Research Article doi: 10.12973/eu-jer.8.4.1013 European Journal of Educational Research Volume 8, Issue 4, 1013 - 1028. ISSN: 2165-8714 http://www.eu-jer.com/ Extracurricular Environmental Activities in Moroccan Middle Schools: Opportunities and Challenges to Promoting Effective Environmental Education Bouchta El-Batri Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, MOROCCO Anouar Alami * Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, MOROCCO Moncef Zaki Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, MOROCCO Youssef Nafidi Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, MOROCCO Received: June 8, 2019 ▪ Revised: September 21, 2019 ▪ Accepted: October 4, 2019 Abstract: The study aims to promote relevant and effective environmental education (EE) through extracurricular clubs. For this, we studied the state of play of environmental activities (EA) carried out by 48 environmental clubs belonging to urban and rural areas of the Regional Academy of Education Fez-Meknes, Morocco. These extracurricular environmental clubs remain so far without formal environmental education programs. In this study, we identified the bulk of programs offered by extracurricular environment clubs, including types of scheduled activities and percentages of achievement and student beneficiaries in urban and rural settings. In addition, we have identified the main barriers to achieving certain environmental activities. The significant correlations detected between some of the variables studied allowed us to better explain the achievements and the weaknesses of these clubs. Finally, we have made recommendations to promote relevant and effective extracurricular environmental education. Keywords: Environmental education (EE), environmental activities (EA), environmental clubs, effective Program, student. To cite this article: El-Batri, B., Alami, A., Zaki, M., & Nafidi, Y. (2019). Extracurricular environmental activities in Moroccan middle schools: Opportunities and challenges to promoting effective environmental education. European Journal of Educational Research, 8(4), 1013-1028. http://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.8.4.1013 Introduction In Morocco, as in many other countries, man's behavior towards the environment has been awfully flawed (Asslouj, Kholtei, Amrani-Paaza, & Hilali, 2007; Boukhoubza et al., 2008). The Higher Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research (CSEFRS, 2015) in its strategic vision of the reform 2015-2030 (p.68) also focused on persistence of “incivility behaviors at school level and their environment such as non-respect of the environment and the public good”. However, a lot of research has examined the variables influencing responsible environmental behavior (Chawla & Cushing, 2007; Cialdini, Reno & Kallgren, 1990; Corraliza & Berenguer, 2000; Hines, Hungerford & Tomera, 1987; Hungerford & Volk, 1990; Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002; Malandrakis, Boyes & Stanisstreet, 2011; Pruneau et al., 2006; Skamp, Boyes & Stannistreet, 2009). The current research has agreed that pro-environmental behavior is so complex that we cannot summarize it in a single explanatory model, even though some researchers have tried to draw a predictor model of environmental behavior (Hines et al., 1987; Corraliza & Berenguer, 2000). However, studies that have evoked environmental behavior are generally of two types: the first tried to make more or less exhaustive studies on all the factors or variables that were found to have an influence on the environmental behavior. This is done through meta-analysis that takes advantage of the results of previous studies regardless of the context of each study. Thus, this aims to reach generalizations and predictions about environmental behavior (Hines, et al., 1987; Hungerford & Volk, 1990; Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). In this first type of research, they generally found two broad categories of factors: internal factors such as knowledge, awareness, motivation, values, attitudes, priorities etc.; and external factors such as institutional, economic, social, and cultural factors. The second type of research, represented by numerous works, tested the impact of one or more specific variables on a well-defined pro-environmental behavior and in a particular context, using qualitative and quasi- experimental methods (Bonaiuto, Carrus, Martorella & Bonnes, 2002; Chhokar, Dua, Taylor, Boyes & Stanisstreet, 2011; Cialdini, Reno & Kallgren, 1990; Corraliza & Berenguer, 2000; Hadjichambis, Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, Ioannou, * Corresponding author: Anouar Alami, LIRDIST, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Marhaz, department of chemistry, Fez, Morocco.  anouar.alami@usmba.ac.ma © 2019 The Author(s). Open Access - This article is under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).