Pedagogical Approaches to Teaching Environmental Hazards in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Environmentally responsive Education has been identified as a major way through which knowledge about the environment is imparted to students so as its desirable behaviors. Environmental hazards as an area within Environmental Education does not only orient students on causes and effects of negative practices that ruin the environment but also position them in a way that makes the application of such acquired knowledge beneficial to their societies. It is in this light that the knowledge, behaviours and pedagogical processes designed for students of Sub-Saharan African: A Sub-region that has hugely been hit by the adverse effects of Environmental hazards such as Desertification, Deforestation, Climate Change, Indiscriminate Waste Disposal Flood and Drought among others were assessed. An empirical study was however conducted among upper secondary school students with an average age of 17 of this area under study. Data was collected from 100 students from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana with 25 students representing each of the countries using a survey questionnaire. The results show a high correlation between Pedagogy and Knowledge while there was generally a marginal correlation between Knowledge and Behaviors. It was evident however that there is an appreciable degree of gap between students’ knowledge on environmental hazards and how practical this knowledge is intended for. It has therefore been suggested that the pedagogical processes in teaching environmental hazards be focused on the interrelationship between the knowledge and the practical behaviors which emanate from it.