Adult Learners and the Environment in the Last Century: An Historical Analysis of Environmental Adult Education Literature

Caitlin Secrest Haugen

doi:10.5070/g312910806

Abstract

Environmental adult education (EAE) combines environmental education and adult learning theory to provide meaningful educative experiences to learners with the purpose of bringing about genuine environmental change. The field is relatively new, but its body of literature is growing in the twenty-first century. This paper conducts an historical analysis of EAE literature to date. The resulting summary provides scholars and practitioners in the fields of environmental adult education, environmental education, and adult education a platform to engage in dialogue about future directions for the field based on historical trends and lessons.

Highlights

Environmental adult education (EAE) is a relatively new and unique field of practice and study (Clover, 1997; Karlovic and Patrick, 2003), recognized as “a hybrid outgrowth of the environmental movement and adult education, combining an ecological orientation with a learning paradigm to provide a vigorous educational approach to environmental concerns” (Sumner, 2003, p. 41)
In the one hundred years prior, EAE scholars assert that environmental educators often taught factual information and focused on individual behavior change to stop environmental degradation, and made few efforts to reach diverse adult learners
Educators rarely reached new audiences resulting in little genuine change and learners feeling hopeless about their ability to impact environmental degradation (Clover, 1995a; Jansen, 1995)

Summary

Introduction

Environmental adult education (EAE) is a relatively new and unique field of practice and study (Clover, 1997; Karlovic and Patrick, 2003), recognized as “a hybrid outgrowth of the environmental movement and adult education, combining an ecological orientation with a learning paradigm to provide a vigorous educational approach to environmental concerns” (Sumner, 2003, p. 41). Emmelin (1976) recognizes environmental adult education as a more effective way to solve environmental problems He identifies the formal, financially supported university environment as a good venue for environmental adult education, and argues that non-formal programs are possible within organizations. This early work stresses that environmental adult education must be taught effectively to make a true impact. The author notes that EAE can be both non-formal and formal He explains the limitations of the solely action-based, behavior change model used by environmental educators. This article sets the tone for further discussions in EAE literature, and many of the issues Emmelin highlights are carried through to modern literature

A Call for Sustainable Development

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION