Secondary School Students’ Views on Energy Citizenship

Today; climate changes, the possibility of depletion of natural resources and the gradual decrease in biodiversity indicate that global environmental crises are at the door. Energy scarcity has been added to this situation in recent years. Therefore, new types of citizenship such as energy citizenship have emerged at the point of energy consumption, energy resources and transition to energy independence. The aim of this study is to reveal middle school students' views on energy citizenship. The study was conducted in the 2022-2023 academic year with a total of 38 students from the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades in 3 different secondary schools in a city in the western region of Turkey. In this study, the survey model was utilized. Focus group interview questions were used as data collection tools. The data were subjected to descriptive and content analysis. In this study, students' views on energy citizenship were examined in affective (being responsible), behavioral (taking action) and cognitive (being knowledgeable) dimensions. As a result of the study, it was determined that women in the family are more inclined to save energy than men. It was also determined that students had misconceptions about energy and had difficulty in distinguishing energy sources. It was found that as the students' grade level increased, they thought more abstractly about energy and gave examples of lesser known energy sources. On the other hand, it was understood that the students were aware of the issue of taking social action in energy transition, which is included in the psychological dimension of energy citizenship, but they still thought that the national efforts of the state would be more important. In addition, the participants also stated that the state's use of sanctions in solving energy problems would be beneficial. Along with these results, various suggestions were also included in the study.