Is Awareness on Plastic Pollution Being Raised in Schools? Understanding Perceptions of Primary and Secondary School Educators
Is Awareness on Plastic Pollution Being Raised in Schools? Understanding Perceptions of Primary and Secondary School Educators
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DOI：
10.3390/su12176775
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发表时间：
2020-09-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Dalu, Tatenda
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dalu, Mwazvita T. B.;Cuthbert, Ross N.;Dalu, Tatenda
塑料污染是一个重大的全球性问题，其对生态系统和社会经济部门的影响缺乏全面的了解。将塑料问题纳入小学和中学教育系统的问题往往被忽视，特别是在非洲，这对环境意识构成了重大挑战。由于早期意识的重要性，本研究旨在调查塑料污染问题是否被纳入南非中小学教育课程。通过对高级教育工作者的面对面采访，我们通过调查（i）教师对塑料污染成分的涵盖程度，以及（ii）教育工作者对陆地和水生环境中塑料污染的理解来解决这个研究问题。结果表明，塑料污染已被纳入技术，自然科学，地理，生命科学，生活技能和生活方向科目的学校课程。然而，对塑料垃圾的管理做法缺乏整合，特别是在中学，对不同生境类型的危险缺乏了解。这凸显了在小学和中学层面提高对塑料污染问题的教育意识的必要性，需要增加环境计划来教育学校管理实践和影响。
Plastic pollution is a major global issue and its impacts on ecosystems and socioeconomic sectors lack comprehensive understanding. The integration of plastics issues into the educational system of both primary and secondary schools has often been overlooked, especially in Africa, presenting a major challenge to environmental awareness. Owing to the importance of early age awareness, this study aims to investigate whether plastic pollution issues are being integrated into South African primary and secondary education school curriculums. Using face-to-face interviews with senior educators, we address this research problem by investigating (i) the extent to which teachers cover components of plastic pollution, and (ii) educator understandings of plastic pollution within terrestrial and aquatic environments. The results indicate that plastic pollution has been integrated into the school curriculum in technology, natural science, geography, life science, life skills and life orientation subjects. However, there was a lack of integration of management practices for plastics littering, especially in secondary schools, and understanding of dangers among different habitat types. This highlights the need for better educational awareness on the plastic pollution problem at both primary and secondary school level, with increased environmental programs needed to educate schools on management practices and impacts.