Inequalities in Environmental Knowledge among Secondary School Students

• In Event: Prepared for a Sustainable Future? Environmental Knowledge and Pro-Environmental Dispositions Among Secondary School Students

Proposal

One precondition for shaping the attitudes and behaviors towards environmental sustainability of future citizens is the acquisition of knowledge about ecosystems. Schools are, and have always been, central in knowledge acquisition, and the curricula of many countries’ educational systems increasingly acknowledge the need of developing environmental sustainability competence frameworks (European Commission, Joint Research Centre, 2022). The role of schools becomes even more important given not only the increased spread of fake facts, but also because education is seen as a powerful tool for fostering environmentally responsible behavior (UNESCO, 2014). To achieve substantial and sustainable behavioral and attitudinal changes in habits affecting the environment, it is necessary that all students have the same opportunities and successes in acquiring environmental knowledge. To date, there is little evidence about what children know about the environment and sustainability, and what inequalities underpin this knowledge. Therefore, in this paper we examine the environmental knowledge of eighth graders and look at potential gaps along the lines of gender, socioeconomic background, immigration status, and urbanicity.
To investigate inequalities in environmental knowledge, we use a recently developed cognitive scale from the latest cycle of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). TIMSS 2019 assessed eighth grade students’ achievements in mathematics and science in 39 countries worldwide. The new “Environmental Awareness Scale” was developed post hoc after the TIMSS 2019 data collection. This scale was constructed with items related to environmental issues that were identified among the earth science and biology items of the grade eight assessment and is scored similarly to the other cognitive scales of mathematics and science (Yin & Foy, 2020).
The contribution starts with a brief description on the construction of the measurement of environmental knowledge in TIMSS 2019. This is followed by an exploration of the mean scores and their distribution across countries, and a study of its association with other country-level factors. Next, we estimate and report several within-country achievement gaps based on socioeconomic status, gender, immigration status, and urbanicity.
Our results show substantial variation in environmental knowledge scores across the countries studied. The lower scores are predominantly found in Global South countries and significantly correlate with country-level indicators such as GDP per capita. Further correlations with environmental indicators are also examined. Regarding within-country inequalities, we find important gaps in all the different categories. However, significant differences in the magnitude and the direction of these gaps across countries are notable. In light of the results, we conclude on the consequences and significance of the notorious differences on environmental knowledge between countries and between social groups. Our discussion aims to reflect on the role of TIMSS and ILSAs data in providing insights into the outcomes of education for sustainable development.

Authors

• Yuan-Ling Liaw

• Sabine Meinck, International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)

• Andrés Strello, International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement

• Rolf Strietholt, International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)