MEASURING THE UPPER-ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY IN CLUJ AREA, ROMANIA

In Romania, the number of environmental education studies on young children is not sufficient. This is mainly because scales for measuring the pro-environmental behaviour of young children are quite limited and are not quite common. This small-scale empirical study aims to supplement scarce research on children’s attitudes to the environment. The research included 51 children aged 9-10, receiving elementary education in Romanian urban area. The study was carried out in September 2012. Results show that in general children have developed proenvironmental attitudes, with girls displaying slightly higher means on all the scales, but with no significant differences computed. The most positive attitudes are in the area of nature appreciation, recycling and animal rights and protection. Although limited in its conclusions, the present study provides a significant contribution to the field for further studies to be conducted in Romania on the proenvironmental attitudes and potential behaviours of elementary school children.