Abstract
The following research describes an attempt to combine environmental education through outdoor activities in Special Education. It examines the use of a school garden as a learning environment in Special Education by looking at the stances and opinions of 10 pupils, diagnosed with mild to moderate intellectual disability, towards Environmental Education and prognoses barriers that may occur in the learning process. Specifically, the study focuses on the skills and subject knowledge those students have cultivated through a project called “School Garden”, highlighting the ideas pupils have, regarding the position of environmental education in their school curriculum. Using descriptive statistical analysis to compare the two groups of pupils, this research suggests the further practice of Environmental Education in Special Education. The research took place in two Special Education Primary Schools in Greece, while the data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The main conclusions of the research were that students who participated in their school’s environmental educational program seem to be more familiarized with a range of concepts related to the environment and possess skills linked directly to Environmental Education in relation to their peers that did not engage in the project, while pupils who participated in the “School Garden”, unlike their peers, perceived outdoor activities of their school as part of the learning process, in formal education. This study proposes further research to take place in the area of Environmental Education and Special Education.
Highlights
The modern way of life limits the capability of exploration and interaction of man and his natural environment [1], while the needs of the trainees seem not to be covered by the traditional educational system [2]
A school garden has been described as a complex reality and as a frame that morphs the relation with the child who experiences it, since it can provide the child with opportunities of exploration and connection to the natural, cultural, historical and social inheritance of its community [6]
In school A, the students were involved in an environmental educational program titled “School Garden” the school year of 2010-2011, while in School B, the students had never participated in a similar program within formal education
Summary
The modern way of life limits the capability of exploration and interaction of man and his natural environment [1], while the needs of the trainees seem not to be covered by the traditional educational system [2]. Cultural and technological development, the concept of environmental education, began to diversify and expand the areas of learning and exploitation. This resulted in creating environment-related disciplines and to a deeper study of individual research areas. A school garden has been described as a complex reality and as a frame that morphs the relation with the child who experiences it, since it can provide the child with opportunities of exploration and connection to the natural, cultural, historical and social inheritance of its community [6]
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