Spatial comparison of the new environmental paradigm between Adiwiyata and non-Adiwiyata schools in Banten Province Indonesia

This study aims to compare and spatially map the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP), a widely used framework for assessing individuals’ environmental beliefs and ecological worldviews, among Adiwiyata schools, Indonesia’s national environmental education program that promotes environmentally responsible school management and learning practices, and non-Adiwiyata schools across eight districts/cities in Banten Province, Indonesia. A quantitative cross-sectional comparative survey design was employed. The study sample consisted of 1,210 secondary school students selected through multistage proportional sampling based on administrative regions and school status to ensure proportional representation. Data were collected using a Likert-scale questionnaire based on the NEP framework, encompassing five dimensions: limits to growth, balance of nature, anti-anthropocentrism, eco-crisis awareness, and rejection of human exemption. Spatial analysis was conducted using choropleth mapping, while inferential statistical analyses included the Mann–Whitney U test and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) to examine differences across groups and dimensions. The Mann–Whitney U test revealed significant differences across all five NEP dimensions between Adiwiyata and non-Adiwiyata schools ( p < 0.05), while MANOVA confirmed significant multivariate differences in the majority of districts/cities (Pillai’s Trace, p < 0.05), with the exception of two regency-level regions where differences did not survive Bonferroni correction. Effect size estimates ranged from small to large (Cohen’s d = 0.353–0.954), indicating that the magnitude of group differences varied across regions. The findings indicate that Adiwiyata schools were generally associated with higher NEP scores than non-Adiwiyata schools. Urban areas, particularly South Tangerang City, demonstrated the highest ecological worldview scores, whereas Lebak Regency showed the lowest scores. These findings suggest spatial variation in students’ ecological worldviews across school categories and regional contexts, providing evidence that may inform the development and adaptation of school-based environmental education policies in Indonesia and comparable educational settings. The results should be interpreted as associative rather than causal because of the cross-sectional study design.