Climate literacy: attitudes and knowledge of students and teachers of social science
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.25267/Rev_educ_ambient_sostenibilidad.2021.v3.i2.2603Info
Authors
- Gonzalo Pardo Beneyto (ES) Departamento de Derecho Constitucional, Ciencia Política y de la Administración. Universitat de València. Valencia, España.
- María Angeles Abellán-López (ES) Departamento de Sociología y Antropología Social/Instituto Universitario de Creatividad e Innovaciones Educativas. Universitat de València. Valencia, España.
Abstract
Climate change constitutes a threat to the health of society. More and more different organizations are developing reports and programs on climate literacy and culture. Likewise, educational institutions are assuming this responsibility in their teaching guides, including curricular sustainability. To assess the level of knowledge and perceptions of students and teachers of social sciences, an exploratory survey was designed for certain groups at the University of Valencia and the University of Alicante (Spain). The questionnaire contained questions on climate culture, attitudes and habits and a block of questions on the relationship between climate change and the Covid 19 health crisis. In addition, four working hypotheses were generated.
The main findings are, with a response rate of 59, 2%, that climate actions are more successful when approached from individual behavior to arrive at a collective vision as a common good. So, a majority percentage of the people surveyed possess a certain level of climate culture. Also, they are committed to healthy and sustainable habits, they adopt responsible behaviors of consumption and waste management. But they do not participate in the protest actions for the fight against climate change. Regarding the relationship between climate change and Covid 19, a majority of those surveyed indicate the existence of a close relationship between both phenomena. However, the responses that are located in the intermediate positions of the scale increased significantly.
Keywords: Climate Change, Climate Culture, Literacy, Greenhouse Gases, Environmental Awareness.
Alfabetización climática: actitudes y conocimientos del alumnado y profesorado de ciencias sociales
Resumen: El cambio climático constituye una amenaza para la salud de la sociedad. Cada vez con mayor frecuencia las diversas organizaciones elaboran informes y programas sobre alfabetización climática. De hecho, las instituciones educativas están asumiendo esta responsabilidad incluyendo en las guías docentes la sostenibilidad curricular. Para evaluar el nivel conocimientos y percepciones del alumnado y profesorado de ciencias sociales se diseñó una encuesta exploratoria para determinados grupos en la Universidad de Valencia y en la Universidad de Alicante. El cuestionario contenía preguntas sobre cultura climática, actitudes y hábitos e incluía, además, un bloque de ítems sobre la relación entre cambio climático y la crisis sanitaria generada por la Covid-19.
Esta investigación generó tres hipótesis de trabajo y los hallazgos demostraron, con una tasa de respuesta del 59,2%, que las actuaciones climáticas tienen más éxito cuando se abordan desde el comportamiento individual. Un porcentaje mayoritario de las personas encuestadas posee cierto nivel de cultura climática, está comprometido con hábitos sostenibles y adopta comportamientos responsables en la gestión de residuos. Sin embargo, no participa en las acciones reivindicativas para la lucha contra el cambio climático. Respecto a la relación entre cambio climático y Covid 19, una mayoría de las personas encuestadas señaló la existencia de una estrecha relación entre ambos fenómenos, si bien las respuestas ubicadas en las posiciones intermedias de la escala aumentaron significativamente.
Palabras clave: Cambio climático, cultura climática, alfabetización, gases efecto invernadero, conciencia ambiental.
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