STUDENT TEACHERS AWARENESS ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION Mrs. T. SUNDARAVALLI Assistant professor in Psychology St. Justin s College of Education Madurai - 9 ABSTRACT Environment is the utmost important part of our lives. It is concerned with the surroundings in which we live and cherish our life. Now- a-days environment is a highly concerned area in terms of environmental pollution and sustainable development. Due to population explosion as well as industrialization, the environmental problem like pollution, global warming, acid rain etc. have been increasing. So environmental education is needed. A properly planned syllabus and activities appropriately calculated and executed will bring the desired change. Protection of environment is everyone's duty. The teachers themselves need a good training, so that they can educate the future citizens to protect our environment from pollution. In this context, the present study is an attempt to study the awareness of environmental pollution among the student teachers at Madurai city. A total of 128 student teachers studying in four Colleges of Education in Madurai, were randomly selected for the present study. The Environmental Pollution Awareness test was employed to assess the level of environmental pollution awareness among student teachers. Mean, Standard deviation and t test was employed to find out the significance of difference between the student teachers with respect to their Gender, Age, Degree, Subject, Area of Residence, Practice of Reading News Paper/Magazine and Medium of Instruction. Results revealed that on the whole, the student teachers level of environmental pollution awareness is high. In accordance to the variables, the student teachers those who are above 25 years, those who possess P.G Degree, those who study Science subject, those who reside at Urban areas and those who the practice of reading News Paper and Magazines possess higher level of Environmental Pollution Awareness. Implications of environmental pollution awareness through environmental education were also stressed. Keywords: Environment, global warming, Pollution, Student teacher INTRODUCTION Over recent decades, global problems relating to degradation of natural resources and pollution have increased dramatically. Natural resources are depleted by excessive use. Fresh water 52
scarcity on a global scale, deforestation, degradation of coastal and marine areas, soil depletion and loss of biodiversity, are some of the problems that have become a major concern. Air and water pollution have reached such levels that have already resulted in serious health problems, as well as negative impact on the environment, and inevitably influencing prospects for long-term economic growth. Environmentalists opine global warming is already taking its toll on one of most populous Asian nation, India. In such a scenario, the importance and need for environmental pollution awareness can hardly be stressed at present. In order to protect and conserve the environment, enabling people to lead quality life, emphasis has been given to environmental education in both formal and nonformal system of education. In formal system of education, teachers can play an important role in educating their students about environment related issues, which is possible only when the teachers themselves have mastery over environmental awareness. The present study is aimed at identifying the level and difference in environmental pollution awareness among the Student Teachers of Madurai city in India. NEED FOR THE STUDY Environment is the utmost important part of our lives. It is concerned with the surroundings in which we live and cherish our life. Protection of environment is everyone's duty. So environment education is needed. Conservation of environment is not taken seriously by people. There is a who cares attitude or the little I pollute, how does it matter much? attitude. These attitudes are because of the lack of environment education. Effective learning happens in childhood to make environment education effective. The people who shoulder this responsibility are to be trained, hence the importance of teacher educators. If the would be teachers are trained in conservation and protection of environment, then the cascading effect can be seen in the following way. The impact can be seen at two levels- i.e., at the school level and at the teacher's training institute level. So the investigator had undertaken this study of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers of Madurai city in India. 53
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY To find out the level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers To find out the significant difference in the Level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers in terms of the following attributive variables: HYPOTHESES a) Age, b) Degree, c) Subject of study, d) Area of Residence and e) Reading practice The level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers is not high. There is no significant difference in the Level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers in terms of the following attributive variables: a) Age, b) Degree, c) Subject of study, d) Area of Residence and e) Reading practice SAMPLE The investigator adopted Random sampling technique and the size of the sample is 128 student teachers from Four colleges of Education in Madurai district with due representation given to the attributive variables. TOOL Environmental Pollution Awareness Questionnaire was constructed by the investigator and was used in this study. The tool consists of 40 items in the form of objective type questions. The correctly answered questions will get one mark each. Therefore 40 marks is the maximum score and zero is the minimum score. 54
STATISTICAL TREATMENT The collected data was analyzed statistically by using The Arithmetic Mean (x), The Standard deviation (σ) and the t test (t). HYPOTHESIS TESTING Null Hypothesis 1: The level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers is not high. Table -1 The Level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers Sample Number (N) Theoretical Mean Obtained Mean Student Teachers 128 20 26.74 From the above table No.1, it is inferred that the obtained mean value 26.74 is higher than that of the theoretical mean value 20, which is the frame of reference. Hence the framed null hypothesis The level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers is not high is rejected. It is evident that the level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers is high. Null Hypothesis 2: There is no significant difference in the Level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers in terms of the following attributive variables: Table - 2 Difference in the Level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers Categories Sample Mean Standard Obtained t Level of (N) deviation value significance Age Below 25 95 26.34 7.34 Above 25 33 27.73 6.15 0.98 Not 55
Degree U.G 94 25.34 7.13 P.G 34 31.32 4.61 5.54 Subject of Study Arts 67 21.67 5.82 Science 61 32.31 3.10 0.0013 Not Area of Residence Urban 63 28.43 5.79 Rural 62 25.11 8.08 2.64 Reading Practice (News paper/magazines) Regularly Rarely 45 83 29.53 25.21 5.98 7.25 * Table t value = 2.58 at 0.01 Level of Significance. 3.62 From the above table No.2, it is inferred that the obtained t values are greater than that of the table t value 2.58 at 0.01 level of significance except the t value obtained in terms of the variables Age and Subject. This shows that there is significant difference in the Level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers in terms of their Degree, Area of Residence and Reading Practice. Hence the framed null hypothesis There is no significant difference in the Level of Environmental Pollution Awareness among the Student Teachers in terms of the attributive variables is maximally rejected. 56
INTERPRETATION From the above findings it is inferred that, The respondents those who are above 25 years old have higher level of Environmental Pollution Awareness than the respondents below 25 years old. The respondents those who possess P.G Degrees have higher level of Environmental Pollution Awareness than those who possess U.G Degrees. The respondents those who study Science subjects have higher level of Environmental Pollution Awareness than those who study Art subjects. The respondents those who reside at Urban area have higher level of Environmental Pollution Awareness than those who reside at Rural area. The respondents those who have Reading practice daily have higher level of Environmental Pollution Awareness than those who read rarely. CONCLUSION Pollution became a popular issue after World War II, due to radioactive fallout from atomic warfare and testing, Global warming, Green house effect, etc. To protect and conserve the Environment, emphasis should be given to Environmental Education in both formal and non-formal system of education. In formal system of education, teachers play a very significant role in developing a greater awareness about environment among students. The teachers themselves need a good training, so that they can educate the future citizens to protect our environment from pollution. This calls for a radical change in the way we think, live and work. Implications of environmental pollution awareness through environmental education should also be stressed. It therefore goes without saying that sustainable development calls for a paradigm shift in our educational system right from school level to university level. In fact, it cannot be thought of achieving a sustainable way of life without an appropriate educational system designed to internalize the principles of sustainability in the life and work of our youth. Because of the government initiative to make Environmental Education an integral part of formal education through its national curriculum 57
framework, considerable work is being done in the direction of integrating environmental concepts into the existing curriculum, developing new strategies, preparing instructional material for effective implementation of Environmental Education in the formal system. REFERENCES Dinakara SA (2000) Environmental Awareness, Environmental Attitude and Teaching Practices of Elementary School Teachers of Mysore District in Environmental Related Topics. M. Ed. Dissertation. Department of Education, Mysore University. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/pollution-quiz.html http://wps.prenhall.com/esm_lutgens_atmosphere_9/0,7475,632401-,00.utf8.html 58