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Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Author "Balgopal, Meena M., committee member"

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    Exploring the relationship between northern Colorado science teachers' environmental and pedagogical value orientations and their implementation of place-based education
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Conlon, Miranda "Andie", author; Salerno, Jonathan D., advisor; Balgopal, Meena M., committee member; Bruyere, Brett L., committee member; Crooks, Kevin R., committee member
    Place-based education (PBE) offers teachers a unique opportunity to increase engagement and academic outcomes while also strengthening students' connection to their environment and inspiring future stewardship. However, because PBE is not a required instructional tool, classroom teachers must independently choose to implement this teaching strategy, particularly when discussing topics surrounding wildlife and the environment. Thus, it is important for environmental education researchers to understand what drives teachers to pursue this pedagogical behavior. While there is a lack of direct predictive validity between values and behaviors, theory suggests that there is more to be found by exploring the value orientations of teachers and how that may influence their curricular choices. Using interviews with 11 middle and high school science teachers in Northern Colorado, we took a qualitative approach to assessing the relationship between teachers' value orientations – both environmental and pedagogical – and their perceptions of pedagogical behaviors. Through thematic coding and analysis, we discovered that Mutualist value orientations coincide with both an Ecological Integration approach to pedagogy and pedagogical behaviors that connect students with their environment, such as place-based education. Our findings have implications for the potential of place-based education to foster pro-environmental value orientations and behaviors among future generations.