Required Environmental Education in Junior High School for Pro-environmental behavior in Indonesia : A Perspective on Parents' Household Sanitation Situations and Teachers' Awareness of Environmental Education

Abstract

Indonesia faces pressing environmental issues, many of which are related to citizensʼ lifestyles. Therefore, community-based environmental education is needed to encourage pro-environmental behavior. We examined parentsʼ perspectives on their household sanitation situations and teachersʼ awareness of environmental education in junior high school in Indonesia to consider what types of environmental education are needed to promote pro-environmental behavior. We conducted a cross-sectional study among 350 parents and 17 junior high school teachers in Makassar City, Indonesia. We administered a questionnaire on household sanitation situations to the parents and conducted semi-structured interviews with the teachers. The analysis indicated that 95.9% of the parents were interested in environmental issues, and 90.2% were aware of water pollution. Although 35.3% sorted their garbage regularly, they did so in a diverse range of ways. Moreover, the number of parents with a low level of education that answered "no specific reason" as their reason for sorting their garbage was higher than among those with higher levels of education. In addition, only 42.1% of parents performed adequate oil disposal. Two categories were extracted based on Mayringʼs content analysis: 1） necessity of symbiosis within the community; and 2） education as people concerned with the environment. A small percentage of parents exhibited pro-environmental behavior, and teachers mentioned some problems regarding environmental education. Therefore, it was considered that the household sanitation and environmental education of junior high school students were not adequate. Teachers of subjects unrelated to environmental education also teach environmental education in their lessons. To promote pro-environmental behaviors in junior high school students, it is necessary to provide environmental education for students and their parents, and environmental education materials that all teachers can use to teach environmental education.