Investigation on Environmental Awareness Level of Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the environmental knowledge, attitudes towards the environment and environmentally friendly behaviors, i.e., the level of environmental awareness of in-service teachers and to understand whether certain variables such as major, gender, duration of experience affects these issues. The study was carried out in 2016-2017 academic year with 302 voluntary teachers who are in different education stages and majors in the city of Etimesgut in Ankara. In addition, the area of the study, represents the regions of Turkey where citizens are from different socioeconomic levels. In this regard, this study will be instrumental in having a general idea of ​​the teachers in Ankara. Data were collected with a quantitative scale called "Environmental Awareness Scale". The scale starts with a section consisting of 13 questions which are about demographic information of participants and the environment. The scale consists of 3 chapters which each of them contain 20 questions to measure knowledge, attitude and behavior towards the environment. Analysis of the data was performed with SPSS 22.0; frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation values, t test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation analyzes were applied. With the aim of testing the reliability, Co. Alpha analysis was applied, as a result Co. Alpha coefficient was found to be 0.98. In addition, factor analysis was performed with the aim of testing the construct validity of the scale. According to the research findings, participants' genders were found to have an effect on attitude and knowledge levels but not on their behaviors. The attitudes towards the environment of those who are interested in plants and animals in their childhood have been positively influenced.  Moreover, it has been observed that attitude and knowledge do not have a positive effect on behavior alone but knowledge and attitude have a positive effect on each other.