Showing papers in "Environmental Education Research in 2004"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors raise serious concerns about existing case-study research on sustainability in higher education, and their key concern is that the research does not live up to its potential for improvin...
Abstract: In this paper we raise serious concerns about existing case‐study research on sustainability in higher education. Our key concern is that the research does not live up to its potential for improvin...
315 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between environment-based education and high school students' critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking and found that, when controlling for pre-test score, grade point average (GPA), gender, and ethnicity, environment•based programs had a positive effect on 9th grade students' Critical thinking skills (p=.002).
Abstract: This study examined the relationship between environment‐based education and high school students' critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking. Four hundred four 9th and 12th grade students from 11 Florida high schools participated in the study. A Pretest‐Posttest Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design (9th grade) and a Posttest Only Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design (12th grade) were used. Interviews of students and teachers were used in the classic sense of triangulation. Data collection took place over the 2001–2002 school year. When controlling for pretest score, grade point average (GPA), gender, and ethnicity, environment‐based programs had a positive effect on 9th grade students' critical thinking skills (p=.002). When controlling for GPA, gender, and ethnicity, environment‐based programs had a positive effect on 12th grade students' critical thinking skills (p < .001) and disposition toward critical thinking (p < .001). The results of this study support the use of environm...
272 citations
TL;DR: There is a tendency to use case-study research methodology for research issues aiming at simply describing a complex situation, and to draw conclusions with insufficient rigour as discussed by the authors, and there is a need for sound case studies to describe complex situations.
Abstract: There is a tendency to use case‐study research methodology for research issues aiming at simply describing a complex situation, and to draw conclusions with insufficient rigour. Sound case‐study re...
146 citations
TL;DR: In this article, children from seven classes representing the year groups in a primary school were interviewed in groups of three or four to find out their understanding and views on issues related to the environment and science.
Abstract: Children from seven classes representing the year groups in a primary school were interviewed in groups of three or four to find out their understanding and views on issues related to the environment and science The large majority showed considerable interest and concern about environmental issues related to their experience and understanding, drawn from school and influences outside of the school, though most showed limitations and contradictions in their understanding of the issues The children's understanding of science was mainly limited to their experience of the subject at school and few showed any understanding of the impact of science on society or the environment Examples of children's cognitive and moral development of environmental issues are presented, including features of phases in the development, as identified from the interviews The implications for teaching science and environmental education are discussed
98 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored children's beliefs about global warming and energy sources from a psychological perspective, focusing upon situational influences upon subjective beliefs, including perceived self-efficacy, and found that cooperative learning environments can have a significant and positive effect upon children's belief about large-scale environmental problems.
Abstract: This paper explores children's beliefs about global warming and energy sources from a psychological perspective, focusing upon situational influences upon subjective beliefs, including perceived self‐efficacy. The context of the research is one of growing concern at the potential impacts of global warming, yet demonstrably low levels of self‐efficacy amongst both adults and children to effectively respond to this large‐scale environmental problem. Empirical research was conducted on a sample of 198 UK children and adults to explore the influence of a cooperative learning environment upon children's beliefs about global warming and energy. A comparative design was adopted, contrasting 9–12 year old members of the Woodcraft Folk educational organisation with non‐members of similar age and with adult members of the same organisation. Results indicate that cooperative learning environments can have a significant and positive effect upon children's beliefs about large‐scale environmental problems. In particula...
84 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe part of their research project that examines the use of Educational Drama in Education for Sustainability in the upper stages of the primary school (10 and 11-year-olds).
Abstract: In this paper, I describe part of my research project that examines the use of Educational Drama in Education for Sustainability in the upper stages of the primary school (10‐ and 11‐year‐olds). Central to the research is a small‐scale qualitative research study. Here, I describe the educational focus of the study and outline the methodology. Central to the study was a series of drama lessons (taught by me) based on environmental themes. The lessons link with some of the key aims in Education for Sustainability—to help young people to develop awareness, knowledge and concepts, to encourage positive attitudes and personal lifestyle decisions and to help them to acquire action skills in and for the environment. The locus is within the Scottish education system. A number of key data were generated during the teaching and evaluation of the lessons. These take the form of field notes, children's evaluations of their work and learning, observation schedules, taped interviews with participants and observers and ...
84 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined children's and adolescents' environmental awareness in rural Madagascar and found that children in rural areas of Madagascar are measurably aware of environmental issues and can relate them to human activities.
Abstract: This paper examines children's and adolescents' environmental awareness in rural Madagascar. Two types of school survey among 8‐ to 21‐year‐old students and pupils in 18 schools were used for data collection. The objective of this comparative study was to examine the environmental awareness and knowledge of children and adolescents living under different ecological conditions. The role of education in forming environmental awareness is also considered. This research was carried out in villages nearby Ranomafana National Park located in forested areas as well as in more environmentally degraded villages further from the park. The results of the study show that children in rural areas of Madagascar are measurably aware of environmental issues and can relate them to human activities. The effect of education on environmental concern is significant, but when the effects of degradation can be felt and seen in daily life there is an increase in this awareness. Children's environmental concern and demand for acti...
80 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a number of ways of classifying different types of case studies are identified and discussed, including positivistic, interpretive, and interpretive case studies, as well as case study methodology.
Abstract: After briefly describing case‐study methodology in general, a number of ways of classifying different types of case studies are identified and discussed, including positivistic, interpretive and cr...
73 citations
TL;DR: Hountondji et al. as discussed by the authors argued that the real problem is the very form of this coexistence, i.e., the form of knowledge and know-how.
Abstract: What, then, is the problem? Indigenous knowledge has not, or not entirely disappeared from the collective memory. It has not lost any parcel of its age old efficiency either. Besides, it should not be considered a problem that it coexists today with so called modern science (i.e. an imported, supposedly rational system of knowledge and know-how). The real problem is elsewhere: about the very form of this coexistence. (Hountondji, 2002, p. 24, emphasis original)
72 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the teaching beliefs of non-formal environmental educators who work in state and local parks and reveal that teaching beliefs are much more complex than purported in the literature.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the teaching beliefs of non‐formal environmental educators who work in state and local parks. Findings reveal that teaching beliefs are much more complex than purported in the literature. Three broad insights are offered: including roles and responsibilities of the non‐formal environmental educator, various approaches, and conceptions and characteristics of non‐formal environmental education. The implications are important for training future non‐formal environmental educators in local and state parks.
64 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored changes with age in children's conceptions of animals' needs, including how such conceptions may extend beyond the individual animal to larger systems and conservation, during attendance at a North American zoo, 171 children between the ages of 4 and 14 years were interviewed and did drawings in response to questions about the needs of a favorite animal.
Abstract: Understanding how children think about the needs of animals may aid bridging from how they care about individual animals to caring about the environment more generally. This study explored changes with age in children's conceptions of animals' needs, including how such conceptions may extend beyond the individual animal to larger systems and conservation. During attendance at a North American zoo, 171 children between the ages of 4 and 14 years were interviewed and did drawings in response to questions about the needs of a favorite animal. The results reported here focus on developmental patterns. Animals' basic physiological needs were grasped at an early age. Understanding ecological and conservation needs showed the strongest developmental trends across the full age range, with some children showing early proficiency in ecological, but not conservation, concepts. Conservation and ecological thinking appeared to follow different trajectories, especially through middle childhood, when other dimensions th...
TL;DR: A case study of school-community collaboration in an elementary community school in Israel follows up an environmental education (EE) school-based curriculum that involves the parents and community members in various indoors and outdoors activities as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A case study of school–community collaboration in an elementary community school in Israel follows up an environmental education (EE) school‐based curriculum that involves the parents and community members in various indoors and outdoors activities. The collaboration was established in the framework of the Community School Approach. In these schools, parents are encouraged to be involved in planning school‐based curriculum and participating in school's formal and informal activities. The aim of the study was to describe environmental education‐based school–community partnerships and to examine the advantages and limitations for such collaboration. Parents, teachers and community members were interviewed for a period of three years. Most of the participants acknowledged the unique nature of EE that allows such a partnership, emphasizing local ideas of project‐based learning in environmental education. The study describes an exemplary collaboration and the development of local school–community partnerships,...
TL;DR: This article used a theory of reasoned action approach to examine a unique type of behavior (nature-related activities) and a unique population (early adolescents) and found mild success in accounting for children's nature-related behaviors and intentions (R 2 =.05 to.33).
Abstract: The Theory of Reasoned Action has proven to be a valuable tool for predicting and understanding behavior and, as such, provides a potentially important basis for environmental education program design. This study used a Theory of Reasoned Action approach to examine a unique type of behavior (nature‐related activities) and a unique population (early adolescents). Participants (n = 164, ages 9–14) reported their attitudes, subjective norms, age, gender, behavioral intentions, and behaviors in a written questionnaire. Results showed mild success in accounting for children's nature‐related behaviors and intentions (R 2=.05 to .33). In general, the ability to predict intentions was greater than the ability to explain actual behaviors. Findings suggest that environmental educators should focus on attitudes when the goal is to achieve behavior change. Future research should compare a Theory of Reasoned Action approach with several alternative frameworks for explaining children's nature‐related behaviors, and inv...
TL;DR: In this paper, case studies are put to a variety of uses in investigating environmental and sustainability issues in higher education, such as document, describe, contextualize, and investigate.
Abstract: Case studies are put to a variety of uses in investigating environmental and sustainability issues in higher education. These uses include: to document, describe (in detail), contextualize, investi...
TL;DR: The epistemic unconscious is the history of the field and it is clear that, to secure some chance of really knowing what one is doing, one has to unfold what is inscribed in the various relations of implication in which the thinker and his thoughts are caught up, that is, the presuppositions he engages and the inclusions and exclusions he unwittingly performs.
Abstract: The epistemic unconscious is the history of the field. And it is clear that, to secure some chance of really knowing what one is doing, one has to unfold what is inscribed in the various relations of implication in which the thinker and his thoughts are caught up, that is, the presuppositions he engages and the inclusions and exclusions he unwittingly performs. (Bourdieu, 2000, p. 99)
TL;DR: The authors used J. M. Coetzee's portrayal of the dilemmas faced by African novelists as a point of departure in reflecting on the changing landscape of environmental education research in southern Africa as they have experienced it over six years.
Abstract: These multiple framings of our reflections on environmental education research in southern Africa are written as dilemmas of interpretation that aim to disrupt any temptation to generalise or essentialise its qualities and characteristics. Recognising that research is a textual practice, we use J. M. Coetzee's portrayal of the dilemmas faced by African novelists as a point of departure in reflecting on the changing landscape of environmental education research in southern Africa as we have experienced it over six years. We provide readings framed by reference to post-colonialism, changing epistemologies and methodologies, contexts of transformation and tension, the influence of international organisations such as the United Nations and its instrumentalities, and concerns about human rights and accountability. We conclude by affirming the post-colonialist trajectories of environmental education research in southern Africa and speculating on the distinctive possibilities that recovering ubuntu (an ethic of ...
TL;DR: The authors discuss the epistemological and philosophical tensions in employing traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) within the context of learning with sustainability in mind, and explore the theorization and practice of TEK-based environmental education in a context of discourses about sustainability and environmental education.
Abstract: The paper discusses the ‘value‐through‐utility’ argument as a key ingredient of environmental educators' interests in traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), and examines some of the epistemological and philosophical tensions it generates in employing TEK within the context of learning with sustainability in mind. In an earlier article (Reid et al., 2002), we argued that it is important to recognize that it is outsiders rather than insiders who usually conceptualize TEK. In this paper, we develop this point further, exploring the theorization and practice of TEK‐based environmental education in the context of discourses about sustainability and environmental education.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that there is a need, in southern Africa, to develop in-depth understanding in educational reform initiatives, and use nested approach to case-study methodology in the context of this initiative has assisted us to learn from these cases, and grapple with key issues of relevance to our practice.
Abstract: This paper argues that there is a need, in southern Africa, to develop in-depth understanding in educational reform initiatives. Through ongoing reflexive development of a professional development programme in environmental education, we have found that case-study methodology, which emphasizes context-dependent knowledge, is significant for learning about environmental and sustainability education in higher education. We draw on the case of the Gold Fields participatory certificate course programme, developed over a 10-year period in southern Africa and describe how use of a nested approach to case-study methodology in the context of this initiative has assisted us to learn from these cases, and grapple with key issues of relevance to our practice. We describe how a nested approach to case-study research has informed theory and practice in environmental education professional development, attesting to the value of context-dependent knowledge. Paradoxically, this approach to research has also resulted in increased tensions associated with the transfer of case learning within the broader institutional frameworks of higher education.
TL;DR: This article explored the nexus of embodiment and social praxis generally and more specifically in relation to the construct of race, and attempted to give it some attention so as to move it into the spaces of our dialogues and conversations.
Abstract: The body has been neglected and devalued in Western philosophy. This neglect and devaluation of the body is rooted in dualistic reasoning that has its origin in Greek philosophical thought, and reinforced by philosophers of science during the scientific revolution of 17th century Europe. Dualistic reasoning is in part the cause of current global environmental crises. Moreover, it underpins different approaches to environmental education. In this article I explore the nexus of embodiment and social praxis generally and more specifically in relation to the construct of race. Difference (including race difference) has been given scant attention in environmental education literature in South Africa and I attempt in this article to give it some attention so as to move it into the spaces of our dialogues and conversations.
TL;DR: The authors examined the professional stories of one Project Grow teacher, a 10-year-old collaborative collaborative learning program, in a case study that was situated within a larger narrative inquiry project.
Abstract: This single case study, situated within a larger narrative inquiry project, closely examines the professional stories told by one Project Grow teacher. Project Grow is a 10‐year‐old collaborative i...
TL;DR: In this paper, environmental education research and social change: Southern African perspectives is discussed. But the authors focus on the Southern African perspective and do not address the issues of racism and sexism.
Abstract: (2004). Environmental education research and social change: Southern African perspectives. Environmental Education Research: Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 291-295.
TL;DR: The authors argued that a conventionalist interpretation of the participatory/contextualist method of curriculum development should be avoided, arguing that conventionalism is covertly anti-epistemological in that it leads to the thesis that epistemic standards do not rest on truth/validity claims but on convention.
Abstract: My experience of teaching the Rhodes University/Speciss College Environmental Education Course in Zimbabwe alerted me to a tension between the industry course participants who largely (although not entirely) wanted a skills/vocational training orientation and the course curriculum developers, who wanted a critical/theoretical/praxis-based orientation to the course. This paper is an attempt to offer some resolution of the dilemma this provided the course developers. I begin by briefly describing the tension historically and internationally and giving an outline of Fairclough's (1999) position in its regard. I then suggest that a conventionalist interpretation of the participatory/contextualist method of curriculum development should be avoided, arguing that conventionalism is covertly anti-epistemological in that it leads to the thesis that epistemic standards do not rest on truth/validity claims but on convention (Haack, 1993, p. 20). Thus contextualisation, interpreted as conventionalism, becomes inheren...
TL;DR: In this paper, students trained to become teachers of science to children aged between 7 to 11 years used principles of reflective practice linked to participatory approaches in their curriculum planning and evaluation.
Abstract: Students training to become teachers of science to children aged between 7 to 11 years used principles of reflective practice linked to participatory approaches in their curriculum planning and evaluation. A central part of the work was to enable them to introduce aspects of education for sustainability to their pupils. Students first undertook a process of clarifying their ideas and concerns about education for sustainability. They went on to develop aims that should help them to achieve a series of objectives that they identified. Teaching schemes were created and trialled in the classroom. A semi‐quantitative evaluation instrument was devised based on the objectives that had been set, allowing judgements to be made about the effectiveness of the teaching approaches used.
TL;DR: The ENVISION professional development model uses active teacher involvement in inquiry and inquiry-based teaching to enhance teachers' understandings about inquirybased study of local environmental problems and teaching science using inquiry as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The ENVISION professional development model uses active teacher involvement in inquiry and inquiry‐based teaching to enhance teachers' understandings about inquiry‐based study of local environmental problems and teaching science using inquiry. Teachers also design and implement professional development for their school‐based colleagues about teaching environmental science through inquiry. Therefore, professional development is conducted at two levels. ENVISION staff train teachers directly (called Level I participants) and these Level I participants in turn train their school colleagues (called Level II participants). The study reported here was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of this dual‐level professional development strategy. Results based on the first two years of the program revealed that: Level I participants enhanced their understanding of inquiry and inquiry teaching, with 25 out 30 (83%) changing their classroom practice; and that 21 out of 31 (68%) of Level II participants changed their ...
TL;DR: The Seminar on Research and Development in Health and Environmental Education (SDE) 7th meeting in 2003 in Anchorage, Alaska as mentioned in this paper was a seminal event in the development of health education.
Abstract: In October 2003, the seventh meeting of the Seminar on Research and Development in Health and Environmental Education took place in Anchorage. What follows here are ®ve re ̄ective commentaries on that event. The ®rst, by Paul Hart and M. J. Barrett, contextualizes the event from the perspective of two people who shouldered the burdens of organization. There then follow the thoughts of four of the forty, or so, participants: Karsten Schnack, Janet Dyment, Jim Taylor and Charlotte Clark. EER is pleased to publish all these accounts in order to mark what everyone present seemed to regard as a signi®cant (and enjoyable) event in the development of the ®eld. Other re ̄ections on this or related events will, as ever, be welcomed.
TL;DR: In this article, a Delphi study was conducted at Dalhousie University in which a multi-stakeholder panel was consulted in order to generate ideas that could be incorporated into an Implementation Plan for the University Environmental Policy (UEP).
Abstract: This paper reports on a Delphi Study undertaken at Dalhousie University in which a multi‐stakeholder panel was consulted in order to generate ideas that could be incorporated into an Implementation Plan for the University Environmental Policy (UEP). The objectives of the study were twofold. First, the study endeavored to develop ideas as to the most desirable and feasible ways in which to incorporate the UEP into the activities and structure of the university. Second, the study sought to assess the applicability of the Delphi Technique for consulting with stakeholders in the development of an implementation plan. The final analyses confirm the literature on the challenges, barriers and opportunities encountered for institutional environmental change in higher education. The study also confirms the findings of existing research that promotes the Delphi Technique as an excellent tool to inform the creation of educational and social policy. Specifically, this study illustrates the benefits of applying the Po...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a case study which demonstrates how a practice of scholarship in environmental education can be in conflict with conventions related to the construct of scholarship at institutional and broader a...
Abstract: For more than a decade the traditional roles of universities and the traditional and conventional views of scholarship (academic work) have been called into question. These shifts in the academe have led to the introduction of various forms of practice, which has often resulted in conflicting viewpoints and tensions. Restructuring in higher education in South Africa (as elsewhere) has been linked to global, social and economic trends and a general decrease in revenue for universities from state sources (Jansen, 2001; Mora & Villarreal, 2001). This has forced universities into an entrepreneurial culture which has had far reaching implications for the work of academics. This has led to conflict between intrinsic work motivation and working towards extrinsic reward systems. In this paper we describe a university-based case study which demonstrates how a practice of scholarship in environmental education can be in conflict with conventions related to the construct of scholarship at institutional and broader a...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report on findings from a recent collaborative participatory action research study that involved a group of teachers from two Kenyan schools in a review and development of interpretation resources and materials and highlight that interpretation is a learning process in which meaning is created jointly in a specific context.
Abstract: This paper reports on findings from a recent collaborative participatory action research study that involved a group of teachers from two Kenyan schools in a review and development of interpretation resources and materials. It focuses on an engaging process between teachers and non-formal educators in which interpretive capital (the tools and skills of interpretation) were socially constructed, shared and made available for the transformation of school grounds to foster environmental learning. The concept of 'mobilising interpretive capital' has been applied to describe the process of generating theoretical and practical accounts of the symbolic capital within non-formal education organisations. Social construction and circulation of interpretive capital for transformation of school grounds as discussed in this paper highlights that interpretation is a learning process in which meaning is created jointly in a specific context. The teacher-centred approach adopted in this study provides an example of how r...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the need to further environmental education research within a context in which local government, local business and tertiary institutions are viewed as interlinked components of the development process.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the need to further environmental education research within a context in which local government, local business and tertiary institutions are viewed as interlinked components of the development process. Research and interaction with local stakeholders offers an opportunity to chart a path that intersects and then fuses environmental education with that of environmental and development practice. The paper focuses on three research initiatives that highlight the intrinsic need to create a learning society and how to gain more robust recognition for the role of environmental education research as a developmental process. The three research initiatives deal with the integration of environmental management systems thinking in local government (case 1), how a local government envisaged environmental education campaign constitutes challenges for environmental education research (case 2), and how pollution highlights the need for partnerships in addressing the Polluter Pays Principle (case 3...