Children's views on why environmental protection is important: Are nature-based schools enough?

Abstract

This research aims to understand Turkish children's views on why protecting the environment is important and to identify the role of schools in the rationales that underlie these views. The research was conducted with 18 preschoolers from two schools, one a state school providing traditional education and the other a private school blended with nature-based education. The findings showed that children primarily presented reasons for protecting the environment under three main themes: impact on human life, impact on species, and esthetics. Besides, regardless of the schools the children enrolled in, many of them (n = 16) were found to base their views on an anthropocentric understanding. Based on these findings, it is open to debate to what extent nature-based schools alone can provide sufficient and effective environmental education.