Educating for Sustainability in Primary Schools

Educating for Sustainability in Primary Schools PDF

Author: Neil Taylor

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-06-17

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 9463000461

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Education for Sustainability is a key priority in today’s schools, as our society seeks to find a balance between environmental, social, cultural, political and economic imperatives that affect our future. As young children will become the next generation of adults, it is vital that they are educated about sustainability issues, so that they can learn to make informed decisions and take positive action for a sustainable world. Teachers are ideally placed to educate for sustainability issues, and indeed have a responsibility to do so. However, they often lack support and experience in this area, and constraints of current curriculum priorities can inhibit Education for Sustainability being taught effectively in many classrooms. Educating for Sustainability in Primary Schools: Teaching for the Future addresses this problem by showing how Education for Sustainability can be developed within and across all areas of the primary curriculum in the Australian and New Zealand contexts. The book provides a range of educational approaches and examples of activities to support teachers in addressing national requirements for teaching the major primary curriculum learning areas, while simultaneously educating for sustainability. This integrative approach to primary education can promote knowledge of, positive attitudes towards and suitable action for sustainability in relevant, meaningful, enjoyable and creative ways. This book is a valuable resource for all primary teachers who wish to make a real difference to educating children for the future.

Building STEM Skills Through Environmental Education

Building STEM Skills Through Environmental Education PDF

Author: Schroth, Stephen T.

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2020-09-18

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 1799827127

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Environmental studies provide an ideal opportunity for children of any age to build critical and creative thinking skills while also building skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Exploring issues related to sustainability and environmental concerns permits learners to identify problems, develop research questions, gather and analyze data, develop possible solutions, and disseminate this information to others. Despite the advantages of green education and its ability to improve student achievement, there is a gap in understanding the interplay between curriculum and instruction and how this affects teaching and learning. Building STEM Skills Through Environmental Education is an essential publication that addresses gaps in the understanding of green education and offers educators meaningful and comprehensive examples of environmental and sustainability education in the Pre-K through secondary grade levels. The book offers a unique combination of foundational understanding of green education and chapters that illustrate the principles and impact of green education across grade levels, content areas, assessment systems, instructional strategies, technology, and other related topics. It is ideally designed for educators, curriculum developers, instructional designers, advocates, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.

Learner-Centered Teaching Activities for Environmental and Sustainability Studies

Learner-Centered Teaching Activities for Environmental and Sustainability Studies PDF

Author: Loren B. Byrne

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-03-21

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 3319285432

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Learner-centered teaching is a pedagogical approach that emphasizes the roles of students as participants in and drivers of their own learning. Learner-centered teaching activities go beyond traditional lecturing by helping students construct their own understanding of information, develop skills via hands-on engagement, and encourage personal reflection through metacognitive tasks. In addition, learner-centered classroom approaches may challenge students’ preconceived notions and expand their thinking by confronting them with thought-provoking statements, tasks or scenarios that cause them to pay closer attention and cognitively “see” a topic from new perspectives. Many types of pedagogy fall under the umbrella of learner-centered teaching including laboratory work, group discussions, service and project-based learning, and student-led research, among others. Unfortunately, it is often not possible to use some of these valuable methods in all course situations given constraints of money, space, instructor expertise, class-meeting and instructor preparation time, and the availability of prepared lesson plans and material. Thus, a major challenge for many instructors is how to integrate learner-centered activities widely into their courses. The broad goal of this volume is to help advance environmental education practices that help increase students’ environmental literacy. Having a diverse collection of learner-centered teaching activities is especially useful for helping students develop their environmental literacy because such approaches can help them connect more personally with the material thus increasing the chances for altering the affective and behavioral dimensions of their environmental literacy. This volume differentiates itself from others by providing a unique and diverse collection of classroom activities that can help students develop their knowledge, skills and personal views about many contemporary environmental and sustainability issues. ​ ​ ​

The Failure of Environmental Education (And How We Can Fix It)

The Failure of Environmental Education (And How We Can Fix It) PDF

Author: Charles Saylan

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2011-05-25

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0520948726

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At a time when wild places everywhere are vanishing before our eyes, Charles Saylan and Daniel T. Blumstein offer this passionate indictment of environmental education—along with a new vision for the future. Writing for general readers and educators alike, Saylan and Blumstein boldly argue that education today has failed to reach its potential in fighting climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. In this forward-looking book, they assess the current political climate, including the No Child Left Behind Act, a disaster for environmental education, and discuss how education can stimulate action—including decreasing consumption and demand, developing sustainable food and energy sources, and addressing poverty. Their multidisciplinary perspective encompasses such approaches as school gardens, using school buildings as teaching tools, and the greening of schoolyards. Arguing for a paradigm shift in the way we view education as a whole, The Failure of Environmental Education demonstrates how our education system can create new levels of awareness and work toward a sustainable future.

Issues and trends in education for sustainable development

Issues and trends in education for sustainable development PDF

Author: Leicht, Alexander

Publisher: UNESCO Publishing

Published: 2018-02-19

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 9231002449

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Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is globally acknowledged as a powerful driver of change, empowering learners to make decisions and take actions needed to build a just and economically viable societ y respect ful of both the environment and cultural diversit y.