Kindergardeners' and third-graders' conceptions of recycling: A study with students in Volos
Published:
Nov 7, 2016
Keywords:
conceptions social constructivism transformative teaching education for environment and sustainability recycling
Abstract
The present paper presents a study aimed at identifying the thinking of 30 kindergarteners and 30 third-graders from four public schools located in Volos about an environmental issue, namely recycling. More specifically, this study explored (a) the ways the students define “recycling”; (b) their conceptions of the recycling process and the recyclable materials; (c) what they think about the benefits of recycling; and, (d) the degree of recycling practice at school and at home. Also, the study focused on possible differences between the 9-year-olds’ thinking and what 6-year-olds maintain concerning the recycling. The content analysis of the data collected through drawings and of the interviews conducted with the aid of photographs and other visual means, indicates that most children use one to three criteria in order to define recycling. They have incomplete conceptions of the benefits, recyclable materials, and the exact process of recycling. Moreover, the recycling practices proved to be very poor at school and nearly nonexistent at home. Obviously, as expected, there proved to be differences between the two groups due to their cognitive development as well as the fact that the older children had experienced three more years of teaching. Implications for education are also discussed in this paper.
Article Details
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Ηλιοπούλου Ι. (2016). Kindergardeners’ and third-graders’ conceptions of recycling: A study with students in Volos. Hellenic Journal of Research in Education, 5(1), 148–164. https://doi.org/10.12681/hjre.10677
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