Effect of Eco-Pedagogy on the sensitivity of Teacher Trainees towards Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract

The key role of the teacher in EE is to foster environment friendly attitudes, values and
appreciation of nature, inculcate a deep conviction to protect and conserve environment. This
study is carried out to find the effect on the outlook of the teacher trainees, by doing EE projects,
on the biodiversity of Goa. It will provide an insight into, whether EE is having impact on the
teacher trainees and what kind of pedagogy would help in making EE achieve the same. The
study becomes even more imperative because Goa is immensely rich with biodiversity and it is
not incorporated into the EE syllabus. The lack of research studies in India in the field of EE and
most of them tended to be mainly quantitative, revealing a wide gap in qualitative research
studies (Almeida & Cutter-Mackenzi,2011). The study is to sensitize teacher trainees about the
biodiversity (terrestrial and aquatic) of Goa and to equip teacher trainees to document local
specific biodiversity. The study used field trips, interviews and viewing documentaries as a
means of exposing teacher trainees to Goa’s biodiversity. The data was collected from quiz,
journal entries and interviews.