Role of Pre-Tertiary Geography Curriculum in Promoting Environmental Awareness and Attitude Among Teachers and Students

The rate of environmental destruction in Ghana is very alarming to the extent that the achievement of the sustainable development goal 15 may be a mirage. In an attempt to explore sustainable ways to combat this menace, we explored the role of geography curriculum in promoting environmental awareness and attitude amongst students and teachers in Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis. The convergent parallel design was used for the study. Three hundred and fifty (350) final year geography students were sampled proportionately, and ten (10) geography teachers were purposively sampled. The questionnaire and interview guide were tools used to collect data from the students and teachers, respectively. The study reveals that geography curriculum promotes students’ awareness of the environment by increasing their appreciation towards nature and the dangers our country is subjected to as the environment is degraded. The attitudes of students toward the environment were positive as a result of their awareness of the environment. It can be observed that there is a difference between male and female geography students in relation to environmental awareness suggesting that male students exhibit significantly higher levels of environmental awareness compared to female students. Also, there is a difference between male and female geography students in relation to environmental attitude that females’ students exhibit significantly higher levels of environmental attitude compared to male students. It is recommended that students and teachers alike are encouraged to convert their awareness of the environment into pro-environmental behaviours.