Knowledge and Attitude of Secondary School Teachers Toward Environmental Pollution in Southwest, Nigeria

The study examined knowledge and attitude of secondary school teachers toward environmental pollution in Southwest, Nigeria. The research design for this study was descriptive research of the survey type. The population for this study consisted of secondary school teachers in all the public secondary schools in Southwest, Nigeria. The sample consisted of 600 science teachers which were selected using multistage sampling procedure. The Teachers’ Environmental Pollution Questionnaire (TEPQ) was used to collect data for the study and it was divided into three sections, namely Section A, B and C. The instrument used for the study was subjected to scrutiny by experts in Science Education and in the area of Tests and Measurement for face and content validity. The reliability of the instrument (TEPQ) was determined by finding the internal consistency through a study carried out outside the sampled locations. Data collected were analysed using Cronbach’s alpha which yielded co-efficient value of 0.846 for TEPQ. The data collected through the instrument were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics as all hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that teachers’ knowledge of environmental pollution was high. Possession of adequate knowledge of environmental pollution by teachers did not however influence their attitude towards environmental pollution. In addition, teachers’ attitude towards environmental pollution was location biased. It was recommended among others that Government and management of secondary schools should enhance the attitude of teachers of various categories towards environmental pollution by exposing them to appropriate seminars, workshops and conferences on environmental pollution.

Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude, Teachers, Environmental Pollution,