Empowering Students: Role Of Secondary School Teachers In Promoting Environmental Education

Abstract

The study examined how secondary school teachers empower students to promote environmental education. It provided an analysis to document and understand the knowledge and role of secondary school education regarding environmental education. The population comprised all government high school teachers of grades 9 and 10 (both genders) in district Peshawar. The sample comprised 40 schools (20 boys and 20 girls) selected through a stratified random sample; whereas, the selection of schools in rural and urban areas in district Peshawar was made through cluster sampling. The sample selection followed an equal allocation method combined with stratified sampling. In addition, one teacher from each school was randomly selected from sampled teachers for interview, resulting in a total of 40 teachers. Data was collected from 40 teachers through in-depth semi structured interviews and was analyzed through thematic analysis. The results of the study revealed that half of the (rural/urban) teachers themselves were unaware of environmental education. In addition, the respondents indicated that secondary school teachers and students in the study area need to improve their understanding of the aims and importance of environmental education. The study recommends active involvement of secondary school teachers regarding environmental education and its promotion and suggests implementing both in-service and pre-service environmental education programs for secondary school teachers and students.