Exploring the Contributions of an Immersive, Environmental Education Workshop on Pre-Service Teachers’ Environmental Education Preparedness

Abstract

Public schools are an important place to cultivate environmental agency in children, and classroom teachers play an important role in this identity process. Teachers who afford opportunities for environmental learning and care behaviors to develop during the school day play an important role in cultivating the next generation of environmental stewards. Pre-service teacher populations bring additional promise to the future development of stewardship in schools, as their teaching philosophies and early career plans are still emerging and amenable. Providing purposeful, interactive, environmental education programming within the context of teacher training programs may be an important factor in positively impacting pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) confidence, willingness, and/or sense of preparedness to implement environmental learning in their future classrooms. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, this study examined the potential impacts an immersive, environmental education workshop conducted at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA had on a group of 61 elementary education PSTs during their teacher preparation program at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB). After participating in a variety of ocean-themed activities and empathy exercises, data collected through pre- and post-surveys indicated that this immersive, environmental experience contributed to PSTs perceived confidence and preparedness as future classroom-based, environmental educators. Through the reported development of their environmental confidence and interest in accessing supplementary resources, PSTs’ ability to act on behalf of the environment by planning environmental learning in their future classrooms becomes a springboard for additional training and support.