Integrating Environmental Education into Secondary School Curriculum Implementation: A Mixed-Methods Study of Teachers’ Attitudes and Perceived Challenges in Gulu City, Northern Uganda

Abstract

Purpose: Environmental Education (EE) aims to improve students’ environmental literacy and equip them with knowledge and skills to address the negative effects of human activities on the environment. However, understanding of the challenges teachers face in teaching EE in secondary schools in low- and middle-income countries remains limited. This study examined teachers’ attitudes toward EE and the challenges of implementing EE-integrated curriculum in secondary schools in Gulu City, northern Uganda.

Methodology: We conducted a concurrent mixed-methods design grounded in the policy enactment theory. The study was conducted in Gulu City, which has 20 secondary schools, with a target of 723 teachers and 80 school administrators. We used multistage cluster sampling and systematic random sampling to select survey participants, with a sample of 280 teachers. We purposively selected 24 school administrators. We used a pre-tested questionnaire and semi-structured interview guides to collect quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. We used Stata version 14.0 for quantitative data analysis. Odds ratios and the associated 95% confidence intervals were reported. We transcribed qualitative data verbatim and analyzed them using Atlas. ti software. We identified themes and subthemes from the interview data.

Findings: Teachers in Gulu City (84.7%, n=203) held favourable attitudes towards EE. The association between attitudes and participants’ characteristics varied by sex, level of work experience and school management. After adjustment, male teachers were more likely than female teachers to contend that the secondary school curriculum did not provide adequate time for EE implementation (AOR = 2.30, 95% CI 1.19-4.43). Similarly, teachers of subjects with content related to EE were less likely to perceive that effective EE teaching required extensive training in EE-supportive methodologies (AOR = 0.43, 95% CI 0.23-0.80). This trend also held for teachers with many years of experience compared with those with under four years of experience (AOR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.14-0.77). Challenges to integrating environmental education included limited resources (73.0%; n = 154) and the unstructured placement of EE in the curriculum (47.6%; n= 100). The interviews revealed that the challenges that teachers encounter in implementing the EE integrated curriculum include limited physical space for practical project activities and unrelated instructional materials.

Unique Contributions to Theory, Practice and Policy: The National Curriculum Development Centre needs to explicitly outline EE content within the school curriculum and provide policy guidelines to streamline delivery approaches. Teacher training institutions should strengthen EE content in teacher training programmes and provide need-focused refresher training for teachers.

Keywords: Environmental Education, Teachers’ Attitudes, and Curriculum Implementation Challenges

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/17-10-02

Publication date: October 30th 2026