Environmental Education Centres Research Articles

Outdoor environmental education programme leaders’ theories of experiential learning

ABSTRACT Teachers’ practice is based on their beliefs about how student learning should be developed. In the practice of programme leaders in outdoor environmental education centres, experiential learning is considered to be one of the prominent learning theories. This study analyses the ways in which experiential learning is interpreted and transferred into the practice of programme leaders in five outdoor environmental education centres in the Czech Republic. The authors collected qualitative data from interviews with the programme leaders (N = 17) and from observations of five different outdoor environmental education programmes. They identified three distinctive experiential learning theories representing the leaders’ beliefs and practices. Further, the implications for future practice are discussed.

Effect Evaluation of the Integration of Citizen Science Activities into Environmental Education Project Design: A Case Study of the Spring Swallow Survey Project

Citizen science is a process that seeks to involve the public in scientific projects through systematic data collection and observations of natural phenomena. Environmental education centres on the relationship between humans and nature and has attracted the attention of more and more educators because of its increasingly important educational value. This paper reports an empirical study on environmental education projects featuring observations of natural phenomena and using local environmental resources. Using the Spring Swallow Survey project as an example, the design ideas and evaluation framework for the project are analysed. The implementation effect of the project is examined quantitatively and qualitatively. Finally, the resource package used in the project is revised and redeveloped according to the effect evaluation data.

Pedagogical frameworks in outdoor and environmental education

There are clear expectations in the twenty-first Century that professional teachers and school leaders can articulate how and why their students learn through participation in the structured learning activities they design and facilitate. Individual teachers can express this through a personal teaching philosophy statement and schools can communicate their ideas and practices through a pedagogical framework. In this paper, I explore the use of pedagogical frameworks by outdoor and environmental education centres in Queensland, Australia. By accessing and analysing the publicly-available executive summaries of the formal School Improvement Reviews conducted with 21 outdoor and environmental education centres, I discerned that there is considerable variation in how pedagogical frameworks are being used and developed across these centres, particularly in the degree to which they: were research-validated; described the school’s values and beliefs about teaching and learning; outlined processes for professional learning and instructional leadership; informed pedagogical strategies; and responded to the local context by allowing for communication within and beyond the centre about pedagogical practices. An example of an effective pedagogical framework is presented, to demonstrate how these can guide teaching and learning practice in an outdoor and environmental education context.

Contribution of environmental education centres to fieldtrips in primary schools (Original title in Catalan: Contribució dels equipaments d’educació ambiental a les sortides escolars de l’educació primària)

Environmental education centres (EECs) offer a wide range of environment-related educational activities, typically in non-formal education settings. A review of the literature shows how provision o...

The impact of childhood reading on the development of environmental values

Direct experiences of nature are becoming less common in our urbanised world and little research exists regarding the impact of less direct experiences, particularly how childhood reading relates to the development of pro-environmental values. This study differs from previous reports into the influence of books, as it concentrates on the potential influence of fiction rather than factual or scientific texts. This qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews with 31 educators at Eastern Australian Environmental Education Centres to understand the relationship of childhood reading and value development. Findings reveal that participants: (a) recall predominantly fictional reading material; (b) recall stories by Tolkien, Blyton and Rowling as pro-environmental influences; and (c) commonly exhibit the counter-intuitive influence of fantasy/SF stories in their formative years. Stories will never replace authentic childhood experiences in the natural environment; however, judicious use of appropriate stories could be a valuable teaching strategy as readers often unquestioningly accept information from stories.

Teachers’ Perceptions οn the Use of Botanic Gardens as a Means of Environmental Education in Schools and the Enhancement of School Student Benefits from Botanic Garden Visits

The potential of Botanic Gardens (BGs) to contribute to environmental education is well documented. To what degree this potential is met concerning school students’ environmental education is to be considered. In Greece, Environmental Education Centres (EECs) develop Environmental Education Programmes (EEPs) for schools to implement. A questionnaire survey addressing teachers employed at the EECs in Greece investigated the use of BGs as a means of environmental education and identified their most important features in supporting school EEPs. Findings indicated that the majority of EEC teachers (90.6%) have not developed EEPs involving the use of BGs, although BGs were ranked as most suitable amongst other green spaces for conducting such programmes, particularly for primary school students. Teachers identified the need for BGs to be designed accordingly and provide the necessary infrastructure to be educationally effective that included facilitating teaching (e.g. open spaces, areas to congregate, easy access paths and indoor facilities) and plant-orientated elements as well as plant management displays. A strategy by BGs to promote their role in environmental education and a multidisciplinary design approach would maximise student benefit.

Guiding documents for environmental education centres: an analysis in the Spanish context

Guiding documents under the ‘PEC’ acronym are commonly used in environmental education centres (EECs) in Spain. They are written documents that are seen as necessary tools to safeguard quality. In this study, we analyse the guiding documents of twenty-three EECs in the province of Girona (Catalonia, Spain) in order to understand their contents and detect strengths and weaknesses. The instrument used for document analysis is a rubric created for this purpose from the literature review. It includes four main sections: identity features, context analysis, formulation of goals and a plan of action. Each of these sections has associated items that have been used to analyse the guiding documents mentioned. The results show a great lack of information regarding evaluational aspects. They also show difficulties in defining the concepts of environmental education or education for sustainability and relating sustainability to the milieu of EECs.

Environmental Education Centers and Local Communities: A Case Study

The International Community has designated the “Sustainable Development” as a central issue for the future of humanity. Unesco has named the decade 2005-2014 as the decade for the “Education for the Sustainable Development”. It has also engaged with the promotion of this project in order to “…integrate the values and practices of sustainable development to all the forms of education”. The Environmental Education Centres (EEC) were created during the past twenty years and they emerged from the growing interest in the issue of Environmental Education. Of course, the places where EEC are created are places of rich natural resources. The institution of EEC is highly connected to the environmental movement and it is internationally considered one of the most important factors of extra curriculum education. The Environmental Education Centres are encouraged to cooperate with the citizens in decision-making [2]. They are also encouraged to connect with the lifelong learning, the traditional learning, the local administration and the production units in the appropriate places and with the appropriate members, in order to become an effective structure of Education for Sustainable Development [6]. They can influence the local communities and create an environmental friendly situation. In 2013, at the place Meliti in the prefecture of Florina, an empirical research was carried out in order to explore the role of an Environmental Center in distant areas. The research shows that the operation of Environmental Education Centres influences the students and the local communities, especially when the centre operates in peripheral and disadvantaged areas. The EEC Melitis has a positive impact on the local community. It brings profit to local community, to local businesses (coffee shops, restaurants, ect.), it empowers the local pride, it makes children familiar with the natural and economic identity of their area and with their parents’ professions. Most importantly, the children are being environmentally informed and they can evolve into future protectors of sustainability.

Equipamentos para a Educação Ambiental na zona costeira da Euroregião do Eixo Atlântico – Das práticas conservacionistas às sociocríticas

In this study were analysed environmental education centres (EEC),from the point of view of the integration of biophysicalandsocio-cultural aspects within ...

Introducing a fifth pedagogy: experience‐based strategies for facilitating learning in natural environments

Educators have identified four categories of ‘productive pedagogies’ that are considered to lead to authentic student engagement and learning in the classroom. This study was designed to explore and extend these pedagogies in the context of learning in natural environments, in particular, through the programmes of Queensland environmental education centres. In‐depth interview and observation data were collected from students, classroom teachers and centre teachers who had participated in 12 environmental education programmes across Queensland, in order to identify the strategies that are most effective in facilitating learning in the natural environment. A fifth productive pedagogy category, ‘experience‐based learning’, is proposed. Experience‐based learning is particularly important in addressing students’ environmental attitudes and actions. The implications for the delivery of environmental education programmes both within and outside the classroom are discussed.

Promoting Learning for Sustainability: Principals' Perceptions of the Role of Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres

AbstractOutdoor and Environmental Education Centres provide programs that are designed to address a range of environmental education aims, and contribute broadly to student learning for sustainability. This paper examines the roles such Centres can play, and how they might contribute to the Australian Government's initiative in relation to sustainable schools. Interviews with the principals of 23 such Centres in Queensland revealed three roles or models under which they operate: the destination model; the expert/advisor model; and the partnership model. Principals' understandings of these roles are discussed and the factors that support or hinder their implementation are identified. It is concluded that while the provision of programs in the environment is still a vital role of outdoor and environmental education centres, these can also be seen as a point of entry to long-term partnerships with whole school communities.

Developing a Partnership between the Riverina Environmental Education Centre and Charles Sturt University

AbstractA collaborative partnership has evolved between the Riverina Environmental Education Centre (REEC) and Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. The Riverina Environmental Education Centre (REEC) is one of 24 Department of Education and Training environmental education centres in New South Wales (see www.reec.nsw.edu.au). As part of this partnership relationship, final year BTeach(Sec)/BSc students have worked with REEC and CSU staff on developing learning materials that support and enrich the programs offered through the REEC. In particular, these students have developed materials focussing on exploring student understanding about biodiversity and salinity. Additionally, the development of web based learning activities that use regional scientists as exemplars of current scientific research and possible career options (called Real Science) has occurred. Through this partnership arrangement, it has been a ‘win-win’ outcome for REEC staff, CSU staff and the CSU final year secondary science students with all participants gaining valuable insights and pedagogical understandings from the partnership.

Environmental education programmes offered by delta environmental centre: Some research findings

Environmental education has developed over time in South Africa with environmental education centres playing a significant role. However not enough is known about how such centres operate. This article presents some of the findings of a research project that documented and evaluated the programmes presented by Delta Environmental Centre, in Gauteng, South Africa.