Do Environmental Education School Coordinators Have a Mission?

• Authors: Petra Šimonová , Jan Činčera
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Teachers who are specialized in environmental education (environmental education school coordinators1) can play an important role in empowering students to shape a sustainable future. In this study, the authors examined a group of Czech environmental education school coordinators. The authors aimed to clarify how they interpret their role at their respective schools, how they perceive their self-efficacy, and what they observe as benefits and barriers to their work as a coordinator. They conducted a qualitative study with focus groups and completed individual in-depth interviews with the coordinators. The results suggest that the coordinators view their work as a mission. The ultimate goal of this mission is to change the children’s behavior to make it more pro-environmental, and, at the same time, to establish this effort as a commitment of the whole school. The authors identified different forms of mission, described development in time and connected them with the perceived self-efficacy of the coordinators.

Keywords

EN

environmental education; EE school coordinators; teacher training; teachers’ self-efficacy

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 23-36

Dates

published

2016-12-01

online

2016-06-08

Contributors

author

Petra Šimonová

• Masaryk University, Brno

author

Jan Činčera

• Masaryk University, Brno

References

• Åhlberg, M., Kaasinen, A., Kaivola, T., & Houtsonen, L. (2001). Collaborative knowledge building to promote in-service teacher training in environmental education. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 10(3), 227–240. [Crossref]
• Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215. [Crossref]
• CENIA (2015). O environmentálním vzdělávání, výchověa osvětě. [About environmental education] Retrieved October 16, 2015, from
• Činčera, J. (2013). Managing cognitive dissonance: experience from an environmental education teachers’ training course in the Czech Republic. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 15(2), 42–51. [Crossref]
• Činčera, J., Gilar, P., & Sokolovičová, J. (2010). Specializační studium pro koordinátory environmentální výchovy, vzdělávání a osvěty: interpretace a efektivita z pohledu absolventů. [Teacher’s training for environmental education school coordinators: interpretation and effectivity from the perspective of graduates]. Envigogika – Charles University E-Journal for Environmental Education, 1–20.
• Dembo, M. H., & Gibson, S. (1985). Teachers’ sense of efficacy: An important factor in school improvement california. The Elementary School Journal, 86(2), 173–184.[Crossref]
• Evans, E., & Tribble, M. (1986). Perceived teaching problems, self-efficacy, and commitment to teaching among pre-service teachers. Journal of Educational Research, 80(2), 81–85.[Crossref]
• Evers, W. J. G., Brouwers, A., & Tomic, W. (2002). Burnout and self-efficacy: A study on teachers’ beliefs when implementing an innovative educational system in the Netherlands. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(2), 227–243. [Crossref]
• Harris, D. N., & Sass, T. R. (2011). Teacher training, teacher quality and student achievement. Journal of Public Economics, 95(7–8), 798–812. [WoS][Crossref]
• Higgs, A. L., & McMillan, V. M. (2006). Teaching through modeling: Four schools’ experiences in sustainability education. The Journal of Environmental Education, 38(1), 39–53. [Crossref]
• Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: SAGE. [Crossref]
• Cheng, J. C.-H., & Monroe, M. C. (2010). Examining teachers’ attitudes toward a required environmental education program. Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 9(1), 28–37. [Crossref]
• Jickling, B. (2007). If environmental education is to make sense for teachers, we had better rethink how we define it! Canadian Journal of Environmental Education (CJEE), 86–103. Retrieved April 1, 2016, from
• Kelani, R. (2015). Integration of environmental education in science curricula in secondary schools in Benin, West Africa/: Teachers’ perceptions and challenges. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 19(3).
• Khan, A., Fleva, E., & Qazi, T. (2015). The role of self-esteem and general self-efficacy in teachers’ efficacy in primary schools. Psychology, 06(01), 117–125. [Crossref]
• Kyburz, Graber, R., & Robottom, I. (1999). The OECDENSI project and its relevance for teacher training concepts in environmental education. Environmental Education Research, 5(3), 273–291. [Crossref]
• May, T. S., & Flack, J. a. (2001). Do we need more “trained” teachers? The Journal of Environmental Education, 32(4), 5–7. [Crossref]
• Moseley, C., Reinke, K., & Bookout, V. (2002). The effect of teaching outdoor environmental education on preservice teachers’ attitudes toward self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. The Journal of Environmental Education, 34(1), 9–15.[Crossref]
• MSMT (2008). “Metodický pokyn MŠMT k zajištění environmentálního vzdělávání, výchovy a osvěty (EVVO)” [Methodological guidelines Ministry of Education for implementing EE at schools]. Retrieved June 19, 2015, from .
• Pe’er, S., Goldman, D., & Yavetz, B. (2007). Environmental literacy in teacher training: Attitudes, knowledge, and environmental behavior of beginning students. The Journal of Environmental Education, 39(1), 45–59. Rerieved May 1, 2015, from [Crossref]
• Pipere, A., Veisson, M., & Salīte, I. (2015). Developing research in teacher education for sustainability: UN DESC via the Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 17(2), 5–44.
• Raus, R., & Falkenberg, T. (2014). The journey towards a teacher’s ecological self: A case study of a student teacher. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 16(2), 103–114. Retrieved June 1, 2015, from [Crossref]
• Reilly, E., Dhingra, K., & Boduszek, D. (2014). Teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, selfesteem, and job stress as determinants of job satisfaction. International Journal of Educational Management, 28(4), 365–378. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from [Crossref]
• Richardson, V. (1998). How teachers change. What will lead to change that most benefits student learning? Focus on Basic. Connecting Research and Practice, 2.
• Saldana, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: SAGE.
• Schelly, C., Cross, J. E., Franzen, W., Hall, P., & Reeve, S. (2012). How to go green: Creating a conservation culture in a public high school through education, modeling, and communication. The Journal of Environmental Education, 43(3), 143–161. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from [WoS][Crossref]
• Simmons, B. (2010). Guidelines for the preparation and professional development of environmental educators. The North American Association for Environmental Education. Retrieved May 5, 2015 from
• Simmons, D. (1999). Excellence in environmental education: Guidelines for learning (K-12). North American Association for Environmental Education. Retrieved April 1, 2016, from
• Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Basics of qualitative research grounded theory procedures and techniques, 3 Retrieved May7, 2015, from [Crossref]
• Świtala, E. (2015). Teachers’ values related to sustainable development in Polish and Latvian secondary schools. Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education, 6, 127–131. Retrieved April 1, 2016, from: [Crossref]
• Šed’ová, K., & Švaříček, R. (2007). Kvalitativní výzkum v pedagogických vědách [Qualitative research in pedagogy]. Praha: Portál.
• Van Petegem, P., Blieck, A., Imbrecht, I., & Van Hout, T. (2005). Implementing environmental education in preservice teacher training. Environmental Education Research, 11(2), 161–171. Retrieved April 1, 2016 from [Crossref]
• Winther, A. a., Volk, T. L., & Shrock, S. a. (2002). Teacher decision making in the 1st year of implementing an issues-based environmental education program: A qualitative study. The Journal of Environmental Education, 33(3), 27–33. Retrieved May 1, 2016 from [Crossref]

Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/dcse-2016-0002