Investigating energy literacy of pre-service primary school teachers in Greece

Abstract

Today, the notion of energy has never been more critical, such that it’s become a major environmental, economic, and political issue. Education has a key role to play in cultivating the energy literacy of citizens and therefore encouraging wise and sustainable-driven decisions toward energy transition. Considering teachers are the instigators of this transition, this study investigates the level of energy literacy among 408 Greek pre-service primary school teachers using the energy literacy questionnaire (ELQ). The results indicated that pre-service teachers have low-to-moderate knowledge of energy concepts and challenges, however, show a rather satisfactory level in affect and behavior. Still, they express caution over the potential costs of renewable energy and the shift away from the prevailing energy use model. Women performed better than men in the affective and behavioral dimensions of ELQ and pre-service teachers who opted for a science or technology major in high school performed better in the cognitive and affective dimensions than those who had pursued the humanities. Finally, a correlation analysis revealed that attitude has a significant effect on behavior.