Effects of Sustainability Practices on the Environmental Awareness’s of Students in Higher Secondary Classroom

Abstract

The paper has discussed how green practices of teachers affect the understanding environmental issues of students in higher secondary in seven divisions in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan. The study was based on the post-positivist paradigm and the survey research design. A sample of 566 teachers and 1,788 students were selected out of a total population of 1,880 teachers and 59,680 students using stratified sampling. Two Likert-scale questionnaires were used for data collection: one of them assessing green practices by teachers and the other understanding environmental issues of students. Pilot testing was done to test the reliability of both instruments, Cronbach alpha ( alpha = 0.87 and 0.84). Linear regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between independent and dependent variables of study. The findings have shown that the overall effect of the green practices of teachers was statistically significant yet small in influencing the environmental awareness of the students. These results aligned with the collective stewardship theory of sustainable development (CSTSD), which states that students understand environmental issues through stewardship behavior of teachers. It was concluded that environmental awareness enhanced when sustainability is introduced into the school culture and practice.