Given the potential of music and artwork to engage people in environmental issues and learners in educational settings, and the lack of research on how primary school children engage with environmental education, this thesis aimed to explore the impact multimedia environmental education had on primary school pupils, their families and the environmental practices they carried out within the home using qualitative methods and social practice theory. Pupil engagement and underlying factors that helped or hindered any process of change were also studied. Observations of lessons and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 Key Stage 2 pupils, aged between seven and 12 years old, from four primary schools across Essex, Gloucestershire and Dorset in the UK. Interviews were also conducted with pupils’ families and teachers. Findings showed how pupils engaged with the multimedia environmental education programme in different ways, including actively, passively and not at all, and although pupils experienced some difficulties with the content, the songs and animations were engaged with positively, with pupils enjoying them and remembering their environmental lessons as a result. Different strategies were used by family members when discussing and actioning the environmental education, namely nagging and asking of permission by children, with family members both supporting and resisting requests, such as via ‘counter nags’. Limited impacts were found on practices within the domains of travel, energy and waste management, with numerous underlying factors impacting any process of change. By applying social practice theory to explore how primary school pupils engaged with multimedia environmental education, the impact this education had on families’ environmental practices in the home and underlying factors that impacted any process of change using qualitative methods, this thesis contributed to theory, literature, methodology and environmental education practitioners and policy. Avenues for future research, limitations, and the impact of COVID-19 are discussed.
