''Threatened and Threatening Seas''
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF PEDAGOGICAL CURRICULAR AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES ‘’THREATENED AND THREATENING SEAS’’ Children’s Perceptions of the Marine Environment and Environmental Attitudes towards Marine Pollution in Kuta, Lombok. Roos van der Meijden Master’s thesis: 30 credits Programme/course: S2ESD ESD700 Level: Second cycle Term/year: Spring 2020 Supervisor: Bethanie Carney Almroth Examiner: Irma Brkovic Abstract Master’s thesis: 30 credits Programme/Course: S2ESD ESD700 Level: Second cycle Term/year: Spring 2020 Supervisor: Bethanie Carney Almroth Examiner: Irma Brkovic Early childhood learners, environmental attitudes, environmental Keywords: perspectives, human-nature relation, marine pollution Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate early childhood learners’ (5-8 years old) perceptions of the marine environment (beach and sea) and their environmental attitudes towards marine pollution through an educational intervention consisting of a drawing exercise and an in-class discussion. Theory: Social-cognitive theory was used from which to explore environmental perspectives environmental attitudes, and the human-nature relation/connection. Method: Early childhood learners’ perceptions towards the marine environment and environmental attitudes in relation to marine pollution are researched by collecting qualitative primary data through children’s narratives, self-created drawings and an in- class group discussion. Results: The children in this study perceived the beach as a place for entertainment, a place for recreation, and a place for consumption, entailing positive thoughts. The sea evokes, in contrast to the beach, negative thoughts and is viewed as a threatening part of the marine environment. Children were simultaneously, however, fascinated by the beauty of the marine environment and marine life. Forms of marine life were humanized, which resulted in the emergence of selective empathy, exclusively shown towards animals in the marine environment that are perceived as ‘beautiful’ and/or ‘large’. Plants were considered of less importance compared to animals. The children showed moral concern towards the way in which marine pollution impacts animals and the environment and reported solutions to help solve the issue. However, socio-cultural factors entailed by the Islamic culture withhold girls from connecting to the sea and may contribute to the emergence of negativistic, ecologistic, and utilitarian attitudes among the participants in this study. At the same time, Allah’s contradictory trust in his followers to protect the environment might offer opportunities for the development of religion based environmental education programmes in the field of education for sustainable development. List of Abbreviations EE Environmental Education ECEE Early Childhood Environmental Education EA Environmental Attitudes PEB Pro-environmental Behaviour ECEE Early Childhood Environmental Education SLT Social Learning Theory List of Tables Table 1 Attitudes towards animals Table 2 Categorization of Environmental Attitudes Based on All Data Table 3 Summary of the Main Research Outcomes 3 Foreword The motivation for executing this research was based primarily on the frustration entailed by my personal experiences. As a surfer, I regularly encounter plastic waste floating on the ocean surface and witness children and adults carelessly disposing plastic rubbish on the beach while having picknicks. This made me wonder whether and how environmental education was implemented in the curriculum at the local primary schools in the surrounding area and how children view the marine environment and marine pollution. Having the desire to contribute to scholarly literature in early childhood environmental education and the compassion to save our flora and fauna enriched oceans through education, I decided to explore this issue. 4 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... 3 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 1. Background ......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Problem Statement and Research Questions ................................................................................. 2 1.2 Statement of Relevance ................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Structure of the thesis .................................................................................................................... 3 2. Literature review ................................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 The Connection between Children and Nature ............................................................................. 4 2.2 Children’s Perceptions of the (Marine) Environment ................................................................... 5 2.3 Children’s environmental Attitudes and Behaviours in Environmental Education....................... 7 3. Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Social-Cognitive Theory ............................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Interpreting Drawings and Narratives ........................................................................................... 9 3.3 Measuring Environmental Attitudes ........................................................................................... 10 4. Method .............................................................................................................................................. 11 4.1 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................ 11 4.1.1 Participants ........................................................................................................................... 11 4.2 Research Process and the description of Instruments .................................................................. 12 4.2.1 In-class Learning activity: Children’s Drawings and in-class Discussions .......................... 12 4.2.1.1 Children’s Drawings ...................................................................................................... 12 4.3 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 14 4.3.1 Narrative Analysis ................................................................................................................ 14 4.3.2 Content Analysis .................................................................................................................. 14 4.3.3 Analysis of Environmental attitudes .................................................................................... 14 4.3.4 The Social-Cognitive Theory ............................................................................................... 15 4.5 Limitations and Demarcation ...................................................................................................... 15 4.6 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................................................. 15 4.7 Methodological Considerations ................................................................................................... 16 4.8 Account for Participation and Collaboration with Others ........................................................... 17 4.9 Closing Comments ...................................................................................................................... 17 5. Results ............................................................................................................................................... 18 5.1 Drawings of the Marine Environment ......................................................................................... 18 5.1.1 Narrative Analysis ................................................................................................................ 18 5.1.2 Content Analysis .................................................................................................................. 22 5.2 In-class Discussions about Marine pollution ............................................................................... 23 5.2.1 Narrative analysis ................................................................................................................. 23 5.2.2 Content Analysis: The children’s Environmental Attitudes toward Marine Pollution ......... 24 5.4 Summary of the Main Results ....................................................................................................