The impact of nature-based environmental education on pre-service teachers' environmental identity and pedagogical competence

The aim of this study is to determine the reflections of nature-based environmental education on prospective teachers' environmental identities and pedagogical competencies. In this study, environmental identity is addressed as a multidimensional construct encompassing the strengthening of individuals' connection with nature, the development of positive environmental attitudes, and the adoption of sustainable consumption behaviors. The focus of the research is on the changes observed in the participants' abilities to design and implement lesson plans for outdoor learning environments, their self-efficacy perceptions, and their development of environmentally responsible identities. Raising environmental awareness among prospective teachers and enabling them to effectively convey this awareness to their future students is considered a critical factor in contributing to a sustainable society. The research was designed as an action research, one of the qualitative research methods. The main implementation of the study was conducted during the fall semester of the 2023–2024 academic year with 42 prospective teachers enrolled in the Environment and Human course at the Faculty of Education at Pamukkale University. For this purpose, a 10-week course program was developed. Within the scope of the research, the nature-based environmental education sessions were implemented three times in outdoor learning environments, three times using inquiry-based learning, and once each using problem-based learning, game-based learning, and design-based learning methods in classroom settings. The study employed data triangulation, collecting both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data were collected through various sources including lesson plans, reflection reports, technical excursion reports, course evaluation reports, observation notes from tree tagging activities, fairy tale cube drawings, and self-evaluation reports from microteaching sessions. Quantitative data were gathered using the New Ecological Paradigm Scale (Aytaç ve Öngen, 2012), the Self-Efficacy Perception Scale for Nature-Based Environmental Education (Sarışan-Tungaç, Alıcı, Ünaldı-Coral, 2016), and the Sustainable Consumption Behavior and Intention Scale, developed by the researchers. Content analysis was applied to the qualitative data to derive codes and themes. Quantitative data were analyzed using Jamovi (Version 2.4.5; The Jamovi Project, 2023) and IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 29; IBM Corp., 2022). Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used during the scale development process, and paired sample t-tests were conducted to analyze the effectiveness of the scales. The findings indicate that nature-based environmental education positively contributes to the development of prospective teachers' environmental identities. Quantitative results revealed positive changes in environmental attitudes and sustainable consumption behaviors, while qualitative data indicated an increase in environmental responsibility awareness and showed that nature experiences reinforced participants' environmental identities. However, a decline in sustainable consumption intentions was observed, which was interpreted in the context of participants' motivational processes and cognitive evaluations. In light of these findings, it is recommended to enhance nature-based experiences and to develop strategies that promote the transformation of environmental behaviors into sustainable habits beyond the scope of temporary implementations.