Teaching 4th Graders Concepts Related to Sustainable Development: An Experiment

In order to show that some of the shortcomings of current 4th grade curriculum in meeting contemporary needs of the society, especially in regard to sustainable development, can be met via teaching, a short course consisting of deliberations on key concepts in sustainable development was designed and carried out on a sample of 58 students of both genders. The pre- and post-test comparisons revealed the effectiveness of the course on both attitudes and knowledge of the students regardless of gender. The key concepts which proved absent in the 4th grade textbooks through a content analysis are: energy saving and recycling, biological and social diversity, reciprocal dependence, lack of violence, social participation in protecting the environment, and sustainable diet. Conceptual conclusions driven from this study can help with the needed improvements in our educational system.