Preparedness of Malaysian pre-school educators for environmental education

The shaping of attitude and values, commitment and skills needed to preserve and protect the environment of individuals begins at an early age. Hence educators especially pre-school teachers play an influential role in developing new patterns of behaviors of the young to adopt a sustainable lifest...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mat Said, Aini, Paim, Laily
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/16319/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/16319/1/66.%20Preparedness%20of%20Malaysian%20pre-school%20educators%20for%20environmental%20education.pdf
_version_ 1848842928467738624
author Mat Said, Aini
Paim, Laily
author_facet Mat Said, Aini
Paim, Laily
author_sort Mat Said, Aini
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The shaping of attitude and values, commitment and skills needed to preserve and protect the environment of individuals begins at an early age. Hence educators especially pre-school teachers play an influential role in developing new patterns of behaviors of the young to adopt a sustainable lifestyle. A study was conducted to assess the level of preparedness of the pre-school teachers in Malaysia with respect to their degree of concern for environmental issues, comprehension of fundamental environmental knowledge, and level of adoption of sustainability practices. A cross-sectional research design utilizing survey method was conducted among 300 pre-school teachers representing three different types of pre-schools in Malaysia. Data indicated that the respondents were aware of various basic environmental problems faced by the country but less of the advanced environmental issues. They were found to be more concerned regarding other social problems as compared to environmental ones and adoption of sustainable consumption practices of respondents was modest. Comprehension on fundamental concepts of environment and sustainability needs to be enhanced further through formal training as the main source of environmental knowledge was acquired through the mass media. The study shows that it is imperative for various stakeholders, in particular the Ministry of Education, to develop suitable environmental education syllabus for pre-school teachers training and in-service training programs in order to enhance their preparedness for environmental education.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T08:06:55Z
format Article
id upm-16319
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T08:06:55Z
publishDate 2010
publisher Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling upm-163192015-10-20T07:51:41Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/16319/ Preparedness of Malaysian pre-school educators for environmental education Mat Said, Aini Paim, Laily The shaping of attitude and values, commitment and skills needed to preserve and protect the environment of individuals begins at an early age. Hence educators especially pre-school teachers play an influential role in developing new patterns of behaviors of the young to adopt a sustainable lifestyle. A study was conducted to assess the level of preparedness of the pre-school teachers in Malaysia with respect to their degree of concern for environmental issues, comprehension of fundamental environmental knowledge, and level of adoption of sustainability practices. A cross-sectional research design utilizing survey method was conducted among 300 pre-school teachers representing three different types of pre-schools in Malaysia. Data indicated that the respondents were aware of various basic environmental problems faced by the country but less of the advanced environmental issues. They were found to be more concerned regarding other social problems as compared to environmental ones and adoption of sustainable consumption practices of respondents was modest. Comprehension on fundamental concepts of environment and sustainability needs to be enhanced further through formal training as the main source of environmental knowledge was acquired through the mass media. The study shows that it is imperative for various stakeholders, in particular the Ministry of Education, to develop suitable environmental education syllabus for pre-school teachers training and in-service training programs in order to enhance their preparedness for environmental education. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2010 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/16319/1/66.%20Preparedness%20of%20Malaysian%20pre-school%20educators%20for%20environmental%20education.pdf Mat Said, Aini and Paim, Laily (2010) Preparedness of Malaysian pre-school educators for environmental education. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 18 (2). pp. 271-283. ISSN 0128-7702; ESSN: 2231-8534 http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2018%20(2)%20Sep.%202010/10%20Pg%20271-283.pdf Environmental education Environmental sciences - Study and teaching (Preschool) - Activity programs Early childhood education
spellingShingle Environmental education
Environmental sciences - Study and teaching (Preschool) - Activity programs
Early childhood education
Mat Said, Aini
Paim, Laily
Preparedness of Malaysian pre-school educators for environmental education
title Preparedness of Malaysian pre-school educators for environmental education
title_full Preparedness of Malaysian pre-school educators for environmental education
title_fullStr Preparedness of Malaysian pre-school educators for environmental education
title_full_unstemmed Preparedness of Malaysian pre-school educators for environmental education
title_short Preparedness of Malaysian pre-school educators for environmental education
title_sort preparedness of malaysian pre-school educators for environmental education
topic Environmental education
Environmental sciences - Study and teaching (Preschool) - Activity programs
Early childhood education
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/16319/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/16319/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/16319/1/66.%20Preparedness%20of%20Malaysian%20pre-school%20educators%20for%20environmental%20education.pdf