Showing papers on "Environmental education published in 2009"

The Child in the Garden: An Evaluative Review of the Benefits of School Gardening

Abstract: Although educators widely use school gardens for experiential education, researchers have not systematically examined the evaluative literature on school-gardening outcomes. The author reviewed the U. S. literature on children's gardening, taking into account potential effects, school-gardening outcomes, teacher evaluations of gardens as learning tools, and methodological issues. Quantitative studies showed positive outcomes of school-gardening initiatives in the areas of science achievement and food behavior, but they did not demonstrate that children's environmental attitude or social behavior consistently improve with gardening. Validity and reliability issues reduced general confidence in these results. Qualitative studies documented a wider scope of desirable outcomes, including an array of positive social and environmental behaviors. Gardening enthusiasm varies among teachers, depending on support and horticultural confidence.

Using mobile learning to increase environmental awareness

Abstract: Mobile learning or m-learning, a relatively new concept, has attracted the interest of educators, researchers, and companies developing learning systems and instructional materials. This study investigated the use of integrating use of mobile technologies, data services, and multimedia messaging systems to increase students' use of mobile technologies and to develop environmental awareness. Data was collected using ''usefulness of mobile learning systems'' questionnaire from a sample consisting of 20 male and 21 female undergraduates enrolled in computer education and instructional technologies classes at the Near East University in North Cyprus. Students voluntarily participated in a six-week program using mobile telephones to transmit photographs of local environmental blights and to exchange pictures and observations. Participants learned ways to maintain clean environments and increased their awareness of environmental concerns. Responses on questionnaire differed significantly based upon gender and grade.

Revealing the Research "Hole" of Early Childhood Education for Sustainability: A Preliminary Survey of the Literature.

Abstract: In 2007, Environmental Education Research dedicated a special issue to childhood and environmental education. This paper makes a case for ‘early childhood’ to also be in the discussions. Here, I am referring to early childhood as the before‐school years, focusing on educational settings such as childcare centres and kindergartens. This sector is one of the research ‘holes’ that Reid and Scott ask the environmental education community to have the ‘courage to discuss’. This paper draws on a survey of Australian and international research journals in environmental education and early childhood education seeking studies at their intersection. Few were found. Some studies explored young children’s relationships with nature (education in the environment). A smaller number discussed young children’s understandings of environmental topics (education about the environment). Hardly any centred on young children as agents of change (education for the environment). At a time when there is a growing literature showing...

Education for sustainable development beyond attitude change

Abstract: Purpose – Many education for sustainable development (ESD) programs are designed to change attitudes and values toward the natural environment. However, psychological research indicates that several factors in addition to attitude influence behavior, including contextual support, social norms, action difficulty, and habitual behavior. Thus, if attitude change is to translate into altered behavior, education must extend beyond attitudes to assist people to act in ways consistent with their values. The purpose of this paper is to review the psychological research showing weak correlation between attitudes and behavior, the factors that mediate this relationship, and to describe the implications of these findings for university institutions and ESD programs.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is organized as a review and editorial article, describing relevant research, and outlining implications and suggested actions.Findings – The results of the reviewed research indicate that attitude‐behavior correlat...

Developing a Whole-of-University Approach to Educating for Sustainability: Linking Curriculum, Research and Sustainable Campus Operations.

Abstract: Institutions of higher education are poised to play a significant role in the search for a more sustainable future. Most universities are tackling sustainability issues in a compartmentalised manne...

Introducing a fifth pedagogy: experience‐based strategies for facilitating learning in natural environments

Abstract: Educators have identified four categories of ‘productive pedagogies’ that are considered to lead to authentic student engagement and learning in the classroom. This study was designed to explore and extend these pedagogies in the context of learning in natural environments, in particular, through the programmes of Queensland environmental education centres. In‐depth interview and observation data were collected from students, classroom teachers and centre teachers who had participated in 12 environmental education programmes across Queensland, in order to identify the strategies that are most effective in facilitating learning in the natural environment. A fifth productive pedagogy category, ‘experience‐based learning’, is proposed. Experience‐based learning is particularly important in addressing students’ environmental attitudes and actions. The implications for the delivery of environmental education programmes both within and outside the classroom are discussed.

The National Environmental Literacy Project: A Baseline Study of Middle Grade Students in the United States

Abstract: The authors discuss environmental literacy in the United States and present a brief summary of the results of a major national study designed to attain a baseline measure of environmental literacy among middle school students in the United States The authors include events that led up to the study and desctibe future directions for environmental literacy assessment.

Preparing Sustainability-Literate Teachers

Abstract: Background/Context: This article explores sustainability as an emerging paradigm for preservice preparation of teachers. Sustainability education, which is rooted in Deweyan ideas about the fundamental social purposes of schooling, attends to the tensions created by the interconnectedness of environmental, economic, and social equity systems. Sustainability education extends but does not replace environmental education or education for sustainable development, although the latter is considered a problematic idea. Purpose/ Focus of Study: Nine themes that occur frequently in the sustainability discourse are explored as the basis for sustainability literacy, a complex construct validated through collection of multiple sources of evidence. Specific strategies for integrating sustainability education into the preservice preparation of teachers are linked to a framework for teacher learning that addresses curricular vision, understandings about teaching, dispositions, and professional practices. Research Design: The article is an analytic essay that examines existing literature in the area of sustainability education and maps this work onto current research pertaining to the preparation of beginning teachers. Conclusions: Sustainability education represents a new paradigm for the preparation of teachers. It can help new teachers develop a curricular vision that addresses the fundamental social purposes of education in the context of an uncertain 21st century. Sustainability education also can stimulate a conversation about the role of teacher education in the creation and solution of global environmental and social justice challenges.

Childhood Development and Access to Nature: A New Direction for Environmental Inequality Research

Abstract: Although environmental inequality researchers have increased our understanding of race- and class-based environmental inequality in many important ways, few environmental inequality studies ask whether children are disproportionately burdened by environmental pollution or whether poor and minority youth are less likely than their White and wealthier counterparts to spend time in green spaces and the natural world This gap in the literature undermines the ability of researchers to fully understand and explain environmental inequality To demonstrate the importance of filling this gap, the authors (a) highlight current research findings from the environmental health, environmental education, and environmental psychology literatures regarding the cognitive, emotional, and physical importance of childhood exposure to nature and (b) summarize the few existing studies that have examined class- and race-based inequalities in children's exposure to the natural world and industrial environmental hazards The authors then suggest several avenues of research that would, if undertaken, significantly increase our understanding of youth-based environmental inequality By synthesizing findings across multiple disciplines, the authors hope to convince environmental inequality researchers of the importance of investigating children's differential exposure to nature, green spaces, and industrial environmental hazards

Environmental literacy of pre‐service teachers in Israel: a comparison between students at the onset and end of their studies

Abstract: The adequate preparation of teacher education students in environmental education is a prerequisite for their future ability to design and implement effective environmental education. This longitudinal study compared the environmental literacy of 214 students at the onset and towards the end of their studies, in three academic colleges of education in Israel. A questionnaire and a paired pre‐test–post‐test design were used to explore environmental literacy variables and their perceptions regarding the contribution of their college studies to their environmental literacy and worldviews. Students towards the end of their studies reported increased involvement in most of the study’s environmental behaviour categories as compared to the beginning. Despite this, the pattern characterizing their environmental behaviour did not change: a negative relationship was found between the frequency at which they engaged in different behaviour categories and the environmental‐commitment‐level of the corresponding categor...

Youth and Environmental Action: Perspectives of Young Environmental Leaders on Their Formative Influences

Abstract: The authors conducted interview research with young environmental leaders to discover the past influences that they perceive have contributed to their current involvement in environmental action. In all, 12 young people participated in semistructured, in-depth interviews. They met clear criteria including positive environmental attitudes, behavior, initiative, and involvement in multiple spheres of action. The main self-identified influences on their environmental action were parents, experiences outdoors in childhood, friends, role models, teachers, and youth groups and conferences or gatherings. These results build on and extend previous research on significant life experiences of adult environmentalists and also deepen the understanding of the nature and combination of these influences with young people.

Applying a resilience systems framework to urban environmental education

Abstract: A growing body of literature on community gardening, watershed restoration, and similar ‘civic ecology’ practices suggests avenues for integrating social and ecological outcomes in urban natural resources management. In this paper, we argue that an environmental education programme in which learning is situated in civic ecology practices also has the potential to address both community and environmental goals. Further, we suggest that civic ecology practices and related environmental education programmes may foster resilience in urban social‐ecological systems, through enhancing biological diversity and ecosystem services, and through incorporating diverse forms of knowledge and participatory processes in resource management. By proposing interrelationships among natural resources management, environmental education, and social‐ecological systems, we hope to open up discussion of a research agenda focusing on the role of environmental education in systems processes and resilience.

Phenomenological Deconstruction, Slow Pedagogy, and the Corporeal Turn in Wild Environmental/Outdoor Education.

Abstract: A “slow pedagogy of place” in (environmental/outdoor) education has been enacted by the two authors over the past three years in a third year under-graduate semester-long unit named Experiencing the Australian Landscape. An integrated practical and theoretical, de- and reconstruction of fast pedagogies is now needed, we believe, if education is to make a positive contribution to overcoming the ecologically problematic human condition. Experiencing the Australian Landscape fosters an embodied sensory-percep- tual and conceptual-theoretical “sense” or “possibility” of place while assisting its participants to understand the relations of their body and nature, in time and space, as they are experienced phenomenologically. We hope the notion of a slow ecopedagogy prompts a reversal of the precarious prospects for experiential education in schooling and acts as a critique of the “take-away” pedagogies proliferating in education.

System Thinking Skills at the Elementary School Level.

Abstract: This study deals with the development of system thinking skills at the elementary school level. It addresses the question of whether elementary school students can deal with complex systems. The sample included 40 4th grade students from one school in a small town in Israel. The students studied an inquiry-based earth systems curriculum that focuses on the hydro-cycle. The program involved lab simulations and experiments, direct interaction with components and processes of the water cycle in the outdoor learning environment and knowledge integration activities. Despite the students' minimal initial system thinking abilities, most of them made significant progress with their ability to analyze the hydrological earth system to its components and processes. As a result, they recognized interconnections between components of a system. Some of the students reached higher system thinking abilities, such as identifying interrelationships among several earth systems and identifying hidden parts of the hydrological system. The direct contact with real phenomena and processes in small scale scenarios enabled these students to create a concrete local water cycle, which could later be expanded into large scale abstract global cycles. The incorporation of outdoor inquiry-based learning with lab inquiry-based activities and knowledge integration assignments contributed to the 4th grade students' capacity to develop basic system thinking abilities at their young age. This suggests that although system thinking is regarded as a high order thinking skill, it can be developed to a certain extent in elementary school. With a proper long-term curriculum, these abilities can serve as the basis for the development of higher stages of system thinking at the junior–high/middle school level. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 540–563, 2010

Psychological science's contributions to a sustainable environment: extending our reach to a grand challenge of society.

Abstract: Climate change and degradation of the environment are global problems associated with many other challenges (e.g., population increases, reduction of glaciers, and loss of critical habitats). Psychological science can play a critical role in addressing these problems by fostering a sustainable environment. Multiple strategies for fostering a sustainable environment could draw from the diversity of topics and areas of specialization within psychology. Psychological research on fostering environmentally sustainable behaviors is rather well developed, as illustrated by interventions focusing on education of the public, message framing, feedback, decision making, the media, incentives and disincentives, and social marketing. Other sciences and professions as well as religion and ethics are actively involved in fostering a sustainable environment. Psychology ought to be more involved directly, systematically, and visibly to draw on our current knowledge and to have palpable impact. We would serve the world very well and in the process our discipline and profession.

Developing citizens and communities through youth environmental action

Abstract: Although several studies have examined learning outcomes of environmental action experiences for youth, little is known about the aims motivating practitioners to involve youth in action creating positive environmental and social change, nor how practitioners perceive success. This research explored through phenomenological interviews practitioners’ purposes for using an environmental action approach. Practitioners in this inquiry, who engaged youth in action addressing a range of environmental issues in varied programmatic and community contexts in the US, expressed multifaceted aims motivating their educational practice. Interpretation of practitioners’ stories with respect to their purposes and perceptions of success contributed to a conceptual framework relating environmental action to the development of citizens and sustainable communities. Whereas others have described the stages and learning outcomes of environmental action, this inquiry illustrates the potential of environmental action for concurr...

Curriculum Change in Universities Conditions that Facilitate Education for Sustainable Development

Abstract: Many universities have begun to introduce curriculum innovation and change to facilitate the curricular integration of generic skills underlying education for sustainable development (ESD). However, the literature and research in the area to date show few successful examples of comprehensive large-scale curriculum change. From the literature on curriculum change in universities, we identify the conditions that have been reported to facilitate such change. We then report on two surveys that explored academic perceptions of the conditions that influence curriculum change, one of a sample of Australian academics and the other of a sample of international academics involved with ESD. We discuss the survey findings and outline implications for those attempting to introduce ESD curriculum change at universities.

Exploring the resistance: An Australian perspective on educating for sustainability in early childhood

Abstract: Climate change and sustainability are issues of global significance. While other education sectors have implemented education for sustainability for many years, the early childhood sector has been slow to take up this challenge. This position paper poses the question: Why has this sector been so slow to engage with sustainability? Explanations are proposed based on a review of research literature and the authors’ long engagement in seeking to bring early childhood education and education for sustainability together. The imperative is for the early childhood sector to engage in education for sustainability without delay and to ‘get active’ for a sustainable future.

Assessment and evaluation

Abstract: This chapter outlines two assessment-related issues – the measurement contributions that have accrued from the development of a national reporting engine for assessment (asTTle), and research on the conceptions of assessment held by teachers and how this affects their assessment decisions and interpretations.Assessment relates to the identification of characteristics, and evaluation relates to the establishment of value and worth of a product, process, person, policy or programme. Assessment refers to ‘What’s so?’ and evaluation to ‘So what?’ Both depend on high-quality measurement, and both focus on the qualities, degrees, and characteristics of student learning of the material deemed important by society and identified in the curriculum. The validity and reliability of such assessments and evaluations depend on our ability to specify what is to be learned and defensible measures of progress in each curriculum domain.

Students' Developing Understanding of Water in Environmental Systems

Abstract: The authors developed a framework of empirically grounded curricular goals for waterscience literacy and documented the challenges that students face in achieving these goals. Waterrelated environmental science literacy requires an understanding of connected natural and human-engineered systems at multiple scales ranging from atomic—molecular (changes of state and solutions) to large (watersheds, aquifers, and human water-purification and distribution systems). The authors' assessments of students from upper elementary school through high school suggest that virtually all students have some important understandings of water on which educators can build. Yet, the authors found that most students do not systematically trace water and other materials through systems and do not account for invisible aspects of water systems at the atomic—molecular and landscape scales. The results revealed a contrast between students' informal accounts of water in environmental systems and scientific accounts of these systems...

Promoting children's mental, emotional and social health through contact with nature: a model.

Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to determine educators' perceptions about the benefits of contact with nature for children's mental, emotional and social healthDesign/methodology/approach – The approach was exploratory using qualitative methods Face‐to‐face interviews were conducted with school principals and teachers as well as professionals from the environmental education industry Interviews focused on the perceived benefits for children's health from school activities involving hands‐on contact with natureFindings – Hands‐on contact with nature is perceived by educators to improve self‐esteem, engagement with school and a sense of empowerment, among other benefits Different types of activities are perceived to have different outcomes A model is proposed to illustrate the findingsResearch limitations/implications – Activities involving hands‐on contact with nature may have significant health outcomes for children Further empirical work is needed to determine the extent of the benefits and provide fur

Multicultural School Gardens: Creating Engaging Garden Spaces in Learning about Language, Culture, and Environment.

Abstract: Children’s gardening programs have enjoyed increasing popularity in recent years. An Australian environmental education non-profit organization implemented a program, entitled Multicultural Schools Gardens, in disadvantaged (low-income) schools that used food gardening as a focus for implementing a culturally-focused environmental education program. While the program included the well documented educational, social, and health benefits of growing food, gardening and cooking were also utilized as leverage in learning about culture, language (English as a Second Language), and environment. Alongside the program’s implementation, a combined methods research approach was applied to gauge children’s learning experiences as program participants. Part of this process involved children researching their own practice, accompanied by researcher interviews and observations with students and teachers. This paper presents an inquiry into practice involving one site, revealing how a culturally diverse school with a high proportion of migrant and refugee families created an engaging garden space. This space led to a strong sense of belonging among students who were formerly dislodged from their birthplaces, together with providing opportunities for learning English language and forming connections to the local environment. The paper provides food for thought with respect to the potential for children’s gardening to transcend language and cultural differences.

Contemporary Challenges and Opportunities in Environmental Education: Where Are We Headed and What Deserves Our Attention?

Abstract: Over the past four decades, numerous professionals in the field of environmental education (EE) have attempted to take stock of conditions within and outside of EE. In turn, many used the results of their analyses to describe challenges to and opportunities for EE. Many of these challenges and opportunities continue to ring true today, although the purpose of this article is not to explore those, but to explore several contemporary challenges and opportunities. The first challenge posed is to continue to expand and make use of the range of professional development opportunities within the field, such as is apparent in several of NAAEE's sets of Guidelines and related initiatives, particularly as the field continues to grow in numbers and in different directions. A second challenge pertains to the need for increased attention to sustainability in developed and developing nations' contexts, the rapid growth of “Education for Sustainability” (ESD) since UNCED, and the need to maintain clarity over the comple...

The effects of outdoor science lessons with elementary school students on preservice teachers’ self-efficacy

Abstract: Teachers’ self-efficacy develops based on their appraisal of their experience with a task or similar tasks. Elementary science education should provide opportunities for students to experience science learning opportunities in authentic settings. This retrospective study describes one example of preservice teachers teaching elementary school students environmental science lessons in the outdoors during their science methods course. The preservice teachers’ recognition of the students’ enthusiasm and excitement of learning science in the outdoors positively impacted their confidence level as future teachers of science and helped them recognize the potential for using the outdoor setting as an effective location for science instruction.

Responsible Environmental Action: Its Role and Status In Environmental Education and Environmental Quality

Abstract: This century will be one of continued global population growth, technological advancement, and subsequent burdens on the natural world from consumer demands. A citizenry capable of understanding the complexity of environmental issues and actively participating in their resolutions is vital. The ultimate goal of environmental educators should be to facilitate the creation of this active citizenry. The means by which educators achieve this goal are equally important. Student autonomy in issue investigations and action planning should supplant coercive, advocacy programs if a new generation of critical thinkers is to solve new environmental problems and maintain or improve environmental quality on both the local and global scales. To date, nearly all evaluations of environmental education (EE) have focused on educational outcomes. Evaluations of impacts to environmental quality linked to actions resulting from EE efforts will be necessary if this discipline is to remain relevant in a world facing a century o...

Environmental Education for the 21st Century: Where Do We Go Now?.

Abstract: In 1990, Congress passed the National Environmental Education Act, thereby charging the United States Environmental Protection Agency with providing national leadership to increase environmental literacy. Since the first appropriation in 1992, almost $100M has been spent to increase the public's awareness of environmental issues; nevertheless, the author believes that the Act is outdated and was not written to provide for systemic change. With the recently increased attention to global warming and climate change, many in the environmental education field believe that environmental education is a critical tool for engaging the public and that opportunities exist to increase resources. The author suggests that now may be the time to consider new environmental education legislation that is more systemic in nature and that provides substantive increases in funding for national-level grants, educator training, and research initiatives. The author also suggests broadening the scope of strategic-level conversati...

Secondary School Teachers’ Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Renewable Energy Sources

Abstract: Investigating knowledge, perceptions as well as attitudes of public that concern various aspects of environmental issues is of high importance for Environmental Education. An integrated understanding of these parameters can properly support the planning of Environmental Education curriculum and relevant educational materials. In this survey we investigated knowledge and attitudes of secondary school teachers in Greece towards renewable energy sources, particularly wind and solar energy systems. A questionnaire with both open and close questions was used as the main methodological instrument. Findings revealed that although teachers were informed about renewable energy sources and well disposed towards these sources, they hardly expressed clear positions regarding several issues about wind and solar energy technologies and farms. Moreover such themes are limited integrated in teaching either as extra curricular educational programs or through the curriculum. These findings cannot confirm that teachers could influence students’ opinion towards renewable energy systems. Thus, authorities should invest more in Environmental Education and relevant Teachers' Education.

Components of Environmental Literacy in Elementary Science Education Curriculum in Bulgaria and Turkey.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to analyze the extent to which science education objectives in elementary schools addressed to the six basic components of environmental literacy (EL), and how this attention differed from Bulgaria to Turkey. The main method in the study involved comparative content analysis of these objectives. The courses sampled for Bulgaria include “The Human Being and Nature”, “Biology and Health Education”, “Chemistry and Environmental Protection” and “Physics and Astronomy”. The course sampled for Turkey is “Science and Technology Education”. Content analysis of these objectives reveals that all components of environmental literacy did not receive the same attention. For example in both countries most attention was given to knowledge, less to skills and attitudes, and little to environmentally responsible behavior (ERB).

Self-Determination Theory as a Guide to Fostering Environmental Motivation

Abstract: Fostering environmental motivation to perform proenvironmental behaviors is an implicit goal of most environmental education (EE) programs. However, an inadequate amount of research has offered insight into how educators can foster environmental motivation through instruction, and the few studies that address this topic share a single theoretical perspective. The present author explored self-determination theory (SDT) as an alternative research paradigm to fostering environmental motivation in the EE classroom. The author describes SDT's theoretical underpinnings, discusses its potential application to EE, and proposes 3 potentially fruitful avenues of research.