Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

SECONDARY STUDENTS’ ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES: THE CASE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN BANGLADESH

Mahbub Sarkar

Open access

This paper examined secondary students’ environmental attitudes in Bangladesh by employing
a standardized environmental attitude scale. The scale consisted of 15 questions rated on a
Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). 400 secondary
students, with equal number of boys and girls from both the urban and rural schools
participated in this study. The study found that overall students from both the urban and rural
areas expressed favourable environmental attitudes with girls having a significantly higher level
of favourable environmental attitudes than boys; in particular, rural girls had the highest level
of environmental attitudes comparing among others. This paper discussed the scope for further
research to identify the gap and relationship between environmental attitudes and
environmental behaviours of Bangladeshi adolescents.

Arcken, M. M. (2001). Environmental literacy: Re-examining the justifications and objectives of
environmental education in the context of a risk society. Paper presented at the
Teaching for scientific literacy: Context, competency, and curriculum: 2nd International
Utrecht/ICASE Symposium, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Babbie, E. (1998). The practice of social research (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics [BANBEIS] (2006). Output
statistics. Retrieved 30 October, 2008, from BANBEIS, Government of Bangladesh:
http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/db_bb/out_sta.htm
Begum, J. A., Shikdar, A. H., & Das, K. M. (2007). Secondary social science: For class IX-X [in
Bengali] (New ed.). Dhaka: National Curriculum and Textbook Board.
Bradley, J. C., Waliczek, T. M., & Zajicek, J. M. (1999). Relationship between environmental
knowledge and environmental attitude of high school students. The Journal of
Environmental Education, 30(3), 17-21.
Clarke, B. (1996). Environmental attitudes and knowledge of Year 11 students in a Queensland
high school: An investigation into environmental beliefs and understandings. Australian
Journal of Environmental Education, 12, 19-26.
DiEnno, C. M., & Hilton, S. C. (2005). High school students' knowledge, attitudes, and levels of
enjoyment of an environmental education unit on nonnative plants. The Journal of
Environmental Education, 37(1), 13-25.
Eagles, P. F. J., & Demare, R. (1999). Factors influencing children's environmental attitudes. The
Journal of Environmental Education, 30(4), 33-37.
Ewert, A., & Baker, D. (2001). Standing for where you sit: An exploratory analysis of the
relationship between academic major and environment beliefs. Environment and
Behavior, 33(5), 687-707.
Haque, M. A., Shafiullah, M., Uddin, M. N., Roy, S., & Das, K. M. (2007). Secondry general
science: For class IX-X (M. T. H. Sarker, M. R. Islam, M. S. Rahman, S. K. Bhadra & J. A.
Begum, Trans. Revised ed.). Dhaka: National Curriculum and Textbook Board.
Kuhlemeier, H., Bergh, H., & Lagerweij, N. (1999). Environmental knowledge, attitudes, and
behavior in Dutch secondary education. The Journal of Environmental Education, 30(2),
4-14.
La Trobe, H. L., & Acott, T. G. (2000). A Modified NEP/DSP environmental attitudes scale. The
Journal of Environmental Education, 32(1), 12-20.
Lee, E. B. (2008). Environmental attitudes and information sources among African American
college students. The Journal of Environmental Education, 40(1), 29-42.
Meinhold, J. L., & Malkus, A. J. (2005). Adolescent environmental behaviors. Can knowledge,
attitudes, and self-efficacy make a difference? Environment and Behavior, 37(4), 511-
532.
Ministry of Environment and Forest (2001). Bangladesh: State of environment 2001. Dhaka:
Ministry of Environment and Forest.
Mittelstaedt, R., Sanker, L., & VanderVeer, B. (1999). Impact of a week-long experiential
education program on environmental attitude and awareness. The Journal of
Experiential Education, 22(3), 138-148.
Muttaqi, I. A., Banu, N., Hasan, M. A., & Ahmed, G. A. (2007). Secondary Biology (M. Sikder & R.
Begum, Trans. 2nd ed.). Dhaka: National Curriculum and Textbook Board.
Muttaqui, I. A. (1982). Development of a scale to measure environmental attitude of the
secondary school students of Bangladesh. Teacher's World, 12(4), 21-31.
Muttaqui, I. A. (1983). Environmental knowledge and attitude of the post-primary rural and
urban students and their implecation for curriculum planning in Bangladesh. Teacher's
World, 13(4), 38-42.
National Curriculum and Textbook Board [NCTB] (1996a). Curriculum and syllabus: Junior
secondary level (grades VI-VIII) [in Bengali]. Dhaka: Ministry of Education, Government
of Bangldesh.
National Curriculum and Textbook Board [NCTB] (1996b). Curriculum and syllabus: Secondary
level (grades IX-X) [in Bengali]. Dhaka: Ministry of Education, Government of Bangldesh.
National Curriculum and Textbook Board [NCTB] (2003). National curriculum for primary level,
2002-03. Dhaka: Ministry of Education, Government of Bangladesh.
Ramsey, C. E., & Rickson, R. E. (1976). Environmental knowledge and attitudes. The Journal of
Environmental Education, 8(1), 10-18.
Rennie, L. J. (2005). Science awareness and scientific literacy. Teaching Science, 51(1), 10-14.
Rennie, L. J. (2007). Values in science in out-of-school contexts. In D. Corrigan, J. Dillon & R.
Gunstone (Eds.), The re-emergence of values in science education (pp. 197-212).
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Ridener, L. R. (1997). University students' attitude to the environment: An Australian/ USA
comparison and the effects of an educational program. Australian Journal of
Environmental Education, 13, 77-84.
Roth, C. E. (1968). On the road to conservation. Massachusetts: Audubon.
Salequzzaman, M., & Stocker, L. (2001). The context and prospects for environmental education
and environmental careers in Bangladesh. International Journal of Sustainability in
Higher Education, 2(2).
Sarkar, M., & Ara, Q. A. J. (2007). Environmental literacy among the secondary level students:
Comparison between urban and rural areas of Natore district. Teacher's World, 30-31,
123-130.
Sarkar, M., Ara, Q. A. J., Raihan, J., & Koji, O. (2008). An explanatory study on environmental
literacy among the secondary level students in Bangladesh. Annual Report of the Faculty
of Education, Gifu University Educational Research, 10, 5-16.
UNESCO (1976). The Belgrade charter: A global framework for environmental education
Retrieved August 27, 2009, from
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/file_download.php/47f146a292d047189d9b3ea
7651a2b98The+Belgrade+Charter.pdf
UNESCO (1977). Intergovernmental conference on environmental education (Final report)
Retrieved August 25, 2009, from
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0003/000327/032763eo.pdf
Viqarunnesa (1986). Determination of the attitude towards the environment among the
learners of primary schools [in Bengali]. Unpublished masters thesis, IER, University of
Dhaka, Bangladesh.

N/A