Impact of In-Service Environmental Education on Early Childhood Teachers’ Environmental Attitude

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of in-service education designed to improve early childhood teachers’ environmental awareness, knowledge, attitudes and their skills on integrating environmental issues in their teaching. Thirty early childhood teachers in the treatment group and Thirty in the control group participated the study. Teachers in the control group did not attain in-service education. Teachers responded to the Environmental Problems Attitude Scale (EPAS) before and after the in-service education. After the education process, teachers in the treatment group provided qualitative data about the impact of this education. For the treatment group the Mann-Whitney U test revealed a significant increase from pretest to posttest. Mann-Whitney U did not indicate a significant increase for the control group. Three major themes derived from qualitative data. These are an increase in environmental awareness, an increase in individual responsibility and taking action, as well as increased motivation and being better equippedfor environmental education.