Environmental education in kiwi schools
In today’s world we are faced with many environmental and sustainability issues. These issues range from global climate change to national water use to local waste disposal. The issues are complex and there are many different perspectives on how to address them. One thing is pretty much agreed upon by everyone though – we all want to sustain this planet so that our children and their children and theirs and so on can continue to enjoy the quality of life that we ourselves aspire to. The big question is; how do we do this? This is where environmental and sustainability education seeks to help.
Environmental education began in New Zealand in much the same way that it did in other parts of the world – on field trips and camps, with students doing nature studies and learning about wild places. As global concerns grew about the way people were consuming resources, creating pollution and other environmental problems, calls went out for more concerted efforts in educating the public, including children, about these issues and how to live for a more sustainable future.
In response to this call, in 1999 the New Zealand government provided guidelines and training for some teachers on how to include environmental education in their teaching. The guidelines training grew into a programme of school advisors who visited schools to help teachers include environmental education in their teaching and this was very successful. These advisers worked with teachers and their students to explore environmental and sustainability ideas within their traditional subjects, like science, social studies and arts.
Another highly successful initiative in environmental and sustainability education that began through local government is the Enviroschools Programme. From small beginnings in Hamilton, this programme has spread to more than 700 schools throughout the country; that’s 25% of all schools. Becoming an Enviroschool means gaining access to resources and people who can support the development of environmental and sustainability education. The programme helps engage a school with its local community as they work together to understand and address the environmental and sustainability issues around them.
Environmental and sustainability education aims to achieve two things; show students that environmental and sustainability issues are complex and need to be looked at in several ways; and that having done so, students are better equipped to make informed decisions about addressing these issues. Environmental and sustainability education has never been about brain-washing young people into certain beliefs and practices but about giving them the knowledge and skills to decide what needs to be done in the future. This emphasis on building students’ competence to think and act in sustainable ways for the future is at the core of what environmental and sustainability education is all about.
This philosophy of action has led to some wonderful achievements within schools. At Hukanui Primary School in Hamilton, a series of student groups worked with their teacher over five years to design and build an eco-classroom, with the support of their community. The classroom, dubbed the Living Room, not only provides a space for education but also a workshop in which students can study the effects of insulation, heating and sustainable materials for years to come.
Yet it is not all about big achievements. Equally important are the many teachers who involve students in learning about and practicing sustainable waste management in the school grounds, and whose students influence their families to consider new behaviours at home. Or the many school groups who undertake restorative native plantings in their local communities, often in partnership with community groups, to enhance plant and bird life, or improve water quality in the local waterways.
A recent study of the Enviroschools Programme and the school advisory service showed overwhelming support from schools for the work they were doing with them. Through environmental and sustainability education, teachers reported increased engagement by children in their learning and their clear desire to take a more active part in determining their own futures.
These children will inherit the world from us and environmental and sustainability education provides the best possible start we can give them. Supporting your children and their schools to do this would be a great investment.
By Dr Chris Eames, New Zealand Association for Environmental Education
We want to know what you think: is the environment important in education today? Email us at zn.oc1337366805.semi1337366805tylim1337366805af@ni1337366805mda1337366805 or post your thoughts to us at Family Times, PO Box 36 004, Christchurch.
