Environmental education at the primary education level in Turkey and Azerbaijan: a comparative study in the context of curricula, student awareness, and teacher perspectives

The purpose of this study is to compare environmental education in primary schools in Turkey and Azerbaijan through a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. Data ere obtained from curricula and textbooks, fourth-grade students, and classroom teachers. Quantitatively, the Primary School Environmental Awareness Scale as administered in Eskişehir and Baku, ith 1703 valid forms analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney U test, hile qualitatively, seven teachers from each country participated in focus group interviews analyzed through content analysis. Findings showed that environmental education is not a separate subject in either country but integrated into different courses, ith Turkey emphasizing a practice- and behavior-oriented approach and Azerbaijan a knowledge- and observation-based perspective. Student results supported this distinction, as Turkish students' mean score (X̄ = 155.76) as significantly higher than that of Azerbaijani students (X̄ = 152.57) (U = 286152.50; p < .05). Teacher views pointed to implementation-related shortcomings in both countries, hile in Azerbaijan the program structure as also criticized. In conclusion, environmental education should not be limited to knowledge transfer but supported ith practice-based activities, sensitivity to local environmental issues, and stronger teacher and community engagement. Keywords: Environmental education, Environmental awareness, Turkey and Azerbaijan, Comparative research