Connection of Environmental Education with Application of Experiential Teaching Methods: A Case Study from Greece

Marios Koutsoukos,Iosif Fragoulis,Euthimios Valkanos

doi:10.5539/ies.v8n4p23

Marios Koutsoukos, Iosif Fragoulis + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v8n4p23

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Abstract

The main objective of this case study is to examine secondary education teachers’ opinions concerning the connection of environmental education with the use of experiential teaching methods. Exploring whether the application of experiential methods can upgrade the learning procedure, leading to a more holistic approach, the research focuses on certain aspects of today’s educational reality in the field of secondary environmental education. Studying a sample of secondary education teachers in Northern Greece, among the research’s main findings is teachers’ belief that environmental education can play an important role in today’s educational reality, as respondents acknowledge that environmental education in secondary schools can serve as a useful tool for integrating environmental values into students’ everyday life.

Highlights

Over the past two decades, environmental education has gained significant recognition as theorists worldwide have acknowledged its value, viewing the environment in its entirety including social, political, economic, technological, moral and aesthetic aspects (Palmer & Neal, 1994; Palmer, 2002)
The results indicated that the vast majority of the teachers strongly agree (63%) or agree (33.8%) with the opinion that experiential teaching methods are connected with environmental education while only five persons (3.2%) express a neutral opinion
Bearing in mind that students are at the center of the educational process, the teachers’ role is to organize, guide and support the application of experiential methods in order to engage students into a more exciting and motivating learning procedure

Summary

Introduction

Over the past two decades, environmental education has gained significant recognition as theorists worldwide have acknowledged its value, viewing the environment in its entirety including social, political, economic, technological, moral and aesthetic aspects (Palmer & Neal, 1994; Palmer, 2002). The growing environmental awareness illustrates the need for an effective environmental education scheme that would give birth to new ways of thinking (Markaki, 2014). Environmental education is a lifelong process which uses a broad range of teaching and learning techniques, with emphasis on practical activities and first-hand experience (Palmer & Neal, 1994). Experiential methods which focus on students' own life experiences and involve a high degree of participation are becoming increasingly common in environmental education (Daskolia, Dimos, & Kampylis, 2012). Since the first half of the twentieth century, experiential learning has been promoted by influential educators such as John Dewey and Paulo Freire according to whom methods that go beyond traditional lecture and transfer of information can actively engage students making the learning procedure more interesting and appealing (Maloof, 2006)

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