Practices of Senior High School Students and Teachers on Environmental Education: Basis for Instructional Materials Development

Abstract

Environmental education in the Philippines has been incorporated into different course curricula, including life and physical sciences. This study evaluated the awareness and practices of senior high school students and teachers in environmental education. The study included 125 senior high school students and 25 teachers from Montevista Stand Alone Senior High School. The study found that 44% of the teacher-respondents were between 41-50 years old, while 51.20% of the student-respondents were between 17-18 years old. The teacher-respondents demonstrated a high level of awareness in environmental concepts and the state of the environment, with an overall mean of 4.34. The student-respondents showed a moderate level of awareness, with an overall mean of 3.18. The teacher-respondents "always" practiced taking action to solve environmental problems, with an overall mean of 4.52, while the student-respondents "often" did so, with an overall mean of 3.80. No statistically significant difference was found in the level of awareness of environmental concepts and the state of the environment among teachers when grouped according to gender (p-value = 0.207) or grade level taught (p-value = 0.910). Similarly, for students, no statistically significant difference was found when grouped according to grade level (p-value = 0.162) or age (p-value = 0.213). The awareness of environmental concepts was significantly and positively related to the need for a high degree of commitment among both teachers (r=0.455; p=0.022) and students (r=0.885; p=0.000). Based on the findings, the researcher recommends developing instructional materials for environmental education that aim to maintain and increase students' understanding and capacities in relation to environmental problems and environmental sustainability principles.