Exploring an Environmental Awareness of Economics Teachers

Environmental education has long been taught in schools. Still, the impact and results of environmental education that have been carried out in schools have not been seen, both in society and the environment. Teachers have a key role in helping students develop awareness of the importance of preserving and protecting the environment. By providing a comprehensive understanding of environmental issues, teachers can help students understand the negative impact of human behaviour on the environment and why it is important for them to become agents of change who care about the environment. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions, beliefs, and practices of caring for the environment among teachers. The population of the study was high school economics teachers in Semarang City, the sampling technique used was saturated sampling, totalling 136 teachers—data collection techniques using questionnaires and data analysis using descriptive and independent sample t-tests. The results showed that the average perception, belief and practice of caring for the environment obtained a fairly high score. In addition, from the results of the independent sample t-test, no differences were found between male and female teachers in terms of perceptions, beliefs and practices of caring for the environment.


Introduction
Education is the spearhead of a nation in building a generational civilization with character that cares about the environment.Education is also an effort to overcome the current and future environmental crisis.Education has two big goals: to help students become smart and to help them become good.Being good is a form of building the nation's character.The school environment can be a good educational 1248 (2023) 012012 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1248/1/012012 2 place for student character growth.All events that occur within the school can be integrated into character education programs [1].
In building the character of students at school, it is not only done through learning processes in the classroom.Many media can be developed and implemented within the framework of developing the student's personality.One of them is through school environmental care activities.The character of caring for the environment is more touching and inherent in students in the school environment [2].Environmental education will ensure a harmonious atmosphere between humans and nature, so that there is no concern about disasters that will strike [3] [4].
Education has a noble purpose for human life and the environment, but now increasingly environmental damage is happening around humans.For several years, Indonesia has experienced natural disasters caused by mistakes and ways of human treatment of the environment such as floods, landslides, and other natural disasters.The disaster occurred due to many factors, one of which was environmental damage.Humans tend to exploit the environment for their benefit without regard to environmental sustainability.The fading of concern for the environment eventually causes various environmental problems that result in human life, one example is the difficulty of instilling the habit of throwing garbage in its place even though a place to dispose of garbage has been provided.
Forming student character is not only a school task but also a family and community task [5][6].This is because students spend time and activities not only at school, but also at home and in the community.But, in formal education at school, teachers are people who have a key role in shaping the character of students [7].It should be realized that in a school environment student who have noble morals or character are needed [5].Therefore, it is important the role of teachers in fostering student character because teachers are figures who set an example for all students.This can be interpreted that education can be understood as a process of training students to develop knowledge through several learning experiences in accordance with their fields, and thoughts, so that students have superior character upholding ethical values in interacting with society as part of service in meeting the needs of themselves and their families [8] [9].
In schools, the provision of Environmental Education Learning (Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup or PLH) is not only in the form of theory but also must really be practiced and reflected in daily life, so that awareness and love for the environment are embedded.Environmental education has long been taught in schools, but the impact and results of environmental education that have been implemented in educational institutions have not been widely seen, both on the community and the environment [10].The indication is that environmental education taught in schools is more theoretical, ideological, and instrumental, so that practical order and implementation are lacking, especially the order in everyday life [11].
Strengthening environmental education in schools means bringing the school curriculum towards contextual, grounded, and rooted in the circumstances and needs of the community where the students come from, during a formal education climate that seems textbook and rigid [5] [12].Thus, developing schools with green environmental insight is a strategic step in responding to environmental situations that every day become a place to interact directly and easily encountered by students.
When related to the curriculum, green schools are implemented in three strategic steps, namely first, the curricular field, environmental learning is done integrated with existing subjects.Teachers must be good at packaging learning with understanding and applicable learning experiences.Second, the extracurricular field leads to the formation of students' concern for environmental conservation through environmental extension activities and environmental work competitions.Third, the field of school environmental management is through (a) the use and arrangement of school land into natural laboratories such as gardens and medicinal plants, invitations to save energy and water, waste recycling through the process of reduce, reuse, and recycle, and (b) social environmental management in the form of habituation of positive real behaviors including discipline, cooperation, care, honesty, and respect for local wisdom.
Teachers have a key role in helping students develop awareness of the importance of safeguarding and protecting the environment [13] [14].By providing a comprehensive understanding of environmental issues, teachers can help students understand the negative impact of human behavior on the environment and why it is important for them to be change agents who care about the environment.
Teachers who provide an understanding of environmental care can help students develop environmentally responsible sustainable behaviors [15] [16].They can teach habits such as efficient energy use, waste reduction, recycling, and water saving.By practicing sustainable behaviors at school and at home, students can set an example for others and drive positive change in society.
Understanding environmental care also helps students understand the complex relationships between environmental, human, and socio-economic issues.Teachers can integrate environmental issues into a variety of subjects such as science, math, languages, and art, so that students can understand these concepts holistically.It helps students develop systemic thinking and problem-solving skills that are essential in addressing environmental challenges.Teachers who provide an understanding of environmental care can inspire and shape students into future leaders who care about the environment [17] [18].By setting good examples and involving students in environmental projects, teachers help students develop leadership skills, collaboration abilities, and innovative thinking that they can apply in solving future environmental problems [19].
Today's students will face major challenges related to climate change and other environmental crises in the future.The understanding of environmental care provided by teachers provides students with the knowledge, understanding, and skills necessary to overcome these challenges.By understanding the importance of sustainability and maintaining the balance of ecosystems, students will become a generation that is better prepared and able to adapt to changes that occur in the world [20].Through the understanding of environmental care provided by teachers, students can become agents of change who care, are responsible, and behave sustainably towards the environment [21].This will help create a better future for our planet and improve the quality of life for all the things that live on it.Several studies on sustainable development have been conducted; But this study specifically aims to find out the environmental dimension of sustainable development.It was intended to explore to the extent that teachers have knowledge of environmental awareness.The main objective of this study was to assess teachers' perceptions and practices of environmental awareness.

Method
This study used a survey research design with a type of descriptive research.The data source is primary data with a data collection method using questionnaires.The population in this study is high school economics teachers including public schools and private schools in Semarang City totaling 136 teachers.The sampling technique used uses population sampling techniques, namely making all populations as research samples.Data collection technique with a questionnaire using a Likert scale 1-4 (strongly disagree -strongly agree).The questionnaire was adapted from selectively validated questionnaires from Yavetz, et al., (2009) and Effeney & Davis, (2013) to elicit teachers' responses on their perception of environmental awareness.The questions asked include perceptions, beliefs, and practices in environmental.The first part deals with teacher perceptions, the second part deals with beliefs and practices about caring for the environment into the third part.The data analysis technique used was a descriptive statistical test and a differential test with an independent sample t-test using SPSS software.

Result
Based on table 1 below, as many as 13 respondents were included in the age group of 22-25 years, as many as 32 were in the age range of 26-30 years, as many as 51 respondents were in the range after 31-40 years, and as many as 40 respondents were in the age range of > 40 years.Therefore, respondents in the age group of 31-40 years are the largest group of respondents.Similarly, as many as 58 were male respondents and 78 female respondents who participated in this study.In addition, 44 respondents came from public school teachers and 92 from private school teachers.Here is a summary of the demographic table of respondents.Of the total 136 respondents, 108 of them had attended environmental care training activities 1-5 times, as many as 20 respondents had experience attending environmental training 5-10 times, and the remaining 8 respondents had attended training more than 10 times.have a high mean value, which can be seen as knowledge of good environmental awareness will help integrate environmental awareness into everyday life.In addition, it is important to be able to include topics about the environment in the curriculum.The item promoting renewable energy resources is also helpful to reduce environmental pollution and environmental awareness will help students explore the relationship between environmental education and social issues Table 2. Source: primary data processed (2023) Table 3 below presents teachers' perceptions of beliefs about environmental awareness.All items on perceived beliefs about environmental awareness have high mean values.The highest item is obtained on the statement about the importance of storing natural resources for future generations.In addition, education about the environment for important school students starting to be instilled at an early age also occupies the second highest mean value.Source: primary data processed (2023) Table 4 below presents perceptions of teachers' practices towards environmental awareness.Practice items of saving water, energy and other resources in daily activities received the greatest mean score.This indicates teachers have been practicing environmental awareness by saving water, energy, and other resources.The teachers have also made it a habit to throw the overflow material into the trash can that has been devoted to the practice of daily life.Meanwhile, participation in campaigns against environmental pollution that have been carried out by each teacher is quite minimal, as evidenced by a low average score.Source: primary data processed (2023) Next is to test whether there are differences related to perceptions, beliefs, and practices of environmental awareness that teachers have based on gender.A summary of the independent sample ttest can be seen in table 5. From table 5 it can be concluded that both male teachers and female teachers have no difference regarding perceptions of environmental awareness.Both male and female teachers consider that environmental awareness is an important perception to be applied in learning activities.Similarly, in terms of faith, both male and female teacher candidates have no difference of opinion about the belief to be environmentally conscious.Regarding environmentally conscious practices between male and female teachers also have no differences, so it can be concluded that environmental awareness practices can be carried out by anyone, not based on a certain gender.Here is a summary of the genderbased difference test table.

Discussion
In this study, perceptions, beliefs, and practices of environmental awareness in economics teachers in high schools in Semarang City were explored.From the results of this study it was found that teachers strongly think that environmental education should be part of their curriculum.In Indonesia, so far environmental education has not been fully included in the education curriculum, partly because the educational curriculum is usually regulated with various core subjects such as mathematics, languages, science, and history.This makes space and time limitations to include additional subjects such as environmental education.The education systems of many countries often emphasize preparing students for standardized examinations that determine their progress.Because environmental education is often seen as a supplementary subject, schools are more inclined to prioritize the subjects to be tested in these exams.In addition, from the teaching side, environmental education requires competent and trained teachers to teach it properly.Unfortunately, not all teachers have adequate background or knowledge in this regard.The lack of teachers skilled in environmental education is a barrier to incorporating it into the curriculum.Incorporating environmental education into the curriculum also requires developing appropriate teaching materials, lesson planning, and assessment [22] [23].All of this requires time, resources and collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, including governments, educational institutions and the general public [12] [24].
From the results of this study also found that teachers should play a role in environmental improvement, national curriculum should be added with more detail regarding environmental awareness, including in teaching, teachers should be involved in improving the environment, and environmental awareness helps students explore the relationship between environmental education and social issues.The economics teachers in this study believe that environmental awareness can help students explore the relationship between environmental education and social issues, decisive action should be taken against industrial organizations involved in environmental pollution, implementing laws in the true sense of helping protect the environment, teachers should focus on guiding students on a safe environment in their teaching, and environmental pollution affects every individuals on this earth.In addition, practices carried out by teachers have begun to be carried out and implemented in daily life such as saving water, energy, and other resources.In addition, teachers have also carried out waste disposal practices in trash cans that have been specifically provided for disposing of waste.When viewed from gender, both male teachers and female teachers have no difference in terms of perceptions of the importance of environmental awareness, belief in the importance of environmental awareness and the importance of starting environmental awareness practices from the smallest thing that can be started in everyday life.
The perception of teachers' concern for the environment has a significant impact on environmental education.Teachers who perceive concern for the environment become examples and sources of inspiration for students.They can inspire students to have awareness and concern for the environment through their attitudes, actions, and teaching.Teachers who show concern for the environment can motivate students to adopt sustainable and environmentally responsible behaviors.Teachers who have a perception of concern for the environment can help students develop awareness of environmental issues.They can present relevant facts and information about the environment and build a solid understanding of the importance of preserving nature.Thus, the teacher helps to change students' attitudes and views towards the environment.
Teachers with a perception of concern for the environment tend to integrate environmental issues into various subjects and activities in schools.They can teach environmental concepts through science, math, languages, art, and even physical education.Thus, teachers create a holistic educational experience, strengthening students' understanding of the relationship between humans and the environment.In addition, teachers with a high perception of concern for the environment can help shape students' social responsibility towards the environment [25].They teach the importance of protecting the environment for the well-being of society and future generations.Teachers can also invite students to participate in environmental activities such as greening activities, recycling programs, or other environmental actions.This helps students feel a sense of direct involvement and stimulates their sense of responsibility towards the future of the earth.Teachers with a perception of concern for the environment play a key role in shaping student character [26] [27].They encourage students to develop traits such as empathy, respect, responsibility, and concern for environmental sustainability.Teachers help students understand that they have a key role to play in safeguarding and protecting the environment, and that their actions can have a real impact.By having a perception of concern for the environment, teachers can be powerful agents of change in educating students about the importance of the environment and how to protect it.They have a key role in shaping a caring and environmentally responsible generation, which will bring positive change to the future of the earth [28].

Conclusion
The study concludes that the inclusion of environmental education in the curriculum is important.In addition, environmental awareness can help students explore the relationship between environmental education and social issues.Environmental awareness practices can also be carried out in everyday life so that it will further increase awareness of the environment.In addition, both male and female teachers have no difference in perceptions, beliefs, or practices of environmental awareness.The limitation of this study is that it only uses economic teacher respondents, while to be able to get generalization of research results it would be better if it uses a wider sample and includes various teachers in other subjects.For further research, experimental studies can be conducted to explore more deeply the environmental awareness practices that can be carried out by teachers and to find out the extent of the teacher's role in increasing environmental awareness in their students.

Table 1 .
Demographics of High School Economics Teachers in Semarang City

Table 2 .
Perceptions of Economics Teachers on Environmental Awareness

Table 3 .
Beliefs of Economics Teachers on Environmental Awareness

Table 4 .
Practices of Economics Teachers on Environmental Awareness

Table 5 .
Differences in opinions on perceptions, beliefs, and practices in Environmental Awareness