A Case Study on Primary Science Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions towards Alienating from Nature

AbstractOne of the aims of environmental education is to make students take responsibility for protecting the environment and to lead them have nature friendly behaviors. The purpose of this study was to present primary science teacher candidates’ perceptions of nature and ideas about alienating from nature. The data was conducted with 44 students who have been studying in Siirt University Faculty of Education Primary Science Teaching Department in Turkey. The data was analyzed using qualitative descriptive analysis and content analysis. The results of the study showed that most of the teacher candidates perceived nature as a living space and they stated that the reasons of alienating from nature were busy school, lesson and work schedule, depletion of natural resources and lands, and excessive urbanization