Philippine E-Journals

Environmental Attitudes among Students in a post LaudatoSi Paradigm: Transferees vs Continuing Students in a Catholic University in the Philippines

Chadwick Tan

 

Abstract:

Over the last century, scientific studies have shown that greenhouse gases emanating from anthropogenic activity has affected climate patterns around the world. The urgency of an international agreement on this issue, as well as other environmental concerns, has prompted the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, to write the encyclical Laudato Si. In this letter, he addressed environmental concerns and called for a dialogue among people across different nations, cultures and religion. He also urged for a change in environmental attitudes and behavior. Catholic universities are on the frontline for this mission. But in order to motivate different groups in the university, different strategies have to be made. In particular, transferees or those new students to the university might have to be treated differently than those who are continuing in their respective programs. One research question has to be made: is there a significant difference in the environmental attitudes between transferees and continuing students? In this study, a survey Environmental Attitudes among Students in a post Laudato Si Paradigm: Transferees vs. Continuing Students in a Catholic University in the Philippines based on the New Ecological Paradigm Scale developed by Dunlap (2008) was used to measure differences in environmental attitudes among students in Saint Paul University Quezon City (SPUQC), a Catholic university. The respondents for this survey were Grade 11 students for the school year 2016- 2017. The respondents were divided into two: students who just came in for the Grade 11 level (transferees) and those who have already studied in SPUQC before (continuing). Based on statistical analysis, no significant difference between the two groups in terms of environmental attitudes were apparent. Further studies are being done to measure environmental attitudes among employees, parents of the students and other groups associated with the university to fulfill the Laudato Si mandate.