Children's interest in school garden projects, environmental motivation and intention to act: A case study from a primary school of Cyprus

摘要

We have studied elementary school children's interest in the various activities and tasks of a school garden project, the reasons for that interest, and its possible correlation with environmental motivation and intention for environmental action. The theories of motivation, and especially the Self-Determination Theory, were used as the theoretical framework of the study. Seventeen students from an urban primary school, aged 11-12 years old, participated in the project. Our findings suggest that there is a correlation between participants' interest in the activities, their motivation, and their intention to act. The satisfaction of psychological needs is an important prerequisite of environmental motivation.