Training pre-service teachers in environmental education: the case of colleges of education in Botswana

Abstract

Botswana’s 1994 Revised National Policy on Education of 1994 (RNPE, 1994) recommended that colleges of education in Botswana train teachers in Environmental Education (EE) methodologies using the infusion approach. To assess the extent to which this recommendation has been implemented, sixty teachers in their final year of study were surveyed. The results of this study show that, to date, colleges of education have not yet introduced environmental education into their teacher education programmes. Consequently, the subjects of the study did not perceive themselves as competent and effective environmental education teachers; however, they did see environmental education as a very important subject that could raise the environmental literacy of children in schools. The results of the study were analyzed using frequencies and percentages and for interview protocol questions thematic analysis was used. Implications for teaching environmental education are discussed in the light of the findings.