The complexities of teachers' commitment to environmental education - a mixed methods approach

Sosu, Edward M. and McWilliam, Angus and Gray, Donald S. (2008) The complexities of teachers' commitment to environmental education - a mixed methods approach. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 2 (2). pp. 169-189. ISSN 1558-6898

Abstract

This article argues that a mixed methods approach is useful in understanding the complexity that underlies teachers' commitment to environmental education. Using sequential and concurrent procedures, the authors demonstrate how different methodological approaches highlighted different aspects of teacher commitment. The quantitative survey examined significant factors that determine teachers' commitment, whereas the qualitative approach used a soft systems methodology to expand understanding and to explore ways of increasing teacher commitment to environmental education. Results indicate a complex range of factors affecting commitment, and different layers of reality discovered by the different methods provide a holistic understanding of teacher commitment to environmental education. The article also demonstrates how a mixed methods approach can serve the dual role of confirming and elaborating findings.

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