Environmental Education at the Special School: Opinions of Special Education Teachers

Abstract

Core Ideas: Environmental education in special education is feasible. Environmental education requires further training of educators. Environmental education is beneficial to children with disabilities. This investigation, conducted in Greece, inquired 80 special education teachers—via a structured questionnaire—their opinions on whether they feel ready to teach environmental education (EE) to pupils with disabilities, whether instruction of EE is possible in special or in regular education classes, and whether EE is beneficial to people with disabilities. The questionnaire had a unit with closed-type questions on demographic data (sex, age, educational background, further training in special education, years of service, location of school) and the three units corresponding to the above thematic with a total of 15 questions, on EE and pupils with disabilities. The results showed that educators in general do not feel particularly prepared and ready to teach EE to pupils with disabilities, since they do not have the appropriate training nor sufficient knowledge on how to teach EE to children with disabilities, and in order for them to acquire this knowledge, it is necessary to receive further training on activities that provide ideas for planning such a course and on the various disabilities. The majority of them rejected the premise that EE is unfeasible in special education, but they were divided on the feasibility of teaching EE to all pupils in the disabilities spectrum and on the need of individualized instruction for successful participation in EE activities. Finally, there was a high positive agreement on the benefits of EE instruction on knowledge, socialization, and improvement of self-esteem, but there was uncertainty on its possible positive influence on future vocational rehabilitation of students. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Agronomy