Conocimientos ecológicos, preocupación individual y criterio personal

respecto al medio ambiente en estudiantes de bachillerato de un colegio

Betancourth González, Vanessa

Gonzales Martínez, Nicolás

Introduction

Environmental pollution and the scarce education regarding environmental care give

shape to a problem of multiple dimensions, whose global character requires urgent

the actions to counteract its harmful effects, while advocating for the repair of

environmental education (Diario El Tiempo, 1998; Ministerio de Medio Ambiente

Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial - MAVDT, 2012; Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y

Desarrollo Sostenible - MMADS, 2017, 2018). Such awareness should tend to

understand the indissoluble relationship between individual-society-species (Morin,

1999), and advocate for ecological care, greening thinking, self-sustainability and

environmental recovery, which environmentally constitutes one of the greatest global

challenges (Anderson & Latam, 2018; Andrade, 2015; Revista Semana, 2017b). In

Colombia according to figures revealed by the newspaper El Espectador (2015) there

are environmental sustainability problems associated with the type of agricultural

production, and uncontrolled exploitation of mining, hydroelectric and fossil fuel

some departments between 51 and 52 centimeters of coastline is being lost each year,

to which is added, that 40% of the soils have affectation of some degree of erosion. For

example, in the Amazon, a large number of hectares of forest area has been lost, being

this the most impacted region with 178,597 hectares affected; another global effect is

the significant decrease of ice coverage in glaciers in the last 50 years, which has been

63%, and has put approximately 12 million people at risk of flooding. According to

figures provided by the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental

Studies (IDEAM), by 2040 the most affected departments in Colombia will be: San

Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, Atlántico, Caldas, La guajira, Cundinamarca,

Magdalena, Caquetá and Casanare. In addition to the above, there is the pollution

caused by garbage, the generalized ignorance regarding the implementation of

environmental measures, and the retreat of the land on the Colombian coasts, since by

the end of the 21st century almost 50,000 hectares of land will have been lost. IDEAM

figures reveal that in 2017 in Colombia deforestation increased by 23%, especially in

unnoticed by governments and societies, since it implies becoming aware of aspects

and also in the generation of public policies with an environmental approach (Álvarez

implies strengthening ecological knowledge, individual concern, personal criteria and

actions for the care and protection of ecosystems (Moreno et al., 2005).

In Colombia, environmental problems also have an undeniable relationship with the

(...) environmental conservation, the eradication of illicit crops and illegal

mining, the development of environmentally sustainable activities and the

implementation of the Colombian Low Carbon Development Strategy. It also

considers the adaptation of a Colombia vulnerable to climate change and the

launching of programs of payments for ecosystem services that promote the

conservation of strategic areas (Revista Semana, 2017a, p. 1).

of scenarios where people learn, know and transform themselves. When

educators are mentioned, they include environmental activists, youth leaders,

forest rangers, volunteer park rangers, health promoters, rural and urban

community leaders and organizations, among others (MMADS, 2012, p. 1).

In Colombia, in the 90's, the construction of educational scenarios was initiated, aimed

that favor positive collaboration among the population, and thus strengthen the

process of environmental remediation and decision-making in this field. In this sense,

"environmental education thus understood can and should be a strategic factor that

influences the established development model, in order to reorient it towards

sustainability and equity" (Martínez, 2010, p. 1). With all of the above, the

educational, industrial, scientific, technological and economic adjustment measures,

and at the same time understands the relationship between individual, society and

species raised by Morin (1999), as a basis for the development of an increasingly

ecological thinking, that weaves together the ecological as a categorical imperative of

biotic survival of the various species that share the planet.

Design: this is a quantitative-correlational, cross-sectional, empirical-analytical

say they know little about ecology. 97.6% indicate that the educational institution

teaches them guidelines for caring for the environment.

(2005) was 0.724 corresponding to a good reliability. In relation to knowledge about

were found between individual concern with transportation (p= 0.176) and personal

criteria (p=0.224).

In the crosstabs of variables, it was found that the criterion is related to the

environment and gender, in "quite a lot" in males (28.4%) and females (32%), while

individual concern in males in "quite a lot" was 22.6%, and in females 25% in "a lot".

Individual concern in relation to grade level scored "quite a lot" in ninth grade (17.4%),

"a lot" in eighth grade (10.4%), tenth grade (4.9%) and eleventh grade (18.3%).

Individual concern was 40.2% in relation to the question "do you consider yourself a

person who cares for the environment" (Table 3).