Cultural Impacts on the Environmental Attitudes of Early Childhood Teachers: A Mixed-Method Study

Abstract

This article prioritized the cultural impacts on the environmental attitudes of in-service early childhood teachers through a mixed-method study. Totally 832 valid responses were collected through online survey while 12 participants were involved in interviews. According to the outcomes of 2-MEV, participants showed a significantly more positive environmental attitude on conservation than that on utilization regardless of their educational levels, working years and workplaces. They embraced a moderate level of power distance, a low level of authority control and a relatively high level of collectivism. Participants with more emphasis on authority openness and collectivism would have a more positive attitude on environmental conservation while higher power distance and more collective concerns could predict a more positive attitude on environmental utilization. However, attention should also be given to other factors influencing their environmental attitudes such as the characteristics of female teachers, job satisfaction and teacher leadership.