FORMATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL COMPETENCE IN STUDENTS OF GENERAL SECONDARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE SCHOOL COURSE OF GEOGRAPHY

Abstract

The geographical education of the new generation should be aimed at forming students’curiosity and admiration for the planet, and these feelings should remain with them throughout their lives. The article is devoted to the formation of environmental competence among students of general secondary education institutions. The result of mastering a school geography course should be knowledge about various geographical phenomena and processes, population, resources, natural and social environment, as well as a deep understanding of the main social processes on planet Earth. Environmental competence is one of the components of subject competence. Studying geography contributes to the formation of students’ knowledge about the surrounding world, the interaction between physical and social processes, the use of natural resource potential in all spheres of human activity. Geographical knowledge ensures the formation of environmental competence in students, understanding the importance of effective rational use of nature, preservation of natural landscapes and the environment. The formation of spatial imagination, thinking, the ability to explain how natural and social objects, physical phenomena and processes on the planet at different scales are interconnected and change over time in students of general secondary education institutions is of great importance. Environmental competence is the competence of life expediency and applied functionality. Modern geographical education is aimed not only at knowledge, because for successful everyday activities nowadays there is not enough knowledge and skills, it is more necessary to focus one’s efforts on specific tasks, to identify problems, to conduct an independent or joint search for ways to solve them, to be responsible for the actions. The content of geography classes, methods and forms of lessons should be aimed at instilling in students a sense of duty to uphold the importance of frugal and rational use of natural resources, tolerance, hard work, and environmental awareness; striving for knowledge and truth, forming responsibility for one’s own actions.