BruceTheMatrix2

= Challenges in Environmental Education =



Challenges in environmental education are a part of the matrix of sustainability problems. The attitudes of children, undergraduates, and graduates toward the environment are worth consideration.

Children
If children are not provided with opportunities to learn and connect with the natural world, future generations may not understand or make informed decisions about environmental impact. Children are sponges of learning; they are full of curiosity and eager to learn. Encouraging positive attitudes in children about the environment can be done by developing strong emotional ties and a lifelong appreciation with nature (Alexander and Russo, 2010).

Teachers are keen to implement science into the curriculum but don’t know where to start. Alexander and Russo recommend initiatives in the classroom and at home (2010). In the elementary classroom, lessons focusing on the topics of biology and nature study begin the lifelong appreciation with nature. At home parents can develop strong emotional ties to the environment in their children starting right in the backyard. Getting children’s “hands in the dirt” is a great method for children to have a tangible connection with nature.

Undergraduates
Professional engineering firms expect practicing engineers to be committed to the environment. Therefore, engineering students, especially those in environmentally focused programs, need to learn technical knowledge and achieve attitude learning goals associated with the environment. A study conducted in 2002 at the University of Toronto on undergraduates with environmentally focused technical majors yielded interesting results (Kennedy //et al.//).

After 18 months, students’ engagement in research, education, or advocacy doubled. Only 40% of the students could name an environmental role model, and usually the person named was a professor. Remarkably, students cited outdoor experiences most frequently as a source of information (Kennedy //et al.,// 2002). The study’s last revelation, in addition to idea of early “hands in the dirt” experiences, is support that the outdoors greatly and positively contribute to people’s attitudes toward nature and the environment.

Graduates
Students in environmental philosophy programs are facing adversity in academia. Environmental philosophy is labeled as not “mainstream.” There are doubts of environmental philosophy’s analytic rigor because it is not a “core” philosophy.

Support for graduate education in environmental philosophy is weak. Students working outside departments where environmental philosophy is a focus, such as Philosophy or Environmental Studies, may feel isolated or unsupported (Palmer, 2007). In addition to poor support while attaining a degree, environmental philosophy graduates meet difficulty in finding philosophy departments willing to hire. This is because suspicions exist that environmental philosophy graduates may be too specialized and unable to “fit in” traditional philosophy departments. Maybe the traditionalists just need to spend more time outdoors to enhance their attitudes toward the environment.

Environmental education is just one node on the matrix of sustainability problems. Avocation for and innovation in environmental education needs to occur at all levels from childhood to graduate studies in order for attitudes toward the environment and nature to improve.

Images
From Top Left Clockwise The Refinishing Touch The Daily Green Jeffers Pond Elementary Association of Science CEPCOD