The exploration of environmental care

attitude through photovoice on elementary

and junior high school student
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2540, 020003 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0106972
Published Online: 27 January 2023

Ni Wayan Ekayanti and Gusti Ayu Dewi Setiawati

AIP Conference Proceedings 2540, 020003 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0106972 2540, 020003

© 2023 Author(s).
 The Exploration of Environmental Care Attitude
through Photovoice on Elementary and Junior High
School Student
Ni Wayan Ekayanti1, a) and Gusti Ayu Dewi Setiawati2
1
Universitas Mahasaraswati, Denpasar, Indonesia
2
Universitas Hindu Negeri I Gusti Bagus Sugriwa, Denpasar, Indonesia
a)
Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract. The school environment cannot be separated from the food which is provided by the school canteen.
Students unconsciously pollute the environment when they consume food with plastic wrap. To be wiser toward waste, it
is important to make efforts to grow the student's environmental care attitude. Photovoice can be used as media to fulfill
it. The purpose of this study was to explore students' environmental care attitudes. This study used a qualitative method
with a community action study design from 10 elementary and junior high school students. The study was conducted
for four months, from January to April 2020. Data were collected using photovoice-based focus group discussions
(FGD), interviews using the SHOWeD method, notes, and recordings. The data obtained were analyzed using
interpretative phenomenological analysis techniques. The results of this study indicated that students were able to
explore the five themes of photovoice, namely the theme of ecology, food, health, culture, and economy. The themes
that appeared from the elementary school community were; ecology (65%), food (6%), health (24%), economy (6%),
and culture (0%). The themes that appeared from the junior high school community were; ecology (67%), food (6%),
health (6%), economy (22%), and culture (0%). This study concludes that the emergence of the ecological theme is
quite high, namely 67% in junior high school students and 65% in elementary students, which shows that students'
environmental care attitudes are quite good, which means students are very focused on the ecological theme because
students have an attitude of caring for the environment.

Keywords: Exploration, Environmental care, Photovoice theme, Students

INTRODUCTION
Elementary school and junior high school students are the nation's next-generation, who will determine the
direction of the nation's life. Overexploitation of natural resources and increasing environmental pollution have
harmed the surrounding environment. To stop it, of course, is not as easy as turning the palm. The world of education
has an important role in this because education determines the character of the nation. For this reason, efforts should
be made to foster a caring attitude towards the school environment. The school environment is never separated from
the food provided by the school canteen. Students unconsciously pollute the environment when they consume food
wrapped in plastic. For students to be wiser towards waste, efforts need to be made to cultivate a caring attitude
towards the school environment. Because if the attitude of caring for the surrounding environment is not grown from
the start, it will have a bad impact in the future. For this reason, students' environmental care attitudes need to be
fostered, namely by showing contextual situations in everyday life, for example by using photos. Photovoice is a
technique that combines photography with conveying the message of the photo itself. There are 3 purposes of
photovoice, namely to record and show one's concern for the surrounding environment, to explore in more detail and
in a phenomenon that is around and allow people to reach out to policy makers [1]. Photovoice used in this study is a
medium to show pictures that will lead students to determine the theme of the picture, which is then grouped into 5
main themes. The determination of this theme will be obtained from the results of the keywords written by the
participants in the FGD. It is hoped that the photovoice media used in this study can reflect, strengthen and clarify the

The 3rd International Conference on Science, Mathematics, Environment, and Education

AIP Conf. Proc. 2540, 020003-1–020003-6; https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0106972
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-4309-9/$30.00

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concern of the student community for the environment around the school. The purpose of this research is to explore
the environmental care attitude of students.

RESEARCH METHODS

This study is a qualitative research with a community follow-up research design of 5 elementary school students
with an age range of 9 to 9.5 years and 5 junior high school students with an age range of 12 to 12.5 years who were
randomly selected. The study was conducted for four months from January to April 2020. Data collection was carried
out using a photovoice-based Focus Group Discussion (FGD) method, interviews with the SHOWeD method, notes,
and recordings. FGD was conducted with 10 participants. This study is a qualitative study with a community follow-
up research design using photovoice media to 10 elementary and junior high school students with an average age of
13 years selected by purposive sampling technique, participants must be between 10 to 15 years old and still attending
elementary or junior high school. The study was conducted for four months from January to April 2020. Data
collection was carried out using a photovoice-based Focus Group Discussion (FGD) method, interviews with the
SHOWeD method, notes, and recordings. There were 5 photos used in this study, then participants were asked to
choose one photo that was discussed by answering several questions adapted from the modified SHOWeD [2] method.
The data obtained were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis techniques [3]. There are five themes
obtained from the FGD results, namely the Ecology theme (answers related to environmental issues, the 3R principles,
and waste), the Cultural theme (answers related to heritage, art, food for ceremonies, habits), the Economic theme
(answers related to basic needs, consumption, production, price of goods, welfare), health theme (answers related to
healthy food, hygiene, disease), and Food theme (all food that is not related to ceremonial facilities).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

From the FGD activities that have been carried out, it was found that the frequency of occurrence of the most
dominant ecological theme compared to other themes. As many as 67% in the junior high school community and 65%
in the elementary community. The trend in choosing photos by the junior high school community can be seen in Figure
1.

junior high school student theme focus

Food
Health 6%
6%

Economy
22%

Culture Ecology
0% 67%

Ecology Culture Economy Health Food

FIGURE 1. The trend of choosing the Photovoice theme by the junior high school student
community

The most common theme in each community is the theme of ecology, followed by the themes of health, economy,
culture, and food. Where in the junior high school community the an ecological theme (67%), cultural theme (0%),
economic theme (22%), health theme (6%), and food theme (6%). In the junior high school community, the theme
that tends to emerge is ecology. This is supported by their understanding of the environment and how plastic waste
can affect climate change, air pollution, soil pollution, water pollution. The economic theme is the second most widely

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described theme, this is due to the understanding gained by the community regarding integrated social studies during
classroom learning so that they describe the economic theme during the discussion, followed by the description by the
food and health theme. The cultural theme does not appear, this is because the photos they choose do not directly
explain the existence of cultural elements. So they only think that the photo is related to ecology, food, economy, and
health.
The percentage of themes that appear in the elementary school community is ecological themes (65%), cultural
themes (0%), economic themes (6%), health themes (24%), and food themes (6%), can be seen in Figure 2.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT

COMMUNITY THEME FOCUS
Ecology Culture Economy Health Food

65

24
0 6 6

elementary school student community theme focus

FIGURE 2. The trend of choosing the Photovoice theme by the Elementary School community

In the elementary school community, ecology is a theme that tends to emerge compared to others. This is strongly
supported by their knowledge of the significant weather changes caused by the use of single-use plastics in school
cuisine. There are very few food and economic themes, this is because the photos they choose do not directly depict
the food and economic aspects. While the cultural theme is not described at all. They argue that the photo does not
reflect any cultural aspects, so they only associate the photo with ecology, health, food, and the economy. It can be
concluded that the average community opinion tends to choose the ecological theme. FGDs in elementary school
communities can be seen in Figure 3.

FIGURE 3. FGD in Elementary School Community

The theme of ecology is the theme that appears the most, this is because the use of the photovoice approach
provides opportunities and opportunities for the community to actualize their knowledge and opinions about the
selected photos and deepen their knowledge about the impact of plastic waste on the environment. The community
takes into account environmental issues in the use of single-use plastic in school food, so they tend to judge photos by

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relating them to several environmental issues. The community also explores how they worry about the issues and
problems caused by single-use plastic, the community considers that single-use plastic is one source of environmental
problems that are quite complicated to overcome, because of the length of time it takes for plastic to decompose
completely. If allowed to accumulate, the problem of single-use plastic waste will become a big problem, one of which
is climate change. Plastic bags that are claimed to be environmentally friendly will also take a long time to decompose
on the ground and will still become garbage, especially because one of its properties that decomposes quickly will
become microplastic and it is easy to pollute the environment [4]. This is also supported by other studies which state
that excessive use of plastic can cause environmental damage, this is because plastic waste is difficult to manage and
takes approximately 1000 years to decompose by decomposed soil or decomposes completely [5].
The community also provides input regarding what can be done in the future regarding the use of single-use plastic
in school culinary, where some communities suggest reducing the use of single-use plastic in school culinary,
replacing some of the packagings in snacks using organic materials such as banana leaves or teak leaves. , brought a
tumbler and lunch box from home. Some communities also suggest changing the habit of always depending on plastic
in buying food at school. In addition, the community also narrates health as a result of the use of single-use plastics in
school cuisine, the community assumes that some plastics used as food containers have the potential to interfere with
health, this is because the microcomponents contained in plastics used to wrap food when hot can be passed from food
to humans. The cultural theme is also narrated by the community in this study, where the community assumes that the
culinary arts in schools are traditional foods and some of them can be used as ceremonial tools. Another thing that is
described from the community's perception of culture is about the heritage passed down by ancestors from generation
to generation and the art of taking photos. The economic theme is described from the community's perception of
reduced welfare due to the lack of clean water and energy sources, they assess that reduced clean water and energy
sources caused by plastic waste will reduce people's welfare. The community also describes the basic needs that are
the main necessities of life in society. The next theme to be described is food, where food is described as ready-to-eat
food and the special spices used.
By using Focus Group Discussion combined with the Photovoice approach, we can develop joint learning,
collaborate and exchange ideas, to deepen knowledge between communities and researchers. For example, one
community said "using a spoon with organic ingredients, such as a spoon from wheat dregs" another strengthened it
by saying "if you buy rice at school, provide a place to eat such as ingke (traditional plate) which is covered with
banana leaves”. This is in line with the research conducted by Jaquez et al [6] who found out how to describe the
content, methodology, partnership phase, and age of the participants in each FGD project, in addition to using FGD
communities can provide examples and discuss conditions in the participant-centered research literature.
Based on the results of the research that has been done, it can be concluded that the Focus Group Discussion
combined with the Photovoice approach is very good for exploring the perceptions of participants from the elementary
and junior high school levels. This is because the discussions were conducted very smoothly, where each participant
was very enthusiastic in expressing their opinions or adding answers from other participants. This is in line with
research conducted by Kitzinger [7] which states that photovoice combined with Focus Group Discussion is an activity
to explore a special issue/phenomenon from the discussion of an individual group that focuses on joint activities
among the individuals involved in it to produce a mutual agreement. In addition, the social interaction of a group of
individuals combined with photovoice can influence each other and produce data/information if they have similarities,
including similarity of individual characteristics, the similarity of social status, the similarity of issues/problems, and
similarity of social relations/relationships [8].
Photovoice is very good to use to facilitate participants in expressing their opinions. The results of this study
support the results of research conducted by Hannay et al [9] which state that discussions combined with Photovoice
can reflect, strengthen and clarify community concerns for the surrounding environment, promote dialogue and critical
knowledge both individually and in groups and guide communities to make changes. Photovoice can facilitate the
learning community to assess the relevance of photos to sustainable living [10]. In addition, photovoice used to
facilitate discussion can make a community express its opinion related to various aspects of sustainable living [11].
This research is unique because the method used is centered on a learning community, which can teach each other,
tolerate each other, and produce a decision in a community that is fair and democratic. This reinforces the results of
Jaquez et al [6] research which found how FGD can describe the content, methodology, partnership phase, and age of
the participants in each FGD project, in addition to using community FGD, can provide examples and discuss the
situation in the participant-centered research literature.
The emergence of the ecological theme in this study indicates that the elementary and junior high school learning
communities are starting to pay attention to environmental issues, the community has a concern for the school
environment, which encourages the community to assess photos by connecting them with environmental issues. In
addition, the community also explores their concerns about issues and problems caused by waste in daily life if it is

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not managed properly. The community is also paying close attention to plastic waste because of the length of time it
takes for plastic to decompose completely. The results showed the effectiveness of the FGD with photovoice media
to explore the perceptions of the elementary and junior high school community. The discussion carried out by the
community went very smoothly because the community was very excited to have an opinion or add to their friends'
answers. Social interaction of a group of individuals combined with photovoice can influence each other and produce
data/information if they have similarities, including similarity in individual characteristics, similarity in social status,
similarity in issues/problems, and similarity in social relations/relationships [8]. The effectiveness of FGD using
photovoice media also supports research conducted by Kitzinger [7] photovoice combined with Focus Group
Discussion is an activity to explore community-specific issues that focus on joint activities between individuals in
generating mutual agreements. There are several weaknesses in this study: 1) the photos used in the FGD will be more
optimal if taken directly by the community, 2) the difference in education level affects the knowledge and
understanding of the community, which causes the answers to be long-winded, 3) the results of the FGD are only
action plans. , the new community can provide suggestions and input on what they should do to reduce or limit waste,
especially plastic waste, 4) the real impact of the results of activities has not been seen in everyday life.

CONCLUSION
From this explanation, it can be concluded that the emergence of ecological themes is quite high, namely 67% in
junior high school students and 65% in elementary students, which shows that students' environmental care attitudes
are quite good, which means students are very focused on the ecological theme because students have an attitude of
caring for the environment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to the Principal and all participants starting from Saraswati Denpasar Elementary School, Saraswati
Denpasar Junior High School (SLUB) who have actively participated in this research.

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