An examination of the relationship between social studies teachers' environmental knowledge and sustaniable environmental attitude

Abstract An Examination of The Relationship Between Social Studies Teachers' Environmental Knowledge and Sustaniable Environmental Attitude This study was conducted to examine the relationship between environmental knowledge and sustainable environmental attitude levels of social studies teachers. In the study, correlational model of quantitative research methods has been employed. The study group consisted of 136 social studies teachers working in public secondary schools in Kütahya province during 2015-2016 academic year. The data were gathered through "Sustainable Environmental Attitude Scale" developed by Yıldız (2011) and "Environmental Knowledge Test" developed by Karatekin (2011). Frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, Mann Whitney-U test, Kruskall Wallis test, and Spearman Brown Row Differences Correlation Coefficient were used in the analysis of the data. The study results revealed that social studies teachers have a high level of environmental knowledge and positively sustainable environmental attitude. Moreover, it was found that environmental knowledge and sustainable environmental attitude of social studies teachers did not significantly differ by gender and professional seniority. Finally, it was determined that there was no significant relation between environmental knowledge and sustainable environmental attitude of social studies teachers. Keywords: Environmental problems, environment education, environmental knowledge, sustainable environmental attitude.