Environmental Education: The Philosophy of Greening the Curriculum

Abstract

Environmental education is a concept that is used in greening the curriculum and that is done through a thematic approach, and modular approaches. Studies have been done in various countries on the implementation of environmental education but the support from the top leadership has not been good. Policies on the issue were drafted but policies can be ignored without reparations. However environmental education is an important tool towards sustainable development. The study is of value to policy makers, educators as well as other stakeholders who have interest in environmental sustainably. The study used interviews and group discussions in soliciting data relevant to the study. It sought to establish the perceptions of the participants in view of environmental education. An ethnographic approach adopted as the researcher could spend a lot of time with the respondents and also taking part in their activities. This approach was selected because it enabled the researcher to collect thick rich data that was validated through triangulating with what was collected from individual interviews and group discussions. Data was qualitatively analyzed. The results showed that some respondents seem to understand the importance of environmental education while some could not see its importance. The other angle that was knotted was that teachers are expected to implement environmental education when in their teaching program it was not part of what they were to teach. This has contributed to a lot of miss understanding as some seem not to know what to do. The findings were of importance to all in the education fraternity as well as to the environmentalists. Use of the findings could change the mindset of the community through educating the learners. Greening the curriculum was found to be important at the time world over there is a talk of greening the economy and sustainable development. Therefor the findings of the study are important in redirecting the mindset of people towards environmental protection with regard to preservation and conservation.