| Peer-Reviewed

Influence of Excursions Approach on Learner Participation in Environmental Conservation Activities Among Pre-Primary Learners

Received: 27 February 2023     Accepted: 21 March 2023     Published: 31 March 2023
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

The Learner participation in an instructional process, Environmental Education (EE) included means that the education provided to learners is of relevance, value and supportive of achievement of learning outcomes. The teacher as the manager of the instructional process has the task to promote active learner participation especially among young learners like those at the ECDE level through use of child-friendly approaches. Such approaches should include learner participation in listening to sounds in the environment, interviewing people, observing people in action or examining real things like tools and reports. Empirical literature links such approaches to excursion teaching approach. However, limited empirical literature on the extent and influence of use of the approach in instruction of environmental activities especially among ECDE learners’ limits a discussion on best practices for teaching ECDE learners’ environmental activities. The purpose of the study was therefore, to examine the influence of excursions approach on learner participation in environmental conservation activities. Descriptive survey research design was used. The population of the study comprised of 119 headteachers, all the parents of pre-primary children and 238 pre-primary school teachers. The sample unit was 65 headteachers, 30 parents of pre-primary children and 131 pre-primary teachers of the public pre-primary schools. Data was collected using two research instruments which included questionnaires for pre-primary teachers and the headteachers and interview guides for parents. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze quantitative data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25.0. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The findings of the study demonstrated that excursions approach influenced on learner participation in environmental conservation activities. The findings of the study may benefit teachers, curriculum developers and policy makers in ensuring that pre-primary learners are taught using instructional approaches that promote learners’ participation in environmental conservation activities. Chi-square results indicated a significant influence of excursions approach on learner participation in environmental conservation activities. The study recommends that the use of excursions approach should be promoted since it improves learner participation.

Published in International Journal of Elementary Education (Volume 12, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20231201.13
Page(s) 16-23
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Excursions Approach, Learner Participation, Environmental Conservation, Environmental Conservation Activities, Pre-Primary Learners, Instructional Approach

References
[1] Talero Gutierrez. (2004). Environmental Education and Public Awareness. Victoria Canada.
[2] Shapiro Pilsitz. (2005). Agency Theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 31, 263-284. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.31.041304.122159
[3] Harlan Jean., & Rivkin Mary. (2008). Science experiences for the early childhood years: an integrated affective approach. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, N. J: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
[4] Gardner Howard. (1999). The Disciplined Mind: What all Students Should Understand. New York: Simon and Schuster.
[5] Mannion Greg. (2009) After participation: the socio-spatial performance of intergenerational becoming. In B. Percy-Smith & N. Thomas (Eds) A Handbook of Children‟s Participation: perspectives from theory and practice. London: Taylor and Francis.
[6] Emilson Annette. & Folkesson Anne-Mari. (2006). Children’s participation and teacher control. Early Child Development and Care, 176, 3&4, 219–238.
[7] Bae Berit. (2009). Children’s Right to Participate – Challenges in Everyday Interaction, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 17, 3, 391–406.
[8] Oltman Marcie. (2002). Natural wonders: A guide to early childhood for environmental educators. St Paul, MN: Minnesota Early Childhood Environmental Education Consortium.
[9] Lotz Heila. (2015). Transdisciplinarity and learning. In a session on Interrogating a third space: What methods are appropriate for understanding social-ecological systems? at the PECS (Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society) conference.
[10] World Bank, (2008). Education in Sub-Saharan Africa; Policies for Adjustment, Revitalization and Expansion. Washington D. C.: World Bank.
[11] Melber, L., & Brown, K. (2008). "Not like a Regular Science Class": Informal Science Education for Students with Disabilities. The Clearing House: Informal Science Education, 82 (1), 35-39.
[12] Anderson Ross. (2008). Reforming science teaching: What research says about inquiry. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 13 (1), 1–12.
[13] Falk John., & Dierking Lynn. (2010). The 95% solution: School is not where most Americans learn most of their science. Am Sci 98 (6): 486–93.
[14] Furu Ann-Christin., & Kaihovirta Hannah. (2020). Att möta barns klimatoro genom hoppets och handlingens pedagogik. [Encountering children´s climate worries through a pedagogy of hope and action.] In E. Pekkarinen & T. Tuukkanen (Eds.) Lapsen oikeudet ja maapallon tulevaisuus. [Children´s rights and the Future of the Earth.] Helsinki: Lapsiasiavaltuutettu.
[15] Taylor Luciana. (2017). Beyond stewardship: Common world pedagogies for the Anthropocene. Environ Educ Res, 23, 1448-1461.
[16] Wals Arjen. (2017). Sustainability by default: Co-creating care and relationality through early childhood education. IJEC, 49, 155-164.
[17] Beery Thomas, Chawla Louise. & Levin Peter (2020). Being and Becoming in Nature: Defining and Measuring Connection to Nature in Yound Children. IJECEE, 7 (3) 3-22.
[18] Bernstein Basil. (2000). Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity: Theory, Research, Critique. Revised Edition. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield.
[19] Silo Nthalivi. (2009) Exploring Learner Participation in Waste Management Activities in a Rural Botswana Primary School. Southern African Journal of Environmental Education, 26, 176-192.
[20] Nasibi Mary. (2003). Instructional Methods. Nairobi: Kenyatta University.
[21] Sullenger Karen. (2006). Beyond school walls: Informal education and the culture of science. Educ Canada. 46 (3): 15-8.
[22] Webb Thomas., & Sheeran Paschal. (2006). Does changing behavioral intentions engender behavior change? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 132 (2), 249–268. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.2.249
[23] Brooks John., & Brooks Michael. (2001). Becoming a constructivist teacher. In: Costa: AL (ed.), Developing Minds: A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking (pp. 150–157). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
[24] Dowda Marsha., Pate Russell., Trost Stewart., Almeida Joa., & Sirard, John. (2004). Influences of preschool policies and practices on children's physical activity. Journal of community health, 29 (3), 183-196.
[25] Nikolaeva Silvia. (2008). The ecological education of preschool children. Russian Education & Society, 50 (3), 64-72.
[26] Noel D’Souza. (2007). Examining trace data to explore self-regulated learning. Metacognition & Learning, 2, 107-124.
[27] Asah Stanley., & Blahna Dale. (2013). Practical implications of understanding the influence of motivations on commitment to voluntary urban conservation stewardship. Conservation Biology, 27 (4), 866-875.
[28] Owen Christine. (2016). Nature Walks as a Tool for Stimulating Learning outside Classroom. Journal of Research and Practice in College Teaching 1 (1).
[29] Nespor Jan. (2000). Anonymity and place in qualitative inquiry. Qualitative inquiry, 6 (4), 546-569.
[30] Wilson Margaret. (2002). Six views of embodied cognition. Psychon. Bull. Rev. 9, 625–636.
[31] King Donna., & Ginns Ian. (2015). Implementing a context-based environmental science unit in the middle years: Teaching and learning at the creek. Teaching Science, (3), 26–36.
[32] Pink Sarah., & Morgan Jennie. (2013). Short-term ethnography: Intense routes to knowing. Symbolic Interaction, (3), 351–361.
[33] Dewey John. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Macmillan. Flinders, D., & Thornton, S. (2013). The curriculum studies reader. (4th Ed.). New York: Routledge.
[34] Kolb David. (1984). Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
[35] Mascolo Michael., & Fischer Kurt. (2005). Constructivist theories. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development (pp. 49-63). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
[36] Krejcie Robert., & Morgan Daryle. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30 (3), 607–610.
[37] Hudak Paul (2003) Campus field exercises for introductory geoscience. Journal of Geography, 102 (5), 220-225.
[38] Andrade and Massabni, (2011) desenvolvimento de atividades práticas na escola: um desafio para os professores de ciências. Ciência & Educação, v. 17, n. 4, p. 835-854, 2011. Disponível em: Acesso em: 05 feb. 2019.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Mutua Linet Kamene, Kang’ara Hannah Wanjiku, Ituma Monica Gakii. (2023). Influence of Excursions Approach on Learner Participation in Environmental Conservation Activities Among Pre-Primary Learners. International Journal of Elementary Education, 12(1), 16-23. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20231201.13

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Mutua Linet Kamene; Kang’ara Hannah Wanjiku; Ituma Monica Gakii. Influence of Excursions Approach on Learner Participation in Environmental Conservation Activities Among Pre-Primary Learners. Int. J. Elem. Educ. 2023, 12(1), 16-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20231201.13

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Mutua Linet Kamene, Kang’ara Hannah Wanjiku, Ituma Monica Gakii. Influence of Excursions Approach on Learner Participation in Environmental Conservation Activities Among Pre-Primary Learners. Int J Elem Educ. 2023;12(1):16-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20231201.13

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ijeedu.20231201.13,
      author = {Mutua Linet Kamene and Kang’ara Hannah Wanjiku and Ituma Monica Gakii},
      title = {Influence of Excursions Approach on Learner Participation in Environmental Conservation Activities Among Pre-Primary Learners},
      journal = {International Journal of Elementary Education},
      volume = {12},
      number = {1},
      pages = {16-23},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijeedu.20231201.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20231201.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijeedu.20231201.13},
      abstract = {The Learner participation in an instructional process, Environmental Education (EE) included means that the education provided to learners is of relevance, value and supportive of achievement of learning outcomes. The teacher as the manager of the instructional process has the task to promote active learner participation especially among young learners like those at the ECDE level through use of child-friendly approaches. Such approaches should include learner participation in listening to sounds in the environment, interviewing people, observing people in action or examining real things like tools and reports. Empirical literature links such approaches to excursion teaching approach. However, limited empirical literature on the extent and influence of use of the approach in instruction of environmental activities especially among ECDE learners’ limits a discussion on best practices for teaching ECDE learners’ environmental activities. The purpose of the study was therefore, to examine the influence of excursions approach on learner participation in environmental conservation activities. Descriptive survey research design was used. The population of the study comprised of 119 headteachers, all the parents of pre-primary children and 238 pre-primary school teachers. The sample unit was 65 headteachers, 30 parents of pre-primary children and 131 pre-primary teachers of the public pre-primary schools. Data was collected using two research instruments which included questionnaires for pre-primary teachers and the headteachers and interview guides for parents. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze quantitative data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25.0. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The findings of the study demonstrated that excursions approach influenced on learner participation in environmental conservation activities. The findings of the study may benefit teachers, curriculum developers and policy makers in ensuring that pre-primary learners are taught using instructional approaches that promote learners’ participation in environmental conservation activities. Chi-square results indicated a significant influence of excursions approach on learner participation in environmental conservation activities. The study recommends that the use of excursions approach should be promoted since it improves learner participation.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Influence of Excursions Approach on Learner Participation in Environmental Conservation Activities Among Pre-Primary Learners
    AU  - Mutua Linet Kamene
    AU  - Kang’ara Hannah Wanjiku
    AU  - Ituma Monica Gakii
    Y1  - 2023/03/31
    PY  - 2023
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20231201.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20231201.13
    T2  - International Journal of Elementary Education
    JF  - International Journal of Elementary Education
    JO  - International Journal of Elementary Education
    SP  - 16
    EP  - 23
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7640
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20231201.13
    AB  - The Learner participation in an instructional process, Environmental Education (EE) included means that the education provided to learners is of relevance, value and supportive of achievement of learning outcomes. The teacher as the manager of the instructional process has the task to promote active learner participation especially among young learners like those at the ECDE level through use of child-friendly approaches. Such approaches should include learner participation in listening to sounds in the environment, interviewing people, observing people in action or examining real things like tools and reports. Empirical literature links such approaches to excursion teaching approach. However, limited empirical literature on the extent and influence of use of the approach in instruction of environmental activities especially among ECDE learners’ limits a discussion on best practices for teaching ECDE learners’ environmental activities. The purpose of the study was therefore, to examine the influence of excursions approach on learner participation in environmental conservation activities. Descriptive survey research design was used. The population of the study comprised of 119 headteachers, all the parents of pre-primary children and 238 pre-primary school teachers. The sample unit was 65 headteachers, 30 parents of pre-primary children and 131 pre-primary teachers of the public pre-primary schools. Data was collected using two research instruments which included questionnaires for pre-primary teachers and the headteachers and interview guides for parents. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze quantitative data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25.0. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The findings of the study demonstrated that excursions approach influenced on learner participation in environmental conservation activities. The findings of the study may benefit teachers, curriculum developers and policy makers in ensuring that pre-primary learners are taught using instructional approaches that promote learners’ participation in environmental conservation activities. Chi-square results indicated a significant influence of excursions approach on learner participation in environmental conservation activities. The study recommends that the use of excursions approach should be promoted since it improves learner participation.
    VL  - 12
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Department of Education, Chuka University, Chuka, Kenya

  • Department of Education, Chuka University, Chuka, Kenya

  • Department of Education, Chuka University, Chuka, Kenya

  • Sections