Mother-child environmental education: A collaborative case study with teacher, student and parent

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the opinions of teachers, students, and parents (specifically mothers) on the contribution of an environmental education program conducted with the joint participation of the mother and child to society. In line with this purpose, it is aimed to highlight the importance of environmental education programs to raise individuals who possess environmental consciousness and accurately internalize the society-science and environment relationship. To base the society-science and environment relationship, this study was built on the smallest unit of society, the family. A collaborative mother-child environmental education program was given to the participants. For this purpose, 12 students who previously participated in collaborative environmental education activities with their mothers, 12 mothers, and seven teachers who acted as mentors constituted the participants of this study. The study was designed as a case study to make an in-depth analysis of an existing case. Semi-structured interview forms, separately prepared for mentor teachers, students, and mothers, were used to collect data. Content analysis was used to analyze the data obtained. The findings revealed that environmental education with family participation contributed to the students' academic achievement and social development and positively affected their perspectives regarding science and art. It was also determined that the mothers became conscious of environmental education to educate their children, raised environmental awareness, and positively affected their perspectives regarding science and art. The mentor teachers similarly thought that environmental education contributed to teachers' professional, personal, social, and cognitive development. The study concluded that environmental education with family participation positively affects society. Based on the study findings, various recommendations were made, including more applied environmental education with family participation in educational processes. Keywords: Mother-child education, environmental education, environment-society relationship, nature education.