Week 8: Increasing Environmental Sustainability and Competence: The role of formal and informal education, Part 1
Introduction
The goals of this two-week topic are to familiarize students with the history of environmental education (EE), discuss the efforts to embed EE into laws and priorities on an international basis, and open students’ mindsets to the many forms that education can take in the worldwide push for environmental competence. This first week will introduce EE strategies for citizens, students and for pre-and in-service teachers from different countries and regions (e.g. Pacific, equatorial, etc.).
This Week, You Will be Expected to:
- Update your glossary with 5-10 key terms you learned this week.
- Understand the importance of regional, national, and international strategies and commitments to the EE of citizens, teachers, and students.
- Research an environmental problem that is regional, national or international, and create a means to incorporate different forms of formal/informal education to work towards solving that problem.
Questions to Consider Throughout this Week:
- What constitutes environmental competence?
- How can society work toward increasing the environmental competence of our teachers?
Readings and Content
- Environmental Competence
2. Environmental Education (EE)
Interpretations of EE in Different Regions of the World
-
- Bhat, S. A., Zahid, A. T., Sheikh, B. A., & Parrey, S. H. (2017). Environmental education in India: An approach to sustainable development. FIIB Business Review, 6(1), 14-21.
- United Nations Environment Program
- United States Environmental Protection Agency
- United States Environmental Protection Agency Facebook Page
A Brief History
-
- The Journal of Environmental Education, Vol. 41, Issue 1 (2009) is a special edition about where (the world and particularly the U.S.) have come from and are going regarding EE. Browse this issue.
- Environmental Education in the 21st Century: Theory, Practice, Progress and Promise
Comparing Comprehensive EE Strategies Across the Globe
3. Formal EE Across the Globe
-
- Jensen, B. B., & Schnack, K. (1997). The action competence approach in environmental education. Environmental education research, 3(2), 163-178.
- Explore how England has set up their policies and resources at: England’s Council for Learning Outside the Classroom
K-12
-
- Cooper, G. (2015). Outdoor Education, Environment and Sustainability. In B. Humberstone, H. Prince, & K. A. Henderson (Eds.), Routledge International handbook of outdoor studies (pp. 398-408). Routledge.
- Integrating Outdoor Learning Into the Curriculum: An Exploration in Four Nations
- Significant Scottish Outdoor Learning and Play Documents
- Crisis and Recovery in Environmental Education: The Case of Greece
Pre- and In-service Teacher Preparedness to Teach EE: Should EE be a Core Component of Teacher Education?
-
- Bamber, P., & Bullivant, A. (2014). Moving from the edge to the centre: The role of education for sustainable development/global citizenship in a meaningful curriculum. EG Magazine, 20(1), 11.
- Citizenship through Environmental Justice: A Case for Environmental Sustainability Education in Pre-service Teacher Training in Canada
- Sustainability Education and Teacher Education: Finding a Natural Habitat?
Post-Secondary Formats
-
- Browse: Shiel, C. (2012). Global vision, local action: Education for sustainable development and global citizenship. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference, Bournemouth. Bournemouth University.
Additional Resources You May Find Useful
-
- Cabezudo, A., Cicala, F., de Bivar Black, M. L., da Silva, M. (2019). Global education guidelines: Concepts and methodologies on global education for educators and policy makers. North-South Centre of the Council of Europe. [PARTICULARLY CHAPTER C].
- Quay, J., Gray, T., Thomas, G., Allen-Craig, S., Asfeldt, M., Andkjaer, S., … & Foley, D. (2020). What future/s for outdoor and environmental education in a world that has contended with COVID-19? Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 23(2), 93-117.
- Higher Education for Sustainability: Cases, Challenges, and Opportunities from Across the Curriculum.
- Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education Canadian Perspectives
- The EIC Model Website
