Future Teachers’ Sustainable Water Consumption Behavior: A Test of the Value-Belief-Norm Theory

Abstract

The impact of climate change and the demand of people for water resources are dramatically increasing. In order to protect water supply in the world, it is essential to develop individuals’ sustainable water consumption behaviors. Teachers play a key role in fostering students’ beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviors about sustainable water consumption. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore pre-service teachers’ sustainable water consumption behaviors using the Value-Belief-Norm theory. 481 pre-service teachers completed a questionnaire measuring sustainable water consumption behavior, universal values, personal norms and beliefs that were categorized as awareness of consequences and ascription of responsibility. The results revealed that the Value-Belief-Norm theory could successfully explain sustainable water consumption behaviors of pre-service teachers. The study revealed that personal norm was a strong predictor to explain sustainable water consumption behavior. Mediation analysis confirmed the causal order of the variables in the model. In other words, personal norms mediated the relationship between ascription of responsibility and sustainable water consumption behavior; ascription of responsibility mediated the relationship between awareness of consequences and personal norms; awareness of consequences mediated the relationship between biospheric-altruistic values and ascription of responsibility; and lastly, personal norms mediated the relationship between biospheric-altruistic values and sustainable water consumption behavior. The results have important implications for education programs and environmental program designers. Through designing water conservation education programs, teachers and students’ sustainable water consumption behaviors can be fostered by strengthening their biospheric-altruistic values, environmental beliefs and personal norm to act for the environment.

Water, Waste Material, and Energy as Key Dimensions of Sustainable Management of Early Childhood Eco-Schools: An Environmental Literacy Model Based on Teachers Action-Competencies (ELTAC)

“…They are committed to the curricular greening and the integration of natural and urban territory in their classroom work. This is appreciated and verified in the different programs they promote, in which the environmental dimension is present, and in the different activities they carry out in which they tend to adopt inter and multidisciplinary methodologies (such as the systematic work carried out in most centres where recycled and/or reused elements are employed), as well as including families and the rest of the educational community in the dynamics of the centre [37,38,47,75,83,101].…”

“…The study shows obstacles and limitations to implement changes in this dimension linked to a low capacity for direct influence on the management of resources, infrastructures, and other factors of the daily life of the centre that are outside the transforming capacity of the actions of the teaching staff. Likewise, there is a certain difficulty in intervening in complex environmental problems that require different levels of participation in decision-making and involve multiple agents in solving problems and adopting strategic measures [83,85].…”

“…Actions within this category should be oriented to highlight the importance of water as a key resource for life and raise awareness about the effects of its negligent use and consumption. EfS is a key strategy to increase public awareness and training related to sustainability and to empower everyone to make informed decisions regarding sustainability issues and environmental problems as water management in schools [83]. Actions should promote strategies to reuse and reduce water consumption, starting from the school and encouraging extrapolation and persistence of the acquired behaviours.…”

“…All these socio-psychological factors play an important role in promoting environmentally responsible actions. Future teachers should have the necessary common values and organisational responsibility to take action for sustainability [83]. The experiences of collaborative action-research in eco-schools networks and the inter-centre work of staff and teachers favour the development of their own environments that are challenging and inspiring for the professional development of teachers, which are environments that in turn affect the four previous dimensions (individual, group, educational centre, and inter-organisation).…”

Working Environmental Education With Teachers In Training

“…Although the literature indicates that younger people are somehow more environmentally concerned than adult individuals, a deficit in future orientation could delay the development of a sustainable way of life (Corral-Verdugo & Pinheiro, 2006). It is necessary to conduct more studies within the context of sustainable water consumption to produce additional theoretical and practical results and there should be environmental and sustainability courses in the elementary education (Çakır Yıldırım & Karaarslan Semiz, 2019).…”