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Makale Özeti:
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In light of the crucial role of teacher education in transforming education and society so
that a sustainable future is possible, there is increasing interest in the relationship between
academic major and development of student teachers’ environmental literacy (EL). Since
science disciplines are the common framework for incorporating environmental
education, this longitudinal study investigated, in a paired pretest-posttest design, if
student teachers majoring in the environment-related disciplines differ in the development
of their EL from other majors. The differences in EL-variables between the two groups
were enhanced during studies only in particular behavioral aspects (recycling efforts and
citizenship action) and in basic environmental knowledge. Contrary to the expected,
environment–affiliated students moved toward a more anthropocentric orientation during
their studies, as reflected by decreased support for the 'value-of-nature'. Post-test
environment-affiliated majors’ opinions regarding the influence of studies to their EL
emphasize the role of the disciplinary component, and its contribution mainly to their
biophysical-ecological knowledge. Findings support the need to reorient the science
disciplines to include a comprehensive environmental perspective and infuse
environmental values education, in addition to content knowledge, within science
disciplines. These should be explicitly stated within curricular goals of teacher-training
programs, infiltrating down to courses and academic staff.
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