Counselling-informed environmental education in Nigerian Universities: A theory-based mixed-methods program...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Education
• Psychology
• Higher Education Pedagogy

Background:

• Counselling-informed pedagogical strategies are increasingly used in environmental education to foster awareness, attitudes, and behaviour.
• Empirical evidence for their effectiveness, particularly in Global South contexts like Nigeria, is limited.
• This study evaluates a counselling-informed environmental education intervention in Nigerian universities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the outcome effectiveness of counselling-informed environmental education in Nigerian universities.
• To explore the implementation dynamics and contextual factors influencing its impact.
• To identify barriers and facilitators for translating educational gains into pro-environmental behaviour.

Main Methods:

• A convergent parallel mixed-method design was employed.
• Quantitative data were collected from 274 undergraduate students across five public universities.
• Qualitative data were gathered through surveys and interviews with 100 lecturers and student counsellors.

Main Results:

• While the overall model predicting pro-environmental behaviour was significant, counselling-informed pedagogies showed a negative predictive effect (R² = .093, p < .001).
• Qualitative findings revealed institutional constraints, including lack of policy support, insufficient training, and poor cooperation, created a behaviour gap.
• The intervention enhanced psychological preparedness and attitudinal orientation but did not directly increase pro-environmental behaviour.

Conclusions:

• Counselling-informed environmental education shows potential for enhancing psychological and attitudinal aspects of environmental engagement.
• Significant implementation-context constraints in Nigerian universities hinder the translation of these gains into pro-environmental behaviour.
• Greater institutional integration and faithful implementation are crucial for achieving lasting behavioural effects in environmental education programs.