Concept formulation for environmental literacy

Various studies have shown a lack of understanding of environmental concepts amongst individuals of all ages. Teachers can play a substantial role in uplifting the level of environmental literacy of the population. There is, however, concern whether teachers do actually have the necessary basic knowledge of environmental concepts which they have to teach. In this article we address the concepts which relate to environmental literacy of individuals. We focus on the way in which concepts are formed and how these could have an impact on teaching of environmentally related issues. The role of teacher education to ensure that teachers are environmentally literate and concepts, which should be enhanced during teacher education to ensure an environ-mentally literate population, are discussed. (South African Journal of Education: 2001 21(4): 317-323)