Student Leaders’ Perception and Practice of Environmental Leadership Toward Sustainable Development

국문 초록 (Abstract)

본 연구는 서술적 평가 방법과 일반적인 질적 접근법을 사용하여 지속 가능한 발전을 위한 학생 리더들의 환경 리더십에 대한 인식과 실천을 살펴보는 것이다. 이를 위하여 학생 단체의 관련된 문서에 대한 내용 분석과 필리핀 중부 루손에 있는 주립대학교 교육대학에서 임의적으로 표본 추출한 10명의 학생 리더와의 반구조화된 설문지를 통해 분석하였다. 분석결과, 학생 리더들은 지속가능성과 지속 가능한 개발의 개념에 대한 기본적인 이해를 가지고 있으며, 환경 보호를 위한 계획된 활동에 대한 필요성을 인식하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 다만, 환경 리더십에 대한 실무적 이해가 있지만 널리 실천하지 못하는 것으로 나타났다. 이에 대해 학생 리더들은 환경 리더십에 필요한 재정적, 학업적, 기타 과정 관련 제약을 극복하기 위한 자원 동원의 필요성을 제언하였다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Environmental problems are increasingly pressing the planet more severely than ever. The United Nations has called on member states to actively address socio-economic problems by considering the crucial role of maintaining environmental health in the pursuit of sustainable development. The youth are a catalyst for achieving sustainable development due to their willpower, dynamism, and creativity. Furthermore, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) provide avenues for training these young people as leaders who could help societies transition to a sustainability-inspired future. This study used a descriptive-evaluative method and a generic qualitative approach to determine student leaders’ perceptions and practices of environmental leadership toward sustainable development. The research involved content analysis of pertinent documents from student organizations and semi-structured interviews with ten purposively-sampled student leaders from the College of Education of a State University in Central Luzon, Philippines. The study found that student leaders manifest a foundational understanding of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development. They also manifest a working understanding of environmental leadership, though it is not widely practiced, as evidenced by their need for planned activities fostering care for the environment. The student leaders identified the need for more support and cited fiscal, academic, and other process-related constraints as significant challenges hampering their practice of environmental leadership towards sustainability, especially in the school community setting.