Solving Local Environmental Problems in Environmental Education: A Brazilian case study

A discussion is developed regarding the ideological implications of the use of local environmental problem solving as a methodology suggested by UNESCO at the Tbilisi Conference, as well as in various Brazilian federal policy documents. Whether understood as a theme-generator or an end-in-itself, environmental education practice may be divided into two types, with different ideological repercussions as regards their very essence; namely a commitment to transform contemporary society's values.     

The Use of Criteria in Argumentation and the Construction of Environmental Concepts: A university case study

We have analysed the processes of argumentation of three university student groups (A: six students, C: five students, and J: seven students) while making a decision about an environmental problem (selection of a heating system). The discussions took place in three 1½‐hour sessions that were audio‐taped and transcribed. For the analysis of the oral discussions, on the one hand, we have taken into account some of the dimensions characterising the quality of this decision‐making process, including the number and variety of criteria utilised, whether criteria, which did not favour the selected option, were considered and whether priorities were established among criteria, and, on the other hand, the use of environmental concepts such as renewable and sustainability as well as the meanings that were constructed for both concepts. We have determined that the students in this study proposed and utilised, both explicitly and implicitly, a high number and great variety of criteria to support their choices, although they were rarely able to consider contradictory evidence; that is, those that demonstrated disadvantages of the option selected. In terms of the construction of knowledge, we observed that in some groups the proposed task favoured the construction of a concept of sustainability that took the future into consideration and which was utilised as the most important justification in their selection. In terms of the concept of renewable, we found that they did not relate depletion of resources to economic consequences. We discuss the implications for the educational competence development.     

生态文明视域下环境教育论

生态文明时代,具有环境意识应当成为一个高度文明人具有的重要属性.而环境教育是获得环境意识的一个重要途径.我国环境教育经过了几十年的发展,取得了一定的成绩,但是在相当长的时期内偏于强调"关于环境的教育",因此,环境教育在新形势下必须发生重大转向,生态文明价值引导下的环境教育应当具有真善美相结合的理念.环境教育通过环境意识之真、环境正义之善、环境感受之关教育,将使主体人真正形成自觉、自律、自由的类意识,使主体人树立以人为本的环境价值观,最终促成环境正义德性的养成.     

生态和谐与环境道德教育

生态和谐是构建和谐社会的前提和基础,生态和谐为和谐社会的发展提供了环境基础和资源保障。生态和谐的实现离不开环境道德教育,环境道德教育的过程包含了五个基本的环节,即环境道德认知、环境道德情感、环境道德信念、环境道德意志和环境道德行为。环境道德教育是提高人类环境道德素质的前提条件,是实现生态和谐、构建社会主义和谐社会的必由之路。     

School Environmental Education Programme Impacts upon Student and Family Learning: A case study analysis

This article uses a case study approach to explore the impact of two school environmental education programmes, from the perspective of participating students, their teachers and their parents. A total of 152 students (79 from primary schools and 73 from a secondary school), 3 teachers and 62 parents contributed their perceptions regarding the impact of the programmes. Each programme is described in detail and students' responses compared across the two programmes and across different class groups participating in each programme. It is concluded that both programmes were successful in engaging students in thinking and learning about environmental issues, although some programme features were more likely than others to lead to impacts beyond the bounds of the classroom. Recommendations are made regarding those features that need to be included in school environmental education programmes in order to maximise student and family learning outcomes.     

环境问题语境下的生态教育

概观中国环境的问题与现状,分析环境问题与生态教育的内在关联,种种现象表明,当前我国生态教育存在着一个系统性缺损：生态意识淡薄,环境观念落后;政策导向偏颇,政绩本位作祟;生态教育投入不足,师资队伍缺乏;环境承担主体缺失,生态教育对象单一;生态教育教材缺乏,内容陈旧,教法呆板。     

Environmental Education: Arguing the case for multiple approaches

This paper develops existing arguments about the need to rethink ways in which environmental education is conceptualised, interpreted and enacted by schools, teachers and students working within their communities. In doing this, it critiques what it sees as the narrowing and constraining influence that socially critical theory has exerted over the field, and calls for multiple approaches, carefully and communally deliberated on, in order to deliver the (environmental) educational goals deemed appropriate and necessary by schools and communities. Such an approach, it is argued, will likely be cross-disciplinary and multi-faceted in that it will be informed by a combination of traditions and ideological persuasions which together will offer more than any one of them could alone.     

NAE:美国工程教育的参谋团和推动者

美国国家工程院(NAE)把关注工程教育重大议题、引领工程教育前沿和促进工程教育实践视为中心任务,开展灵活多样的活动、计划和项目。借助充足经费、多元平台、功能完善的组织,NAE成功扮演了美国工程教育的参谋团和推动者角色。NAE在工程教育中的积极作为对中国工程教育改革具有很好的借鉴意义。     

探析继续教育中信息技术的应用

现代化的信息技术已广泛应用于教育领域,对现代信息技术的发展在继续教育中的网络教育进行研究,加强继续教育学院网络建设,运用现代远程教育技术,改进传统的教育模式向多元化发展。     

生态伦理学在环境教育中的地位与作用

生态伦理学与环境教育的产生与发展有着共同的时代与社会背景，肩负着共同的历史使命一培养具有环境道德的新世纪国际公民。生态伦理学是环境教育的重要理论基础和支柱，在环境教育中处于核心地位。作为环境教育的主要内容和理论体系，生态伦理学除本身具有环境教育的功能外，它对环境教育起指导作用。     

Use of asynchronous discussions for corporate training: A case study

In this knowledge‐based economy, corporations invest millions of dollars in training and expect a return on that investment; similarly, employees have a vested interest in wanting to further their knowledge and their ability to contribute. The types of e‐learning strategies and instructional methods being employed elude the use of asynchronous discussions as a viable instructional method. This article summarizes a case study in which asychronous discussions were used as an instructional strategy in two training interventions.     

Privileging and Artifacts: On the Use of Information Technology in Science Education

The aim of this paper is to develop an approach that can be used in addressing the issue of the use of information technology and its importance in human meaning making. By using a combination of Wittgenstein’s work method, a sociocultural perspective on learning, and a sociotechnical perspective on artifacts a specific focus for analyses was discerned: the relation between the use-of-technology in meaning-making on one hand and the circumstances for this meaning-making on the other hand. The conversations of six groups of children, who worked with an assignment, that required that they doubted information they encountered, were video recorded and analyzed. The analyses were done in three interrelated steps. (a) The students use-of-technology in meaning making, (b) the meaning patterns that the students encounter on the web, and (c) students’ intentions and habits. Our findings show that, while the mode of reinforcement of the texts used by the students may have provided little opportunity for doubt or learning how to doubt, the students’ habits and intentions with their work determined the result of the interaction, namely copying information from the web. Taking our point of departure in this empirical illustration we discuss theoretical and methodological questions concerning the understanding of the use of information technology in educational settings.     

Environmental Education as Critical Education: how teachers and students handle the challenge

Previous research studies suggest that environmental education for social change has to be considered as critical education rather than as nature study. In a participatory research approach, classroom projects with teacher teams in five senior high schools were initiated and in‐service seminars were offered. A theorising debate about environmental education resulted in a critical environmental education concept based on human action in local social systems and the questioning of the norms and value judgements of the people concerned. Classroom projects were analysed with respect to locally constructed critical knowledge and in view of the teaching/learning culture. This study shows that teachers are most concerned about ways of handling a complex and value‐laden process. It is concluded that reflection on processes and methods is essential if teachers are to understand their students’ critical exploration of social issues.     

A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Special Education Referral Process: A case study

In this article, I explore a case study of the special education referral process as an institutional site of exploring the intersection of power, discourse and subjectivities. I engage with critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (Fairclough, Critical Discourse Analysis: the critical study of language , New York, Longman, 1995; Language and Power , London, Longman, 1989) as an analytic and social tool to uncover the webs of discursive practices involved in institutional decision-making. I focus on the process through which identities are constructed through discourse. I present three different interpretations from the beginning of the referral process: (1) the classroom teacher, (2) the remedial reading teacher, and (3) the parent of the child who was referred. In juxtaposing these interview texts I demonstrate how the teachers and June Treader, the parent, perceive the intention of the referral process differently. The school views the referral process as definitive while the mother views the referral as exploratory, to learn more about her daughter. I call on CDA--particularly the domains of discourse and style--as a means to explore and explain the differences in assumptions at the beginning of the referral process. This analysis demonstrates that despite the differences in interpretation at the beginning of the process there is remarkable similarity between the three participants around the values, beliefs and assumptions of 'schooled literacy'. This research suggests the need to expand on frameworks that conceptualize 'conflict' between discourse practices to consider the consequences of alignment.     

浅谈成人教育网络信息资源的利用

在网络教育的具体实践中,网络信息资源的开发是核心,科学合理的运用是关键。建设一个与网络教育相适应的教学支持服务系统,改革教学模式,发挥教师的主导作用和学生的主体作用,建立教学质量保证体系等,是当前成人教育网络信息资源利用必须解决的新课题。