Abstract

Environmental education as a learning process increases people's knowledge and awareness about the environment. Although in some countries, the Environmental Communal Education (ECE) is the core of the environmental education by formal and informal organizations and groups, but, it has not clarified the meaning of the ECE's concept. Therefore the aim of this study was to scientific clarification of the ECE and to develop conceptual model by using the distance education approach. In this study to concept clarification of the ECE, five-step method of Norris was used. Also, a summative content analysis approach is used to interpret meaning from the content of text data. Findings from the content analysis of ECE plotted as a conceptual model. The results of the content analysis led to the extraction of meaning units, sub-codes and the main themes. According to data explication 6 themes extracted. They were Condition-based, Methods-based, Learner-based, Concern-based, Workgroup-based, and Field-based. On the base of themes and operational definition the Hexa-based model of the ECE developed. According to extracted operational definition and the Hexa-based model of the ECE, the diversity of the target population and educational content, it seems the most appropriate teaching methods, are the distance education methods.