The Role of Art Education Teachers in Developing Arts-based Environmental Education among Elementary School Students in Najran Region

Abstract

Arts-based environmental education is a form of learning that aims to develop environmental understanding and responsibility in learners. The student becomes more receptive to the perceptions and observations of the sense of the environment and the use of artistic methods to express personal environmental experiences and ideas. Technical experiences improve the student's ability to know and understand the high value of learning about the environment and how to preserve it and its natural and innate wealth and resources. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the role of Art Education teachers in developing environmental education based on arts among elementary school students, and the differences in their responses according to gender, years of experience, and educational qualification. In this study, the descriptive survey method was followed; an electronic questionnaire was applied to a sample of (119) male and female teachers of Art Education in governmental elementary schools in Najran region in the south of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Means, standard deviations, and t-tests for independent samples were used to draw the results. The study concluded that the means for the domains of the study tool ranged between (2.78-3.03), with a mean level. The domain of implementation came in the first place, followed by evaluation in the second place, and then planning in the third place. The mean of the role of Art Education teachers in developing environmental education based on arts among elementary school students as a whole was (2.93), at an average level. The results also showed statistically significant differences in the responses of the study sample about the role of Art Education teachers in developing environmental education based on arts among elementary school students, due to the effect of the years of experience; the results came in favor of the category ten years or more. In addition, the educational qualification variable impacted the participants’ responses, which were in favor of the higher studies category. However, there were no statistically significant differences due to the gender variable. The study recommended the need to improve the mean level shown by the study results concerning the level of the role of Art Education teachers in developing environmental education based on arts among elementary school students. The improvement is based on the adoption by those in charge of educational policies in the Ministry of Education of a strategic plan to raise the level of competence and competence of Art Education teachers in the elementary stage. As a result, teachers can activate teaching practices (planning, implementation, and evaluation) to employ environmental issues in producing and designing artistic and creative works that enhance the value of students' love for the environment and attitudes toward preserving it.