Browsing by Subject "ympäristökasvatus"

Objectives. Teachers' perceptions of sustainable development has been studied in the past and showed mediocre results. But primary school students' perceptions and experiences of sustainable development has been studied only marginally. The aim of this study was to identify the primary school students' perceptions and experiences of sustainable development. And additionally to provide insight to dimensions, differences and similarities of sustainable development in school and home activities. Methods. The study questionnaire was developed for this study. The research method used in this study was the mixed methods testing procedures. The quantitative research survey data was analyzed by statistical methods and the open questions questionnaire data was analyzed using content analysis method. The study is a comparative case study and was conducted in spring 2016 at two Espoo-based primary schools. A total of 53 students in fourth grade participated in this survey. An additional method that was used in this study was a questionnaire, completed by two research schools teachers in autumn 2016. Results and conclusions. The outcome revealed individual as well as school specific differences in the definition of sustainable development. Although that the students' definitions of sustainable development at school varied, the definition of sustainable development at home did not show any significant differences. The differences between both research schools can be explained by differences in school culture that impacts to adopted values and attitudes of students. From the students' responses it can be concluded that sustainable development is perceived to be normative, anthropocentric, ecocentric as well as influencing human activities and changing ways of thinking. In addition some of the students connected sustainable development with intangible values. A third of the students pointed out the global aspects of sustainable development and its impact throughout the world. The majority of the students had a perception of sustainable development and recognized sustainable development as necessity.

Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract The goal of this study was to research the nature experiences of children going to kindergarten and pre-school, as well as the environmental educators’ thoughts about children’s nature experiences. The focus is on the nature experiences, which according to the educators, have a positive effect on the well-being of the children and their learning in nature. The aim of this study was also to research how the children’s participation can be seen in the environmental education. The previous research has shown that the nature is a varied learning environment that offers lots of possibilities for learning and that activities in nature and children’s participation have a positive effect on the well-being. For this study I interviewed seven 4-6 years old children going to a nature kindergarten and three experts in environmental education. The experts had lot of experience of the nature activities with children. The themed interviews with the experts were arranged individually whilst the children were interviewed in two separate groups. The qualitative data from the interviews was analysed using the theming method of the theory-based content analysis. This study sees the regular, unhurried, time spent in the nature as an important facilitator of experiences of well-being and learning. According to the environmental educators, building a relationship to nature has an important role in the environmental education of the children under school age. The nature as a learning environment offered ample possibilities to different activities as well as varied sensory and motor experiences. Observing and studying the nature were seen as important ways of learning. The participation of the children was seen as beneficial for well-being and learning. The children had biggest possibilities for influencing, when they were playing. Also the child-oriented approach, children’s participation and playing were seen as important factors in environmental education. As a conclusion, the nature seems to have positive effects on the well-being and learning experiences of the children. The child’s own participation has an important role in the nature education of the children.

This Master's study is to determine the Helsinki Region Environmental Services twin school program's impact in the participating schools. The program will be carry out by the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Recycling Centre Environmental School Path and its objective is primarily the reduction of waste at school, but also the students' homes. The most important means of promoting the objective of schools are created with students and teachers, environmental groups, as well as for teachers to share materials and practical support. Previous studies have shown that environmental programs can have an impact on the people involved in the activities and attitudes. Purpose of the study is to find out whether the twin school program effective way to promote environmentally-friendly activities. The research questions were: 1. How does the sponsoring school program will be shown under the school's waste management, to sustainable development, sorting and energy saving measures? 2. Does it have any impact on own and family activities or environmental attitudes. 3 How do attitudes explaining their own and family activities. 4. How can the school explain the co-operation of school environmental actions. The study defendants were eight comprehensive school involved the twin school program during the academic year 2013-2014. This study was un-equivalents of the groups completed layout with repeated measures (Non-Equivalent Groups Design), in which the test group is participating 5-6 graders. A control group of schools operating in the environmental groups the students. Research assumption was that the twin school program effects are significantly higher in members of the schools environmental than in other students' The data were collected in the first measurement in the autumn of 2013, when respondents were 475 | 80, and the second time in the spring of 2014 respondents 416 | 61. Methods were quantitative analysis. Changes were analyzed for paired t-tests and repeated measures analysis of variance. The attitudes and behavior of the co-operation of the school contact was analyzed by regression analysis and Confirmatory factor analysis suggested created by structural equation models. The results showed that in general the significant change had occurred in the school activities of sustainable development, while their own families and sustainable development in the project change was negative. Environmental group membership was positive, but not statistically significant effect. Between boys and girls had a different response to intervention. Girls' results in decreased across the board, while the boys went up. The differences in attitudes were also significant that environmental negligence is more typical for boys. Attitudes related to the behavior of the way that care about the attitudes towards the environment to explain the increase in environmentally responsible behavior and the environment, while indifferent to the environmental measures decrease. Another interesting result is that the indifferent attitudes are more significant environmentally responsible activities explaining, albeit negative. Although the school environmental activities and the magnitude of the differences, both in schools and in which co-operation is high, the environmental action parameters to be measured are higher. Knowledge of the program a different impact on girls and boys, boys' higher environmental negligence and environmental impact of the school's co-responsible actions to help develop the twin school program teaching and planning.

This study examines the technique of natural dyeing in the context of the craft teaching. This research explores the natural color chart of Finland’s nature in mordant dyeing of woolen yarns. The objective is to compile a selection of Finnish natural colors and colorants that are suitable and environmentally friendly in mordant dyeing procedure. In this research I explore also the phenomenon of multidisciplinary approach as a teaching method. The study combines a theory of natural dyes together with environmental education, craft design and modern ways of dyeing. The research is based on collection of natural dyed yarn samples and those related notes made by dyer. These woolen yarn samples were dyed in Southern Finland between decades 1970 and 1990 by one enthusiast. In classification of yarn samples I used qualitative methods to observe visual properties of these yarns. After evaluation the research material consisted of N=178 yarn and 20 different quality of woolen yarns. These 20 samples were tested under the microscope and by burning yarn samples to recognize fiber materials without lab circumstances. The color values were measured by spectrophotometer. These CIELAB codes helped me to find various hues for the color palette. With code numbers the use of colors is possible also in the digital environments like computer graphics. The digital use of colors in design is made possible by changing the color map values to RGB and CMYK color codes used by image editing software and printers. These codes enable the use of digital colors in teaching, design and printing. The study combines post-positivistic and qualitative research methods in the theoretical framework. All conclusions of the Finnish natural colors and colorants in this study are applicable only to the used research material and yarns that are researched. The analysis was conducted by one researcher only, which may have affected on the reliability and validity of the study. On a basic level the range of hues in Finnish color chart for woolen yarn contains yellow, red, green, brown and dark shades. Also, rare shades of blue are possible to find and dye with Finnish natural dyes, but those colors are not included in the color chart. I observed that natural dyes are suitable for environmental education when using natural or nontoxic mordant. Introduced color chart is intended to be used in craft teaching when design items and dye yarns for products made by hand. Environmental education and craft design are easy topics to combine with natural dyeing process in craft teaching. Practical activity, sustainable utilization of the surrounding environment, and the experience in engaging and influencing on environmental issues also support the student’s nature relations in the teaching of crafts.

Themes of environmental education have become more visible in today’s educational institutes. While the Finnish curriculum highlights the importance of education for sustainable development, and as the concern of the state of the environment rises, the school system has to do its own part in building a more sustainable future. Knowledge-based in-service training for environmental education provides teachers with the skills to upbring environmentally conscious members of society. The purpose of this study is to map the thoughts of teachers on the role of environmental education in the day-to-day school life, and their dreams and ponderings on the future of environmental education. In addition, the interest of this study is to examine the meanings the participants give to in-service training for environmental education. The participants of study consist of six elementary school class teachers. Four of the interviewees were acquired from the Facebook page of Sykli, and two others from mailing lists. The study’s material was collected by using semi-structured interviews, which were then transcribed, and the transcripts were used for making a content analysis. The participants of the study comprised of class teachers of varying backgrounds, who were connected by the participation in the Sykli’s program of environmental education. According to the study’s results, the participants saw the role of environmental education as being very significant in the context of the school, and thus hoped for it to become a bigger part of the school culture. The role of the supervisor was seen as a significant factor when examining the school’s environmental education. The participants saw the role of environmental education to grow with the increasing knowledge of the state of the globe, and some already saw the change for the better coming. The partaking in the in-service training for environmental education was seen as an extremely positive experience. Furthermore, the participants thought the in-service training had an effect on multiple different parts in their teaching practices. For example they thought their courage to put environmental education more into practice increased. The participants also reported expanded understanding of the nature of environmental education.

The aim of this study is to analyze and interpret environmental education materials by envi-ronmental organisations for early childhood education. Despite the fact that by the early childhood curriculum from 2018 the sustainable development goals and environmental edu-cation are mentioned as a part of early childhood education there are no teacher’s books to support environmental education in early childhood education. There are, however, some en-vironmental learning materials compiled by environmental organisations intended for early childhood education. In this study I will assess the overall picture regarding environmental education provided by those materials. Theoretical background of this study is based on Palmer’s (1998) model for teaching and learning in environmental education (the so-called Palmer’s tree model) and knowledge about nature connectedness and children’s participation and agency. Research material in this study consists of environmental education publications produced by environmental organisations between the years 2008 and 2020. The material consists of 12 environmental education publications – with both written and illustrated content – from five different organisations. The material was analysed by using content analysis. The results of this study show that environmental education goals are achieved only partly. The goal for education about environment as in Palmer’s model (1998) seems to be included in the materials, but there seems to be a remarkable variation how the goals for education for environment and education in or from the environment are fulfilled. Children’s role as active agents for the environment was low. Materials do not produce any holistic picture about environmental education when contrasted with the research literature. The ecological dimension about nature connection seems to be emphasized in children’s nature connection. Nature connectedness does not exist as a whole in the environmental education materials. Children’s role seems to be limited to learning by playing and participating in some activities. Children’s agency to affect to the environment has a small role in those materials. Content analysis about illustrations used in the materials confirms the same situation about environmental education and there is room for development in educational materials. In order to achieve the goals of environmental education teachers have a big role in choosing the environmental education materials to support their teaching.