Environmental Teaching Proposal to Promote Knowledge, Attitudes and Sustainable Consumption Habits in Secondary School

Abstract

This study aimed to design an environmental education teaching proposal, with student participation, to promote meaningful learning about knowledge, attitudes, and sustainable consumption habits in secondary education. A qualitative interpretive approach was adopted, with participatory action research (PAR) as the methodological framework. The design was built through documentary review and semi-structured interviews conducted with 95 students from sixth to ninth grade at a public school in Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia. The results identified four design criteria: contextual relevance, progression between understanding and practice, participation of students from a public school, and coherence between the problem, activities, products, and assessment. Student voices revealed a general understanding of environmental education, partial appropriation of concepts such as sustainable consumption and the circular economy, a gap between awareness and action, and a strong appreciation for active and experiential methodologies. Based on these findings, a seven-session proposal was designed, organized around project-based learning (PBL). The instructional design offers a situated pedagogical pathway to strengthen sustainable consumption in secondary school by articulating critical reflection, participation, and transfer to everyday life..