Children’s Perception of Climate Change in North-Eastern Portugal

Ramos, Ricardo; Rodrigues, Maria José; Rodrigues, Isilda

Publication

Children’s Perception of Climate Change in North-Eastern Portugal

2023Journal article

dc.contributor.author	Ramos, Ricardo
dc.contributor.author	Rodrigues, Maria José
dc.contributor.author	Rodrigues, Isilda
dc.date.accessioned	2023-02-08T15:08:07Z
dc.date.available	2023-02-08T15:08:07Z
dc.date.issued	2023
dc.description.abstract	Despite the impact that climate change is having on our planet and considering its consequences for future generations, much of the academic literature focuses on adolescent and adult perceptions, giving little relevance to children’s perceptions. Children’s voices have the potential to influence public opinion, which may in turn determine the direction of a new policy on the climate crisis. In this context, it is urgent that we understand how children perceive this problem. This quantitative study was based on the application of 245 questionnaires to children aged between 9 and 13 years old from five schools in north-eastern Portugal, more specifically in the region of Trás-os-Montes. We can say that this study was a convenience study because we delivered the surveys in the schools closest to the working area of the researchers. We used a questionnaire with 26 questions, 24 of which had closed responses (like the Likert type), one open response, and one with multiple choices. In this work, we conducted a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis, and prepared a database, using the statistical software IBM SPSS, which allowed us to conduct some statistical tests, selected according to variables. For the descriptive analysis, several parameters were used for the distribution of variables, namely, frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. We rejected the null hypothesis (H0) and assumed for the inferential analysis that the sample does not follow a normal distribution, considering the fulfillment of the necessary criteria for parametric tests and after performing the Kolmogorov–Smirnov normality test, whose null hypothesis (H0) is that data are normally distributed, and given that the p-value for the variables under study was p < 0.05. In this regard, non-parametric tests were used. The Mann–Whitney test was used to compare the degree of agreement with climate change statements as a function of the student’s gender and year of schooling, which is a non-parametric test suitable for comparing the distribution functions of an ordinal variable measured in two independent samples. The results show that most of the children expressed concern about the study’s potential problem, and (42%) said they are concerned about climate change. However, they show some doubts and a lack of knowledge about some of the themes, like (33.5%) cannot name only one consequence of climate change. We also found differences between the two study cycles, with children in the 6th grade having a higher average in their understanding of the phenomenon (p = 0.049), as well as the level of education of the parents being positively correlated with a more ecocentric posture, we can see this when we considering the variable parents. We also found that 46.6% of the students say that television is where they learn more about climate change. From the results obtained, we can open new paths for future research and contribute to the definition of policies and educational practices since the school has the responsibility to cooperate in the production of values, attitudes, and pro-environmental behaviors.	pt_PT
dc.description.sponsorship	This work has been supported by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UIDB/05777/2020.	pt_PT
dc.description.version	info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion	pt_PT
dc.identifier.citation	Ramos, Ricardo; Rodrigues, Maria José; Rodrigues, Isilda (2023). Children’s Perception of Climate Change in North-Eastern Portugal. Societies. ISSN 2075-4698. 13:6, p. 1-12	pt_PT
dc.identifier.doi	10.3390/soc13010006	pt_PT
dc.identifier.eissn	2075-4698
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10198/26833
dc.language.iso	eng	pt_PT
dc.peerreviewed	yes	pt_PT
dc.publisher	MDPI	pt_PT
dc.relation	Research Center in Basic Education
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	pt_PT
dc.subject	Children	pt_PT
dc.subject	Climate change	pt_PT
dc.subject	Climate literacy	pt_PT
dc.subject	Education	pt_PT
dc.subject	Sustainable development	pt_PT
dc.subject	Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Education	pt_PT
dc.title	Children’s Perception of Climate Change in North-Eastern Portugal	pt_PT
dc.type	journal article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
oaire.awardTitle	Research Center in Basic Education
oaire.awardURI	info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F05777%2F2020/PT
oaire.citation.endPage	12	pt_PT
oaire.citation.issue	6	pt_PT
oaire.citation.startPage	1	pt_PT
oaire.citation.title	Societies	pt_PT
oaire.citation.volume	13	pt_PT
oaire.fundingStream	6817 - DCRRNI ID
person.familyName	Ramos
person.familyName	Rodrigues
person.givenName	Ricardo
person.givenName	Maria José
person.identifier.ciencia-id	A51B-FBE0-9A10
person.identifier.ciencia-id	6417-6DAA-DF20
person.identifier.orcid	0000-0002-8536-4633
person.identifier.orcid	0000-0003-1029-149X
project.funder.identifier	http://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.name	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
rcaap.rights	openAccess	pt_PT
rcaap.type	article	pt_PT
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