Investigation of environmental sensitivity and environmental conscious consumption levels of preschool teachers

In this research, a relational survey model was used to investigate the environmental sensitivities and environmental conscious consumerism levels of preschool teachers. The research was conducted in Beykoz, Kadikoy, Uskudar, Kucukcekmece, Umraniye, Sancaktepe, Cekmekoy, Besiktas, Atasehir, Maltepe, Gungoren, Sariyer districts of Istanbul in 2017-2018 academic year. The sample consists of 303 preschool teachers (278 female and 25 male) working in public and private kindergartens and kindergartens affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in these districts. In the research, the Environmental Sensitivity and Environmental Awareness Scale developed by Yeşilyurt, Gül and Demir (2013) and the Environmental Awareness Scale prepared by Ay and Ecevit (2005) were used. The relationship between the two scales was examined using Spearman Brown correlation coefficient. The differences between the determined variables were analyzed by t test, one way Anova, Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests. As a result of the analyzes, no significant difference was found in the environmental sensitivity dimension of the gender variable. In terms of environmentally conscious consumerism, it was found that women scored higher than men. In addition, age and occupational experience variables did not make a significant difference in all scales and sub-dimensions. When the relationship between the scales was examined, it was concluded that there was a significant relationship between the environmental sensitivity of preschool teachers and environmental conscious consumerism behaviors.