Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 16, Issue 1, Article 3 (Jun., 2015) Birgitta MC EWEN et al Female and male teachers’ pro-environmental behaviour, conceptions and attitudes towards nature and the environment do not differ: Ecofeminism put to the test Previous Contents Next

Conclusion

Responses to 41 questions out of total of 173 in the BIOHEAD-Citizen questionnaire were selected and analysed in relation to ecofeminism, as ecofeminism is one of the most prominent movements that link gender to an environmental action agenda. Only a very few of these questions showed any significant differences from female and male pre- and in-service teachers. Only in two cases, significance could be interpreted as supporting ecofeminism, but in another two, it could be interpreted as challenging it. Altogether, our study challenges ecofeminism. The study does not confirm that female pre- and in-service teachers are more engaged in issues about nature and the environmental dimension of sustainable development than are male pre- and in-service teachers. According to our study, there is no reason to fear that male teachers are less engaged in environmental education than female teachers, and that they show less pro-environmental behaviour than women.

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank Dr Magdalena Raivio for critical and constructive advices about description of ecofeminism, and Mrs Charline Laurent for statistical analyses.