The Role of Religious Educators in Awakening the Environmental Consciousness among the Generation Alpha

Abstract

Religious Education (RE) is one of the avenues through which environmental or ecological consciousness can be transmitted to people, particularly the youth (Nyamekye, 2019). The current generation of children who began being born in the year 2010, the Generation Alpha (Jha,2020), are the next cohort of university students to which Religious Educators must instill responsible stewardship over creation.

This paper posits that Religious educators’ role in influencing the Generation Alpha to become responsible stewards is challenged with the generation gap between them. The ubiquitous access to information through the internet and mobile devices makes Generation Alpha more informed and connected to global issues, including climate change and environmental degradation. Their deep digital engagement fosters a heightened awareness and understanding of sustainability challenges (Thomas, 2024).

This paper explores the ways that RE can respond to awakening environmental consciousness for Generation Alpha users through a review of selected faith based environmental groups in the Philippines. Specifically, the review will highlight the selected faith-based groups contribution to faith formation outside the classroom.