Environmental Education and Student Attitudes
Summary
Environmental education has evolved from a peripheral curriculum component into a multifaceted field that seeks to foster knowledge, values and behaviours conducive to planetary stewardship. Central to this endeavour is the cultivation of positive environmental attitudes, understood as enduring evaluations and predispositions towards the natural world that shape individual and collective action. Research has demonstrated that structured educational experiences—from formal classroom instruction to hands-on activities—can enhance both cognitive understanding of ecological systems and affective connections to nature. Measurement frameworks such as value-orientation models distinguish between preservation-oriented attitudes, which prioritise conservation and protection, and utilization-oriented attitudes, which emphasise resource use. Increasingly, practitioners integrate active learning approaches, including experiential learning cycles and citizen science, to bridge theory and practice and to embed pro-environmental dispositions among learners. Evidence points to the global relevance of these interventions, with applications ranging from urban schoolyards to field-based biodiversity monitoring, underscoring the potential for scalable, culturally attuned programmes to shape the next generation’s commitment to sustainability.
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Environmental Education and Student Attitudes publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in environmental education and student attitudes across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Environmental attitudes: Enduring evaluations, beliefs and predispositions towards the environment that guide individuals’ engagement with ecological issues.
Preservation: A value orientation favouring the conservation, protection and non-interference of natural ecosystems.
Utilization: A value orientation favouring the use, management or exploitation of natural resources for human benefit.
Experiential Learning Theory: An educational framework positing that knowledge is constructed through concrete experience, reflective observation, conceptual abstraction and active experimentation.
Citizen science: A collaborative research approach that enlists non-professional participants in scientific data collection, analysis and dissemination to advance both science and public engagement.
References
- Changing Spanish preservice teachers' environmental attitudes with a citizen science program integrated in Environmental Education subject. European Journal of Education (2024).
- Environmental Attitudes among Youth: How Much Do the Educational Characteristics of Parents and Young People Matter?. Sustainability (2023).
- Environmental Values (2-MEV) and Appreciation of Nature. Sustainability (2018).
- The Relation between Knowledge Acquisition and Environmental Values within the Scope of a Biodiversity Learning Module. Sustainability (2020).
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