The relationship between environmental awareness of pupils and school environmental education in Taiwan

A Case Study of Elementary School in Miaoli

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to obtain fundamental knowledge to clarify the relationship between the environmental education (henceforth, EE) in elementary school and pupils' environmental awareness in Taiwan. We have made three investigations in elementary school in Miaoli. (1) Hearing surveys of the actual conditions of EE, (2) questionnaire surveys of pupils' environmental awareness, and (3) questionnaire surveys of pupils' environmental awareness who took an EE class under the same program. As a result, three characteristic patterns have been extracted based on the programs developed for different groups and the total yearly class time at each school. Moreover, our survey revealed that differences in EE in each school would affect pupils' environmental awareness, and that even if they are taught the same EE, a synergistic effect to raise pupils' environmental awareness is observed in elementary schools giving more enriched EE.