An analysis of student environmental attitudes and their impact on promoting sustainable environmental citizenship: a multi-site study in Indonesian secondary schools

This study investigates the impact of different teaching approaches on the relationship between beliefs, attitudes and intentions regarding environmental education in selected science classrooms in Indonesia. The results indicated that active learning approaches to environmental education, involving students in taking the role of active citizens in their local community, increased the likelihood of their having positive attitudes towards solving environmental education and the wider issues of teaching for global citizenship. The study sought to discover whether there is a correlation between changes in student beliefs, attitudes and intentions and their participation in active learning experiences in environmental education; and to investigate whether changes in student knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and intentions as a result of active learning in environmental contexts provides guidance in improving environmental contexts provides guidance in improving environmental and citizenship education. The study sample consisted of 577 senior secondary students from three different locations in the Tasikmalaya region, Indonesia; and three Chemistry teachers responsible for environmental instruction. A survey was administered to the student participants before and after ordinary classroom teaching, and after their participation in more active learning contexts. There were two different active learning approaches, i.e. field research and community action participation. Both approaches involved participants in scientific research but community action required the involvement of groups of people in discussion of local environmental problems. Field observation notes and interviews with both student and teacher participants enhanced the results of the surveys. Active learning approaches improved learners' socially critical thinking, their action competence embedded in social participation, their action competence embedded in social participation, their reflective thinking and their effective communication. The examples of student active learning activities developed ion this study may further improve science and environmental teaching and learning under the Indonesian standard curriculum, They also could inform alternative solutions to the issues of citizenship education.