INTEGRATION ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND UPBRINGING INTO THE CHEMISTRY COURSE OF THE BASIC SCHOOL: ATTITUDE OF SLOVAKIAN AND UKRAINIAN TEACHERS

Abstract

The article presents and analyzes the opinions of chemistry teachers of Ukraine on the ecologization of school chemical education in the basic school and the problems associated with the integration of environmental education and upbringing into the content of chemistry study at the basic school. For conducting the study in the form of a survey, the authors modified and supplemented the questionnaire developed by the scholars of the Slovak Republic. The survey of 200 teachers revealed their attitudes to the following problems of integrating environmental education and upbringing in the chemistry course at the basic school: lack of classroom hours, insufficient time allocation for the subject of Chemistry at the basic school, low level of students, lack of students’ interest in the environmental issues, lack of teaching responsibility to children in families, low awareness of the ecological issues, insufficient material and technical support of chemistry laboratories and lack of information about foreign experience of environmental education and upbringing. In the opinion of most teachers, insufficient material support of the chemistry laboratories and insufficient time allocation for the course of chemistry are the greatest problem of integration of environmental education and upbringing in the chemistry course at the basic school. Also, the integration of environmental education in the subject of chemistry is hindered by the lack of teaching materials on environmental issues and lack of information about foreign experience of environmental education and upbringing. It is encouraging to note that 58 % of teachers who participated in the survey reported a certain degree of satisfaction (12 % reported strong satisfaction) with the integration of environmental education and upbringing in the chemistry course at the basic school level, since a large number of topics in chemistry are directly related to environmental education and upbringing. The practical value of the research is that its main findings, results and conclusions can be used for further the development of the theory and practice of ecologization of school chemical education in Ukraine. The outcomes of the study may be useful in the process of developing strategies for the modernization of the educational system in the context of the implementation of Ukraine’s eurointegration policy.