The Impact of teacher’s morality, attitude and self-control on constructive environmentalism: A literature review and analysis

 Clarisa G. Ballena

Divine Word College of Laoag- Graduate School of Education

 Abstract 

            Teachers shape students’ moral values and behaviours, promoting constructive environmentalism. They are ethical agents of morally good values, attitudes, and self-controlled personalities who integrate the development of moral formation into the curriculum and create a more balanced and harmonious environment addressing deeply rooted environmental issues and challenges. This paper highlights the significance of teachers' morality, attitudes, and self-control and explores how they impact the advocacy for constructive environmentalism.

Keywords: Teacher’s Morality, Attitudes, Self-Control, Environmental Education, Constructive Environmentalism

Introduction

            Moral values are crucially significant in addressing environmental issues and challenges in our country. Environmental challenges become deeply serious when people lose their moral conviction of what is right and wrong for their actions toward the environment.  Morality is beyond one’s behavior. According to Raymond (2020), morality is a totality of rules that will help our behavior in a particular surrounding. These rules will set the standards for building one’s morality and values. Teachers are vital in characterizing and shaping school behavior because of their distinct moral values, attitudes, and self-controlled personality.   

            Morality directs one’s actions and behavior toward various societal ideals and beliefs. Hence, a teacher’s morality is a significant value that sustains balance and harmony in understanding environmental degradation's growing and detrimental effects. Teachers' attitudes and self-control are personal factors and virtues that help them achieve a positive impact in combating environmental challenges. Moreover, teachers do not merely transfer knowledge and share experiences with students. Teachers' roles are challenging. Aside from being second parents to students, they are responsible for educating and promoting moral and practical ways to safeguard our environment. Environmental issues have escalated to the global community, and more attention and action are needed to mitigate these ecological predicaments. However, the actions taken are incomparably less than the existing environmental challenges. Environmental sustainability poses a gap between measures initiated by global citizens and the lack of knowledge on the effect of ecological degradation. Hence, promoting moral values and behaviour among teachers is an imperative factor in preceding constructive environmentalism.

This literature review and analysis focuses on the possible and significant impacts of teacher’s morality, attitude, and self-control toward constructive environmentalism. This paper also presents practical recommendations for teachers to improve and develop a more profound moral consciousness for environmental stewardship.

Literature Review

The Importance of Teacher’s Morality

            Morality is a set of values and ideals that help people discern judgment as to right or wrong action. Morality is fundamental to every human being. Teachers are one of the many people who can manifest morality through their responsibilities and duties. In schools, moral education is evident in all subjects. According to Hand (2017), moral education focuses on the learner’s commitment to ethical standards and participation in moral formation and inquiry. Moral education promotes the standards that train students to acquire the virtues of self-discipline, honesty, integrity, and serving the people and the country.

            Teachers are known to uphold the values and ethics of professionals and models of good conduct in society. They are highly respectable people with positive attitudes and values through their characters in society and school. Gui, Yasin, and Abdullah (2020) claim that teachers should play their role in shaping and guiding students to be rightful, and that could develop their morality; this means that teachers are moral agents who help the students become accountable for putting into practice the rules and standards of morality that lead them to a better life. Hence, teachers should allow the students to understand ethical behaviours through direct or indirect teaching and create a caring environment that will help them develop morality, love, and care in protecting their environment. 

Teacher’s Attitude, Self-Control toward the Environmental and Environmental Education of students

Environmental education has become increasingly essential, highlighting the need for comprehensive methods to instil sustainability among students and future generations. As moral educators, teachers are responsible for shaping students’ ethical accountability in environmental stewardship. Accordingly, teachers' attitudes and self-control are the focus of this moral responsibility, which profoundly impacts their ability to teach ecological values. In addition, environmentally aware individual, or those who are conscious of environmental problems’ impact on society, look forward to acting and doing their activities according to the environment and how their lives continue (Ulug, Ozden, & Eryilmaz, 2011). Moreover, teachers’ attitude towards environmental issues shows their moral beliefs, which serve as a model role for students. Zachariou, Tsami, Bersimis, and Chalkias (2017) stated that an effective environmental education would lead to the student’s environmental awareness and ecological consciousness, which will bring positive implications in addressing local and global environmental conditions.

            Furthermore, self-control through the lens of morality highlights moral values such as integrity and discipline, which are equally crucial in integrating environmental education into the curriculum. Despite evident challenges and competing priorities, teachers who maintain and exhibit strong self-control have equipped commitment to ecological principles. According to Hidayah (2021), self-control can regulate negative behavior. Thus, when teachers possess a positive attitude and self-control towards environmental preservation and protection, they will wholeheartedly relay the ethical importance of ecological sustainability, fostering a sense of moral duty among the students. Also, this moral fortitude ensures that environmental education is not confined but taken into action through relevant teachings, decisions, and actions that reflect a deep sense of morality. 

 The Impact of Teacher’s Morality on Environmental behaviour of students 

            For a sustainable future, the teacher’s role in promoting environmentalism has never been more crucial. As moral agents, teachers influence students' environmental values and behaviour through their morality, attitudes, and self-control. Teachers' moral integrity is a pillar in building a culture of environmental responsibility inside and outside the classroom. When teachers strongly uphold moral principles and the ethical significance of environmental stewardship, students account for and view this as morally imperative to safeguard the environment.

            Teacher’s attitudes towards environmental issues further from their effectiveness in advancing environmentalism. However, Zachariou et al. (2017) show in their study that teachers are not satisfied with the measures for environmental protection and believe that society lacks sensitivity towards the environment. On the contrary, teachers consider that the level of information on environmental issues provided to them is satisfactory. Moreover, teachers with a positive and proactive attitude towards ecological protection inspire students to follow and adopt similar values and behaviours.

            According to Hidayah (2021), self-control is the capacity of people to regulate their responses and actions, and it also provides five qualities such as self-discipline, the tendency to act rather than be impulsive, healthy habits, self-regulation or good work ethics, and reliability. These qualities help promote a greater understanding of regulating one’s action toward achieving environmentalism. Additionally, an orderly environment benefits individuals’ self-control behaviours more than a disorderly environment (Li, Liu, & Li, 2020).  Thus, empowering teachers to embrace their moral duties and responsibilities can significantly influence dedicated, morally grounded, and accustomed teachers, underscoring the importance of supporting the promotion of environmentalism.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, teachers are vital in characterizing and shaping school behaviour because of their distinct moral values, attitudes, and self-controlled personality. Teachers are ethically accountable for shaping students’ ethical values and behaviours toward becoming stewards of the environment. Environmental education is necessary as part of the curriculum as it teaches the proper approaches to inculcate the significance of environmentalism to the students, which helps them acquire the required knowledge, skills, and abilities that prepare them to provide a livable planet Earth for future generations. Also, teachers are agents of change for the environment as they promote a deep-seated understanding of environmentalism to students that is not only limited in the classroom but to a more global effect since environmental issues and challenges have been a perennial problem to all. Acknowledging a more profound sense of constructive environmentalism through the moral obligations of teachers and students provides a more meaningful and livable society

References

Gui, A.K., Yasin, M., Abdullah, N.S., & Saharuddin, N. (2020). Roles of Teacher and Challenges in Developing Students' Morality. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8, 52-59.

Hand, M. (2017). A Theory of Moral Education. Taylor & Francis Group. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315708508/theory-moral-educationmichael-hand

Hidayah, R. (2021). Students’ Self-Adjustment, Self-Control, and Morality. Journal of Social Studies Education Research, 12 (1):174-193. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1292720.pdf

Li, Z., Liu, N., & Li, S. (2020). Environmental Orderliness Affects Self-Control and Creative Thinking: The Moderating Effects of Trait Self-Control. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01515

            Raymond, A.G. (2020). International Norms and the Resort to War. Springer                    n                      InternationalPublishing.

Ulug, M., Ozden, M. S., & Eryilmaz, A. (2011). The Effects of Teachers’ Attitudes on Students’ Personality and Performance. Procedia: Social & Behavioral Sciences, 30, 738–742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.144 

Zachariou, F., Tsami, E., Chalkias, C., & Bersimis, S. (2017). Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Environment and Environmental Education: An Empirical Study. International Journal of Environmental & Science Education, 1567–1593.