Environmental Education for Sustainable Development: A Study Conducted in the Schools of Greater Guwahati, Assam

Abstract

Environmental education is a process that creates awareness and understanding of the relationship of human beings with their ultimate environments - natural, man-made, cultural and technological. Environmental Education for Sustainable Development (EESD) is a dynamic concept that utilizes all aspects of public awareness, education and training to create or enhance an understanding of the linkages among the issues of sustainable development and to develop the knowledge, skills, perspectives, and values which will empower people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating and enjoying a sustainable future (UNESCO, 2004). Environment and Sustainable Development implies a shift from viewing education as a delivery mechanism, to the realization that we all are learners and the effort for sustainable development must begin in villages and cities, schools and universities, corporate offices and in all the offices of the state and central government. Therefore, in the present study an attempt has been made (i) To assess the student‘s knowledge, behavioral attitudes, and actions towards environmental problems, issues, conservation and protection of biodiversity (ii) To investigate the environmental education awareness of school teachers in relation to the type of management, residential background, and gender. It has been found out that there was a statistically significant difference between the pre and post test assessments on student‘s environmental knowledge, behavior, attitude, and skills. Students, who have been exposed to active EESD teaching strategies, have gained more knowledge, behavior, attitude and skills on environment. While majority of the teachers involved in Environmental Education employed conventional text book methods, a few of them occasionally used other methods, such as informal discussion and group projects as well as resources, such as newspaper cuttings, Environmental Education learning packages, and environment-related web pages. In addition, some teachers promoted Environmental Education through extra-curricular activities.