Environmental education in a ‘green classroom’

The ‘Green Classroom’ in the Botanical Garden of Ulm is an experiential learning forum outside school. Its educational concept is based on experimental learning and is geared towards expanding biological knowledge and developing positive attitudes towards small animals such as invertebrates and insects. The attitudes of 68 school students towards small animals, before and after they visited the ‘Green Classroom’, were assessed and the answers they gave in their questionnaires were compared with those of 60 students froma control group that was not yet exposed to this learning environment. Although the students spent only one morning in the ‘Green Classroom’, some of their attitudes towards small animals improved after their visit. These studies underscore the necessity for direct observation and familiarization of the environment including small animals such as invertebrates and insects for appreciating issues related to biodiversity and conservation.     

‘Emplaced Transcendence’ as Ecologising Education in Michael Bonnett's Environmental Philosophy

At the 2019 Annual Conference of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, Michael Bonnett was an invited speaker, giving a paper entitled ‘Transcendent nature, sustainability, and ‘ecologising’ education’. In this keynote, Bonnett shared portions of his forthcoming book, Environmental Consciousness, Nature, and Philosophy of Education: Ecologizing Education (London, Routledge). A day earlier at the conference Jeff Stickney gave a paper entitled ‘Informal place-based learning in environmental sustainability education: Seeing anew the Cloister oak tree at New College through Heidegger & Wittgenstein's Philosophies.’ Here we offer a section of Stickney's paper discussing Bonnett's environmental philosophy, focusing on a central aspect of his work: aesthetic and place-based education as a way of connecting more deeply with ‘nature’. Instead of delivering his paper at the conference, Stickney led participants on a walk across the Oxford campus, talking about the place and seeking to enhance appreciation of the evergreen oak tree in the cloister by entertaining different philosophical perspectives while those gathered drew the tree. The exercise was meant to illustrate what aesthetic, emplaced transcendence might actually look and feel like, in practice. Bonnett humbly agreed to write a brief response for this Special Issue.     

The Systemic Crisis in Education as a Threat to Russia’s National Security

The authors describe the factors that are destroying the Russian education system, a strategy and tactics for overcoming the crisis, as well as model ideas about the future of education in Russia.     

A National Investigation of Teachers’ Environmental Literacy as a Reference for Promoting Environmental Education in Taiwan

Taiwan's government enacted the Environmental Education Act in June 2011. In the beginning of the implementation of the Act, a national assessment of schoolteachers’ environmental literacy was performed in order to establish the baseline for evaluating the effectiveness of environmental education policy. This large-scale assessment involved a large sample size of in-service teachers across schools at all levels and regions in Taiwan using the stratified random sampling method. Data showed that the teachers have satisfactory levels of environmental knowledge and attitudes, but presented low degrees of environmental action. Differing from previous research results, elementary teachers performed better than high school teachers on this assessment, which may be attributed to their teacher training experiences. Results from this study may provide implications for teacher professional development programs and school environmental education policy.     

Influence of a Non-formal Environmental Education Programme on Junior High-School Students’ Environmental Literacy

One of the solutions implemented by schools for conducting value-based environmental education (EE) is outsourcing: allocating external environmental organizations that develop and conduct EE programmes. This study addressed such a programme—the Green Council Programme (GCP)—developed and implemented in schools by the Israeli Society for Protection of Nature. A pre-test/post-test design was used to investigate the influence of participation in the GCP on components of junior high-school students' environmental literacy. Conceptualizations of ‘environment’, environmental attitudes and sense of ability to act on environmental issues were studied employing quantitative and qualitative tools. Contribution of the programme to the cognitive domain, in developing a systemic understanding of the environment, was limited. On the other hand, participating in this programme heightened students' sensitivity to human–environment interrelationships and developed a more ecological worldview. After the programme, students demonstrated greater perception of humans as part of the environment, an increased sensitivity to human impact on the environment and their value for non-human nature moved from an anthropocentric to a more ecocentric orientation. While students' internal locus-of-control increased, when environmental protection entailed personal economic trade-offs, their support was limited and remained unchanged. The article concludes with recommendations, based on the findings, regarding supplementing the school (science) curriculum with external EE enrichment programmes.     

Education and nationalism in Scotland: governing a ‘learning nation’

Abstract

Nationalism is a key resource for the political work of governing Scotland, and education offers the Scottish National Party (SNP) government a policy space in which political nationalism (self determination) along with social and cultural forms of civic nationalism can be formed and propagated, through referencing ‘inwards’ to established myths and traditions that stress the ‘public’ nature of schooling/education/universities and their role in construction of ‘community’; and referencing ‘outwards’, especially to selected Nordic comparators, but also to major transnational actors such as OECD, to education’s role in economic recovery and progress. The SNP government has been very active in the education policy field, and a significant element of its activity lies in promoting a discourse of collective learning in which a ‘learning government’ is enabled to lead a ‘learning nation’ towards the goal of independence. This paper draws on recent research to explore recent and current developments in SNP government education policy, drawing on discourse analysis to highlight the political work that such policy developments seek to do, against the backdrop of continuing constitutional tensions across the UK.     

Kindergarten Teachers’ Conceptions of Environmental Education

A written questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding Greek kindergarten teachers’ personal views on the concept of Environmental Education (EE). The questionnaire was also designed to obtain the teachers’ views relative to a series of theoretical and methodological issues concerning the application of EE. It was ascertained that the prevalent conception of the kindergarten teachers includes the following: (a) it is directed towards a knowledge-centered type of EE, (b) it is primarily centered on nature and its protection in terms of EE content, (c) it aims not only to shape citizens willing to adopt environmental measures recommended by the experts, but who will also actively participate in social actions for the protection of the environment, (d) it favors learning procedures in the environment with field study activities, (e) it must be compulsory in the kindergarten level.     

‘Whys’ and ‘Hows’ of Using Philosophy in Mathematics Education

The article elaborates and exemplifies a potential categorization of the reasons for using philosophy, in particular the philosophy of mathematics, in mathematics education and approaches to doing so—the so-called ‘whys’ and ‘hows’. More precisely, the ‘whys’ are divided into the two categories of ‘philosophy as a tool’ for teaching and learning mathematics, and ‘philosophy as a goal’, referring to a stance of considering it a purpose in itself to teach students certain aspects regarding the philosophy of mathematics. A division of the ‘hows’ into three different categories is offered: illumination approaches; modules approaches; and philosophy-based approaches. A major part of the article is spent on providing illustrative exemplifications of each of these approaches by referring to already implemented uses of philosophy of mathematics in mathematics education as well as by suggesting new ones.     

Motivational Climate and Students’ Emotional Experiences and Effort in Physical Education

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to examine the impact of a self-determined motivational climate including support of autonomy, relatedness, task involvement, and ego-involving climate on students’ affective responses and effort in physical education. The sample involved 338 sixth-grade students (11–12 years old) who completed a questionnaire battery incorporating measures of motivational climate, enjoyment, trait anxiety in physical education, and effort. The results of the reliability and confirmatory factor analyses supported the psychometric properties of the measures. Multiple regression path analysis results indicated that task-involving climate, autonomy, and relatedness support had more positive influences on pupils’ affective responses in comparison to an ego-involving climate.     

Environmental education technologies in a social void: the case of ‘Greendrive’

This article is based on a case study that follows the trajectory of a technological device aimed at environmental education from the engineering laboratory in which it was designed into the contexts in which it is used. ‘Greendrive’ is a driving simulator that accurately reproduces the performance of a vehicle in terms of fuel consumption and greenhouse gases emissions, in order to instill the principles of safe and environmentally friendly driving. The text is divided into three parts. The first part introduces the issue of transport behavior as one of the causes of climate change and the role of eco-driving in reducing emissions. The second part describes how a team of Portuguese engineering researchers developed the driving simulator and how a local authority and a consulting and training company are using it. Finally, the discussion part aims to show that despite the intentions of its creators and their clients, the driving simulator is unlikely, by itself, to generate changes in behavior. An information-deficit approach to environmental education that fails to consider the social embeddedness of human action and disregards the engagement of citizens has a very limited chance of success.     

The implementation of ‘Education for Citizenship’ in schools in Scotland: a research report

Changes in society and government have increased concerns of low participation and involvement by people, especially the young, in the political process and decision-making. As a result, citizenship has become a focus of recent curriculum developments in many countries. In Scotland, ‘Values and Citizenship’ has been made one of the Scottish Executive's national priorities for education and is linked to the major national initiative, ‘Education for Citizenship’. This is seen as encouraging pupils to make informed choices and decisions and to take action, individually and as part of the community. More recently, A curriculum for excellence 3–18 (SEED 2004 Shucksmith, J. and Spratt, J. 2001. Education for citizenship in Scotland: An analysis of responses to the consultation paper, Aberdeen: University of Aberdeen.  [Google Scholar]) placed promoting responsible citizenship at the heart of the curriculum. This article reports on the extent to which a sample of Scottish schools was making progress towards developing education for citizenship, the strategies they developed and the barriers encountered in this implementation. It compares progress and developments in Scotland to the model devised in a longitudinal study for citizenship in England (Ireland et al. 2004 Ireland, E. and Kerr, D. 2004. Making citizenship education real: Learning from current approaches in schools. Teaching Citizenship, 9: 20–25.  [Google Scholar], 2006 Ireland, E., Kerr, D., Lopes, J., Nelson, J. and Cleaver, E. 2006. Active citizenship and young people: Opportunities, experiences and challenges in and beyond school, London: DfES.  [Google Scholar]).     

Students’ imaginings of spaces of learning in Outdoor and Environmental Education

In this article, I interrogate students’ stories about the spaces and places in a tertiary Outdoor and Environmental Education course that support and shape their environmental ethics. Drawing on a longitudinal qualitative study, I explore the ways in which particular sites of learning (outdoor, practical learning) are privileged and how particular stories of outdoor spaces get reproduced. I employ the work of poststructuralist geography scholar Doreen Massey in my analysis to highlight the intersections between space, relations of power and identity. This analysis also underscores the simultaneity of multiple and conflicting stories around Outdoor Education’s outdoor (practical) and indoor (theoretical) learning spaces. I conclude by drawing on Elizabeth Ellsworth’s work on anomalous places of learning to explore some of the spaces in-between the indoor/outdoor binary as a way of interrupting and re-imagining places and spaces of learning in Outdoor Education.     

‘Basic Values’ and Education

The Personal Adviser is a new role within schools. It is an integral part of the new Connexions Service, which is being implemented throughout England in tranches, the first starting in April 2001. This article examines the origins of the role, the confusion that has surrounded its initial development, and some of the issues that it will have to confront. The paper draws on experience gained in some of the Connexions pilot schemes during 2000/1.     

‘A thin net over an abyss’: Greta Thunberg and the Importance of Words in Addressing the Climate Crisis

‘Listen to the scientists.’ It is a refrain that Greta Thunberg has used on a number of occasions to impress upon us that we are running out of time if we want to halt the slide towards catastrophe. Now is the time to discuss the findings of science, and science education is the natural place to do so. And yet, there is no obvious, designated place for serious discussion about its findings. What is it that makes the appeal to science so powerful and yet makes discussion of meaningful action so difficult? Bruno Latour has problematised the self-understanding of science and how it has removed itself from our capacity to express our interest in the world and what matters to us. However, one of the significant features that is emerging from the climate crisis is that science is once again enabling us to do so. The terms in which we express our understanding of the world are being rethought. Taking this further, I turn to Stanley Cavell, for whom our capacity to word the world is tied to our capacity for expression and the animation of language. Cavell offers us a means of understanding how and why our words matter. For young people, it is crucial that they believe their voices can be heard if the kind of transformation needed to avoid environmental catastrophe is to take place. The role of educators is to support them in this. In order to do so, education itself may need to be transformed.