Environmental Education Literature Research Articles

Prompts for eco-social transformation: What environmental education can learn from transformative design

This paper seeks to bring together two seemingly disparate conversations, design and environmental education, with the intent to offer an interesting, new, useful approach to developing educational responses to the climate and ecological crises engendered by the Capitalocene. Beginning with observations on the relevance of design to the creation of alternative futures, we outline results from a six-person year-long research project that led us to identify six principles for guiding eco-social-cultural change: all my relations, abundant time, mystery/unknowability, embeddedness/integration, ancient futures, and (re)creative dissonance. We situate this work within transformative orientations to design, which are shown to parallel critical threads in the environmental education literature. We then extend, rework, and reimagine the six principles by suggesting how they can serve as prompts to assist environmental educators to reexamine and move beyond problematic norms of the Capitalocene in their thinking and practice.

Bridging the Gap: The Affective Dimension of Learning Outcomes in Environmental Primary and Secondary Education

There is growing evidence of the power of the affective dimensions for pro-environmental behavior, as well as of existing gaps between the dimensions of learning outcomes in recent environmental education literature. Based on the need to address that gap, this article explores the integration of the cognitive (ecological knowledge and cognitive skills), the affective and the behavioral domain in the learning outcomes of subjects related to the environment within Serbian elementary and general secondary education. This analysis was performed on the second cycle of the elementary school curricula and the general secondary education curricula for the following compulsory subjects: biology, chemistry and geography. It uses the holistic framework of EE goals, as defined by the Tbilisi Declaration as well as the concept of environmental literacy, as defined by the authors of the National Environmental Literacy Assessment used in the US, which distinguish four components of environmental literacy: ecological knowledge, cognitive skills, environmental affects and pro-environmental behavior. The results clearly show the dominance of the cognitive when compared with the affective and behavioral dimensions in both primary and secondary education. The focus of education on measurable outcomes offers firm structure for planning and evaluation, but underestimates the importance of preferences, values, enjoyment and does not facilitate rewarding the main source of pro-environmental behavior. Starting from the holistic and whole school approach to environmental education, the authors re-emphasize the need to bridge the existing gap and to provide policy support to teachers in developing their own as well as students’ environmental engagement and resilience.

Cripping environmental education: rethinking disability, nature, and interdependent futures

AbstractIn this article, I call for a cripping of environmental education as a necessary move in shifting away from the field’s current conceptions of disability as defect and deficiency, and towards disrupting the structures and processes that operate as normalizing technologies within ableism/sanism. Through an examination of the ways that the field of environmental education has/has not engaged critical disability politics, I illuminate how disability is not often included within environmental education literature. When it is, it is often through the use of disability as metaphor or through recommendations for best practices in accommodating disabilities. More often though within environmental education, disability has operated as a hidden curriculum, underpinning much of the field’s curricular, pedagogical, and even philosophical foundations. Through a cripping of the field these compulsory able-bodied/able-minded assumptions are made apparent. I suggest that by centering crip bodies and minds through cripistemologies, we might enable new ways of knowing, being in, connecting to, and understanding the natural world.

What is community-level environmental literacy, and how can we measure it? A report of a convening to conceptualize and operationalize CLEL

Environmental education research often emphasizes the importance of community context, but conceptualization and measurement of environmental literacy has mostly occurred at the individual level, often focusing on individual behaviors. The environmental problems facing the world today require collective action—communities coming together to address large-scale problems. Accordingly, understanding and encouraging collective action requires a shift in focus from individual to community-level environmental literacy (CLEL). Despite its importance, CLEL has been left largely undefined and unmentioned in environmental education literature. To understand the field’s current conceptualizations and measurement strategies around CLEL, the authors held a convening of 24 researchers to discuss the topic. Here, we report the findings of this convening and present a series of tensions that emerged in conceptualizing and measuring CLEL. We see this area of research as rich with opportunity for innovation and offer considerations for researchers engaging in this work.

Coverage of Disabled People in Environmental-Education-Focused Academic Literature

Environmental education (EE) is a lifelong process to acquire knowledge and skills that can influence pro-environmental behavior, environmental activism, and disaster-risk management. Disabled people are impacted by environmental issues, environmental activism, and how EE is taught. Disabled people can be learners within EE but can contribute to EE in many other roles. Given the importance of EE and its potential impact on disabled people—and given that equity, diversity, and inclusion is an ever-increasing policy framework in relation to environment-focused disciplines and programs in academia and other workplaces, which also covers disabled people—we performed a scoping review of academic literature using Scopus and EBSCO-HOST (70 databases) as sources, to investigate how and to what extent disabled people are engaged with EE academic literature. Of the initial 73 sources found, only 27 contained relevant content whereby the content engaged mostly with disabled people as EE learners but rarely with other possible roles. They rarely discussed the EE impact on disabled people, did not engage with EE teaching about disabled people being impacted by environmental issues and discourses, and did not connect EE to environment-related action by disabled people. Results suggest the need for a more differentiated engagement with disabled people in the EE literature.

Responding to crises: rewilding accounting education for the Anthropocene

PurposeResponding to COVID-19, this conceptual paper uses rewilding to interrupt anthropocentric and human/nature dualist properties of accounting education. Through rewilding accounting education, informed by posthumanist and ecofeminist thought, this paper aims to develop an accounting pedagogy that shapes greater ecocentric narratives. Accounting educators can contribute to addressing crises by evolving new pedagogies that radically transform the education of future accounting professionals.Design/methodology/approachThe authors take a critical stance in analysing the human-centred accounting education model. They explore how this model can be reimagined through rewilding accounting education, resulting in learning interventions that foster an understanding of intrinsic value, complexity of systems and collective disposition with all species and the natural world.FindingsRewilding learning interventions embed an ecocentric approach in accounting curricula design to extend beyond a human focus. Rewilding learning interventions practically explored with application to accounting include learning with and from nature, Indigenous knowledge perspectives, play as a common language and empathy as a dialogical bridge.Social implicationsThe authors present an accounting pedagogy that fosters among accounting students and educators a relational orientation and ecological consciousness that encompasses compassion and openness to others, including non-human species and nature. This will ensure that accounting graduates are better prepared for addressing future crises that stem from our disconnect with nature.Originality/valueThis paper adds to limited research investigating accounting and the Anthropocene. Investigations into the Anthropocene’s human-centred discourse in accounting education are vital to respond adequately to crises. This paper extends social and environmental accounting education literature to encompass less anthropocentric discourse and greater relational learning.

Students’ Empathy for the Environment through Eco-Art Place-Based Education: A Review

The existing state of the world climate creates the need for an educational programme that incorporates effective proposals for the environment that can be practically implemented. The present environmental education literature has changed due to new study paradigms. Understanding how students relate to nature, how their personal beliefs and behaviours are influenced, and how their actions are affected can provide an increased understanding of how they can contribute meaningfully to global objectives. This paper aims to analyse educational research papers published in the area of environmental art education in order to find the factor with the greatest effect and illuminate how they can help to improve the measures implemented. This study paper (i) focuses on students’ engagement with an environment curriculum; (ii) demonstrates the need for action related to the environment; (iii) encourages critical thinking; and (iv) demonstrates students’ independent thinking and rational decision making. The findings show that such research can help to improve environmental art education based on action and take future research challenges into account.

Transversal integration of geohydrological risks in an elementary school in Brazil: A disaster education experiment

Given the significant increase in geohydrological disasters over recent years in Brazil, education for disaster risk reduction (DRRE) has become an important resource in tackling the situation. This paper is aimed at contributing to field of DRRE through an experiment of integration of the theme of geohydrological disasters in formal education at elementary level, discoursing on its conception, execution and evaluation. The methodology, including the content, was conceived based on information collated from federal legislation, environmental education literature and the experience of the authors. The experiment was conducted with students of 10–11 years of age in an elementary public school in the municipality of Miguel Pereira, Rio de Janeiro state (Brazil). The aim was to apply a transversal, interdisciplinary perspective involving teachers from different discipline and the Municipal Department for the Environment and Civil Defence. The experiment was aimed at putting the methodology proposal for participative learning into practice, including the teaching strategy, content, duration time for each class, total course hours, extracurricular activities and teaching materials (booklets, games and mock-ups). The methodology was evaluated and approved by the participants, who expressed that its application was worthy of being continued.

Addressing Misconceptions to the Concept of Resilience in Environmental Education

Environmental education is shaped in response to societal and environmental realities and it reflects new interests and demands that enable sustainable transformations. In recent years, the concept of resilience has taken an increasingly significant role among practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and especially within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite its growing importance, the literature surrounding the concept of resilience has struggled to find a consensus on definitions and measurements and therefore may be easily misconceived. In this avenue, a consensus among varying perspectives of resilience may be better achieved by understanding the interaction between students’ prior knowledge (pre-conception) of resilience and the knowledge provided by educators. Based on the case study of five courses that teach the concept of this paper firstly identifies and discusses three common misconceptions among students, focusing on the concept of socio-ecological resilience. These include misconceptions to the value judgment, adaptability, and the costs that are relevant to the concept of resilience. Secondly, this paper discusses educational tools derived from scenario planning and theoretical foundations underlying empirical approaches to the concept of resilience, which may benefit educators in enabling critical thinking to address such common misconceptions. This paper may contribute to ongoing discussions in the environmental education literature, specifically to both pedagogy and curriculum focusing on the concept of resilience.

Questions of ecopedagogy in tropical oceanScapes in the age of coral ecocide: An autoethnographic description

ABSTRACTOceanScaping/scoping and the ecopedagogy of snorkeling are not well documented in the environmental education literature. This article focuses on the educative value of immersive saltwater experiences as pedagogical experience/s within coral reefs offshore from the tropical Australian city of Cairns. Drawing on a series of autoethnographic accounts of snorkeling journeys undertaken over the period 2015–2017, the article describes educators experiencing changes on coral reefs, temporally and spatially, during a time of reef ecocide. The author argues that offshore immersive learning enables a much deeper sense of understanding and integrated theoretical and practical ecopedagogy to unfold. However, in the Anthropocene, any discussion or practice of oceanScape ecopedagogy cannot escape the matter of marine ecocide. The professional implications for environmental educators are that if we are going to continue to educate with authenticity, then the timeliness, or not, of the antecedents and consequences of anthropogenic climate destabilization has to be front and center of every ecopedagogical discussion we have.

Reimagining intersectionality in environmental and sustainability education: A critical literature review

ABSTRACTWe seek to understand how issues of intersectionality are addressed in environmental and sustainability education (ESE) literature, focusing on how gender is discussed in relation to other social identities such as class, race, sexuality, and ability. Our analysis draws from feminist and decolonizing frameworks, and uses intersectionality to examine how ESE literature addresses issues as interconnected. Intersectional analysis originates from Black feminist perspectives on how social identities/subjectivities collide and collude to reproduce systemic and unique forms of oppression. This article contributes to this critical framework by incorporating considerations of Indigenous interconnectivity and land-based sovereignties. We begin this literature review by providing a background of intersectionality and interconnectivity from Black feminist and Indigenous knowledge systems, and describe how these frameworks inform our analysis. We then review existing ESE literature to critically examine how researchers have utilized feminist perspectives to discuss gender in relation to class, race, sexuality, body size, and ability as well as species. This review seeks to disrupt marginalization and calls for the use of critical frameworks such as intersectionality to deconstruct and disrupt oppression in ESE.

Use of the concept of Bildung in the international science education literature, its potential, and implications for teaching and learning

Bildung is a complex educational concept that emerged in Germany in the mid eighteenth century. Especially in Germany and Scandinavia conceptions of Bildung became the general philosophical framework to guide both formal and informal education. Bildung concerns the whole range of education from setting educational objectives in general towards its particular operation in different school subjects, among them science education. In more recent years, the concept of Bildung has slowly begun to be used in the international science and environmental education literature. This paper presents a systematic analysis of the international literature concerning the use of the concept of Bildung, with a view on its meaning in and for science education. At least five versions based on or closely connected to the tradition of Bildung can be identified: (a) Von Humboldt’s classical Bildung, (b) Anglo-American liberal education, (c) Scandinavian folk-Bildung, (d) democratic education, and (e) critical-hermeneutic Bildung. These different understandings of Bildung are discussed in relation to their historical roots, educational theory, critique, and their relation to philosophies of science education, such as different visions of scientific literacy. Based on critical-hermeneutic Bildung, the paper theoretically develops views of critical-reflexive Bildung as an educational metatheory. It is connected to ideas of transformative learning, sustainability education and a Vision III of scientific literacy. Finally, some implications of critical-reflexive Bildung for teaching and learning are discussed.

Design and evaluation of a park prescription program for stress reduction and health promotion in low-income families: The Stay Healthy in Nature Everyday (SHINE) study protocol

BackgroundContact with nature improves human health; stress reduction is a mediating pathway. Stay Healthy in Nature Everyday (SHINE) is a stress reduction and health promotion intervention for low-income families at an urban Federally Qualified Health Center. We plan to evaluate two service-delivery models for SHINE and present here the intervention design and evaluation protocol. MethodsBehavioral change theory and environmental education literature informed the intervention. Outcomes were selected after review of the literature and field tested procedures to determine what was feasible and ethical in a busy clinic serving vulnerable populations. DesignWe designed a randomized controlled trial to examine two levels of intensity in behavioral counseling about the health benefits of nature. Dyads consisting of a caregiver and a child aged 4 to 18 who access our pediatric primary care center are eligible. All dyads receive a pediatrician's recommendation to visit parks to experience nature and written resources (a “park prescription”). The intervention group receives added case management and an invitation to three group outings into nature with transportation, meals and activities provided. Primary outcomes measured at baseline, one month and three months post-enrollment are caregiver stress measured by PSS-10 score and salivary α-amylase; secondary outcomes are park prescriptions adherence, physical activity recorded by pedometer and journaling, loneliness, family cohesion and affinity to nature as measured by a validated scales. Both groups receive incentives to participation. DiscussionOur intervention represents a feasible integration of recent research findings on the health benefits of nature and primary care practice.

Sustainability in environmental education: new strategic thinking

Recently environmental education (EE) literature has been supportive of pluralistic rather than goal-oriented learning. Researchers argue that sustainability is not fixed but socially constructed and that sustainability issues should not be represented as indisputable targets. Countering this trend in environmental education research, this article argues that unsustainability should be treated as a concrete challenge that requires concrete solutions. The author will argue that there is a need for clear articulation of (1) what (un)sustainability is; (2) what are the key challenges of (un)sustainability; and (3) how the sustainability challenges can be meaningfully addressed. This article will outline a number of helpful frameworks that address obstacles to sustainability, ranging from population growth to unsustainable production and consumption practices. Solutions include investment in family planning to counter the effects of overpopulation, and alternative production frameworks, such as Cradle to Cradle that differs from the conventional frameworks. This article will conclude with the broader reflection that without goal-oriented critical learning explicitly providing sound models of sustainability, open learning may never permit transcendence from unsustainability. This article will develop a number of comprehensive frameworks targeted at solutions to sustainability issues both from ethical and practical perspectives.

A model for developing and assessing youth-based environmental engagement programmes

In this paper, we argue that a fundamental cultural shift is needed to effectively address anthropogenic causes of climate change. Evidence suggests that youth are well positioned to create such transformation. While various studies have contributed empirical evidence to numerous youth-based non-formal environmental engagement programmes, what is missing in the environmental education literature is discussion of a systematic approach to the development and evaluation of these programs. In this paper, we draw on the youth civic engagement literature to propose a framework that can be used as a basis to guide further development of evidence-based practices. Five major components are described as follows: (1) the engagement activity; (2) the engagement process; (3) initiating and sustaining factors; (4) mediators and moderators; and (5) outcomes. This approach to youth engagement can inform both researchers trying to study effective ways of creating change and practitioners developing environmental programmes that aspire towards a culture of sustainability.

Exploring the dimensions of place: a confirmatory factor analysis of data from three ecoregional sites

Themes of place, situatedness, and locale are increasingly prominent in environmental education literature and practice. Sense-of-place research, which considers how people connect with places and the influence of those connections on engagement with the environment, may have important implications for environmental education. Prior place studies have proposed that people’s place connections have various dimensions. This paper explores four place dimensions, analyzing data from a survey (n = 712) conducted in three ecoregional sites in which we investigated residents’ sense of place. We examine how our data fit a proposed typology of place dimensions – a four-dimension (biophysical, psychological, sociocultural, and political-economic) categorization based on previous conceptions of the dimensions of place. We use structural equation modeling to question whether a 4-factor conceptualization of the dimensions of sense of place is superior to plausible alternatives. In comparing the four-dimension model with alternative models, we find that the four-dimension model is the best fit for these data. Our findings suggest that environmental and place-based education may benefit from an understanding and consideration of this four-dimension conceptualization of place in program design, implementation, and evaluation.

Fostering “Connectedness to Nature” through U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Education and Outreach Programming: A Qualitative Evaluation

Despite a recent increased emphasis on emotional connections to nature and their relationship to stewardship and health outcomes in the environmental education and other literature, there is a lack of understanding of what qualities of nature experiences actually influence emotional connections to nature, otherwise known as environmental sensitivity or connectedness to nature. In an effort to begin to explore this area, we conducted a qualitative study at three U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) sites with environmental education programs.

Education Programs on Environment

Abstract Environmental education organizations can do more to institute evaluation. In an effort to help Evaluators bridge the gap between the potential for high quality evaluation systems to improve environmental education, and the low level of evaluation in actual practice, I reviewed recent environmental education literature to reveal the challenges and opportunities for evaluating environmental education programs. The literature review identified strategies for confronting the challenges in environmental education evaluation, as well as notable opportunities for increasing the quality of evaluation in environmental education.

Planetizen Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning

Review: Planetizen Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning Abhijeet Chavan, Christian Peralta and Christopher Steins (Eds.) Reviewed by Elery Hamilton-Smith Charles Sturt University, Australia Chavan, Abhijeet, Peralta, Christian and Steins, Christopher (Eds.). Planetizen Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2007. xvii,183pp. ISBN 9781597261333. US$21.96, paper. Having just read Haugen’s paper on the evolution of and trends in Environmental Adult Education (Haugen, Caitlin Secreast. 2009. Adult Learners and the Environment in the Last Century: An Historical Analysis of Environmental Adult Education Literature. Electronic Green Journal 1(29)) this is certainly in keeping with her discussion. The editors established the Planetizen website (http://www.planetizen.com) in 2000 as a dynamic forum for discussion of issues in urban planning and development. Now we have this book as one outcome of that discussion. It is a collation of brief opinion papers, each on a key issue together with selected comments and other feedback. Few issues in urban development have been neglected in this remarkable maelstrom of ideas, values, beliefs, anecdotes, disagreements, definitions, concepts, technologies and everything else. The opinion papers each provide a stimulating framework, usually raising questions far more then providing answers. As always, the inherent patriotism and self-satisfaction of the United States constantly stands above all the evidence which points to a sadly divided and very sick society. But at least in this book, contradiction and disagreement is not swept away, but lies very visibly on the basic floor of the volume. Most readers will be able to test their own perceptions and beliefs against the weight of ideas which emerge while reading. Some who are used to standard textbooks may find it to be a very difficult book – there is no glossary and even any one sentence is likely to use words in a way which displays somewhat different meanings of those used by others. This is an accurate portrayal of utilitarian language, and inevitable in any complex and conflict-rich arena. Neil Postman, particularly in his 1995 book The End of Education, shows how the dumbing-down and over-simplification of much contemporary discourse fails to build competence in understanding complexity. One of my most valuable mental tools came to me when I was very young indeed, and one of my most important mentors said “You should never stop asking questions – and you should never stop not fully believing any answers you are given!” As I drive to and fro across my long-standing home city, I see new perspectives, all too often total stupidities, but sometimes mistakes or omissions with unforeseen benefits of great value to the city. So, perhaps I have a somewhat quirky approach to scholarship, but for me, this book does enhance my awareness and understandings of the modern city. So, I pick it up, open it almost at random and read what I find. Then I put it down and at intervals over the next few days, questions come back to either haunt me or delight me. It is just the kind of book that my students used to discover, read, encourage all their peers to read it, and then take off to a week-end retreat to discuss and argue – on reflection, a wonderful element of their learning! So, readers are looking for answers will probably not enjoy or get great benefit from this book. Those who believe that true scholarship demands a personal search for meanings and values will probably find it a valuable resource. Elery Hamilton-Smith , Professor, Charles Sturt University, Australia, P.O. Box 36, Carlton South, Victoria 3053, Australia. TEL: 613-9489-77850. Electronic Green Journal, Issue 30, Spring 2010, ISSN:1076-7975

Adult Learners and the Environment in the Last Century: An Historical Analysis of Environmental Adult Education Literature

Environmental adult education (EAE) combines environmental education and adult learning theory to provide meaningful educative experiences to learners with the purpose of bringing about genuine environmental change. The field is relatively new, but its body of literature is growing in the twenty-first century. This paper conducts an historical analysis of EAE literature to date. The resulting summary provides scholars and practitioners in the fields of environmental adult education, environmental education, and adult education a platform to engage in dialogue about future directions for the field based on historical trends and lessons.