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Abstract
The availability and accessibility of disposable items has contributed immensely to our littering behaviour as humans. People discard plastic containers, paper wrappers and other items by throwing them onto the ground, thus aggravating the problem of littering. This study aims to assist the relevant stakeholders in integrating environmental awareness activities into the school curriculum, to drastically reduce littering in communities. Underpinned by developmental action theory and applied participatory paradigms, the study purports to assess the success of environmental action research campaigns aimed at combatting littering. Fourteen learners from seven classes served as co-researchers, having been randomly selected as participants in this study. Participants’ observations and pictures were used to collect data, before resorting to coding and analysis. The results of the study show an improvement in learners’ awareness of littering, allowing the authors to conclude that action research, if employed in environmental education, can raise learners’ awareness pertaining to littering. A lack of environmental programmes in schools is also to blame for the fact that children often unwittingly litter or pollute their environment.
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Type: Research Article
EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 13, Issue 10, October 2017, 6909-6921
https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/76658
Publication date: 10 Nov 2017
Online publication date: 16 Sep 2017
Article Views: 9901
Article Downloads: 18130
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