Sustainable Development Education Panel
Sustainable Development Education Surveys
7. Attitudes towards Sustainable Development
Respondents were asked to agree or disagree with a number of statements concerning sustainable development. The statements were generally expressed as negatives to make it easier for respondents to give a 'socially unacceptable' answer if they wished. It is accepted that it is easier to agree with a negative statement than disagree with a positive one. However, despite this the majority of school leavers were positive about their role in society and aware of the impact their behaviour can have on others.
| Figure 7.1 Attitudes towards sustainable development (1) |
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The first two statements concern the degree of social engagement felt by the school leavers. Over eight in ten did agree strongly or slightly that people should be prepared to make sacrifices to improve the quality of life for others. However, opinion was divided over whether the government should be relied on to provide this help. However, this is a complicated issue and at such a young age we cannot rely on our respondent understanding the implications behind this. Boys feel slightly less altruistic than girls, they were less likely to agree that people should be prepared to make sacrifices. 43% of boys agreed that everyone should look after themselves compared to 34% of girls.
The final two statements deal with the core issues of sustainable development, that of the links between the different areas. Half of pupils felt there was some connection between the protection of the environment and people's quality of life, only a third thought there was little connection. Only 22% felt that economic growth and increased employment were more important than the environment. This could be interpreted as showing that school leavers feel that the protection of the environment outweighs the need for growth, or this could also mean that respondents feel it is equally important. However, given the disproportionate weight of environment-related behaviour compared with other sustainable development related actions described in Chapter 5, it seems likely that environmental issues overshadow other issues for school leavers.
| Figure 7.2 Attitudes towards sustainable development (2) |
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These three statements concern what impact the pupils feel they have on society, either locally or globally. Only the minority agreed there was little they could do, encouragingly the majority felt that they could make an impact on the world they live in. Respondents were particularly sure they could make an impact locally (three quarters felt there was something they can do), but two thirds also felt they could make an impact globally. The majority also understood that their behaviour in their home country may well affect the lives of people in other countries. Once again, girls were more positive than boys as were those of a higher social class.
| Figure 7.3 Attitudes towards sustainable development (3) |
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These final three statements concern how involved school leavers feel the country should be in global issues. Encouragingly, only a minority feel that what other countries do to improve or destroy the environment is none of our business. Similarly, the vast majority thought the third world should be able to look to the world for help. Those who had studied a large number of sustainable development related topics (six or more) were even more inclined to believe this. 91% disagreed that third world countries should be left to fend alone.
However, opinion was more divided over whether the government's priority should be to improve the quality of life for people in this country rather than other countries. Again, those who had studied sustainable development topics were more likely than the average to disagree with this. Almost half disagreed strongly or slightly compared to 39% of all pupils. Pupils are therefore of the opinion that this country should get involved with the outside world, but are confused as to where the government's priorities should lie.
Page published 12 May
2000;
Page last modified
20 August, 2002