BackHome
Refresh: OffView Personal Schedule
Session Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

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

Wed, March 13, 6:30 to 8:00pm, Hyatt Regency Miami, Floor: Fourth Level, Tequesta

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

In light of urgent environmental challenges such as the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, pollution and pandemic diseases, there is growing consensus about the relevance of preparing citizens to act responsibly and pro-environmentally (Gericke et al., 2019; Hadjichambis et al. 2020; Author, 2022). Researchers, educationalists and policy makers are increasingly involved in a dialogue regarding which competences are to be developed to meet the environmental challenge, and how these can be fostered and taught in educational systems worldwide.
Nevertheless, implementing educational approaches such as education for sustainable development (ESD) and achieving its learning goals in educational settings worldwide is a complex task. Several studies report inconsistencies in implementing educational approaches suitable for enhancing students’ preparedness for pro-environmental action. There is also a lack of comparative information regarding pro-environmental learning processes and outcomes, especially in secondary education settings (Evans, 2017; Georgiou et al., 2021; Taylor et al., 2019).
The papers gathered in this panel argue that international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) such as TIMSS and ICCS are valuable sources of comparative information relevant for monitoring ESD outcomes and processes. Drawing upon the framework and data from TIMSS 2019 and ICCS 2016, this panel proposal aims to shed light on whether, and to what extent, ESD learning outcomes are imparted and achieved in several educational systems. Specifically, it aims to contribute to the growing insights into how levels of environmental knowledge and pro-environmental dispositions may vary across and within countries. It also examines how these are influenced by inequalities along the lines of gender and socioeconomic status, and whether certain educational opportunities to learn about environmental issues in secondary school settings are effective in fostering young people’s environmental knowledge and dispositions.
Each paper makes a unique contribution to the overall aims. The first two papers offer an account of the conceptualization and the comparative measurement of environmental knowledge (first paper, using TIMSS 2019 data) and pro-environmental dispositions (second paper, using ICCS 2016 data). Both contributions provide insights into variations in these outcomes across and within countries and identify significant gaps shaped by individual background characteristics such as gender, socioeconomic backgrounds, immigration status, and urbanicity. The third paper builds on the ICCS 2016 framework and data to identify the role of schools in promoting students’ pro-environmental dispositions and identifies several successful factors. All contributions share a commitment to carefully analyzing and discussing the current and future potential and limitations of ILSAs in offering highly relevant insights into the implementation of adequate educational policies and practices worldwide, with the ultimate goal of preparing youth for contributing to a sustainable future.

Sub Unit

Chairs

Individual Presentations