Determining the awareness of vocational technical anatolian high school students on the importance of education in sustainable development: Ankara province example

We see that environmental pressures continue to increase as a result of the desire for unlimited growth from the industrial revolution to the present day, rapid population growth and excessive resource use triggered by technological development. In this process, after the second half of the 20th century, with the intensification of studies that threaten the future of the earth, the concept of sustainability entered the literature and its importance gradually increased. These studies emphasize the importance of education in order to raise awareness about sustainability effectively and permanently. The aim of the study is to reveal the importance of education in sustainable development in the sample of Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School students. It is thought that this study will contribute to the literature in this sense, as no other study on sustainable development (SD) awareness at all grade levels in Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School was found as a result of the literature review. Analysis of the study data was done in the SPSS-25 program. The hypotheses of the study were created according to the students' gender, grade level, awareness of the concept of sustainable development, achievement and family income levels. It was determined whether the data were normally distributed and after the necessary conditions were met, t-Test and Anova statistical tests were performed. As a result of the study, it was found that students' awareness of SD was generally low. It was also understood that there was a significant difference in grade level between 9th grade students and 10th grade students and whether they had heard of the concept of SC or not. It was found that there was no significant difference according to the students' gender, place of residence, achievement levels and income levels.