Environmental education's influence on awareness and perception of air quality in Grade 5 learners and their parents/guardians

Abstract

Education is an essential right. Education aims to form open-minded citizen scientists that will focus on real-world issues. Environmental education offers learners the opportunity to gain familiarity with sustainability initiatives by identifying ecological issues, acquiring skills, and influencing attitudes and commitment that can be used to sustain the environment through critical and creative thinking, and problem-solving. By integrating environmental education into education, individuals as well as communities may change their attitudes and behaviour regarding their surrounding environment as their perceptions and awareness change. One of the greatest environmental issues that we face today and that needs more focus within the South African curriculum is air quality. Air pollutants do not only contribute to the degradation of the environment but are also known to cause acute and chronic health impacts in exposed populations. It is estimated that air pollution costs the global economy around 3.5 trillion dollars per year more than the combined GDP of all but five countries in the world. The health effects of air pollution have been studied extensively in recent years, and strong evidence exists to link fine particulate matter (PM2.5) with various health effects. The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and World Health Organization air quality standards were implemented to protect human health but are frequently exceeded. Due to the pressing need for socioeconomic growth, environmental concerns are often not a top priority. The purpose of this study is to address whether integrating environmental education in the subject of geography, with a specific focus on air quality, can influence the awareness and perception of environmental issues in a peri-urban settlement among Grade 5 learners and their parents/guardians. For the purpose of this study, a single case study was undertaken within the community. This single case study design used one primary school in a pre-experimental design, pre-test and post-test represented the 87 Grade 5 learners and their 76 parents/guardians. A multimethod approach was used for data collecting to identify the context of air quality within the peri-urban settlement, and qualitative data were used to establish the influence that environmental education can have on the awareness and perception of the participants. The data were gathered using pre-and-post-questionnaires and photovoice narratives that were analysed thematically. The findings of the study suggest that environmental education within the Grade 5 curriculum was able to influence the awareness and perceptions of the Grade 5 learners and their parents/guardians regarding air quality and other environmental issues in their community. The findings also revealed that the participants who took part in the research study gained new

knowledge of air quality as a real-world environmental issue that affects their community as their perception of air quality evolved. The insights gained from this study will assist future studies regarding how the awareness and perceptions of learners and their parents/guardians can be influenced by environmental education. This influence will enable people to identify the environmental issues within their communities and search for ways to address these issues and reduce the dangers of these issues. Consequently, this influence will aim to improve environmental education about environmental issues like air quality, and the effects these issues have on the inhabitants of a community.