That any rational and accountable being should ever have been found to oppose the progress of truth, is truly humiliating; yet every page of history, which records the developement of new principles, exhibits also the outbreakings of prejudice and selfishness. The deductions of Galileo, of Newton, of Harvey, and innumerable others, have been opposed and denounced, each in its turn; while their promoters have been vilified as empyrics or innovators. Nor has this been done by those only whose self love or worldly interests prompted them to exclude the truth, but by good and honourable men, whose prejudices were strong, and whose zeal was not guided by discretion. Such persons have frequently been found to shut their eyes against the plainest truths, to wrestle with their own convictions, and positively refuse even to listen to evidence. The same thing may happen with regard to education;—and this is no pleasing prospect to the lover of peace, who sets himself forward as a reformer in this noble work.—Change is inevitable. Teaching is an art; and it must, like all the other arts, depend for its improvement upon the investigations of science. Now, every one knows, that although the cultivation of chemistry, and other branches of natural science, has, of late years, given an extraordinary stimulus to the arts, yet the science of education, from which the art of teaching can alone derive its power, is one, beyond the threshold of which modern philosophy has scarcely entered. Changes, therefore, both in the theory and practice of teaching, may be anticipated;—and that these changes will be inconvenient and annoying to many, there can be no doubt. That individuals, in these circumstances, should be inclined to deprecate and oppose these innovations and improvements, is nothing more than might be expected; but that the improvements themselves should on that account be either postponed or abandoned, would be highly injurious. An enlightened system of education is peculiarly the property of the public, on which both personal, family, and national happiness in a great measure depends. These interests therefore must not be sacrificed to the wishes or the convenience of private individuals. The prosperity and happiness of mankind are at stake; and the welfare of succeeding generations will, in no small degree, be influenced by the establishment of sound principles in education at the present time. Nothing, therefore, should be allowed to mystify or cripple that science, upon which the spread and the permanence of all useful knowledge mainly rest.

Bu çalışmanın amacı, okul öncesi eğitimi alan öğretmen adaylarının sürdürülebilir yaşama yönelik farkındalıklarının belirlenmesinde çevre eğitimi aracı olarak kullanılan ekolojik ayak izi uygulamalarının etkisini incelemektir Yapılan analizlerden elde edilen sonuçlar şunlardır: Öğretmen adaylarının sürdürülebilir yaşama yönelik farkındalık puanlarının hesabı ve ekolojik ayak izi hesaplamalarının uygulaması sonucunda,  Türkiye’nin ekolojik ayak izi raporunda ortaya çıkan ortalama ekolojik ayak izinin öğretmen adaylarının testleri sonucu ortaya çıkan ekolojik ayak izinden daha düşük olduğu görülmüştür. Yani çevreye bıraktıkları iz Türk toplumuna göre daha küçüktür. Ekolojik ayak izi hesaplamaları sonucunda öğretmen adaylarının ekolojik ayak izine etkiyi en çok mallar ve hizmetler alanı yaparken en az seyahat alanının katkıda bulunduğu görülmüştür. Okul öncesi kız öğretmen adaylarının erkek öğretmen adaylarına göre ekolojik ayak izleri daha küçüktür.

Bu nedenle çevre eğitimi ders programlarının ve dersin işlenişi gözden geçirilmelidir önerisinde bulunulmuştur. Ayrıca okul öncesi öğretmen adaylarının ekolojik ayak izleri erkek adaylara göre daha küçük olduğu, erkek öğrencilere yönelik etkinliklere çevre eğitiminde daha çok yer verilmesi gerekliği önerisinde bulunulmuştur.