> New guide to K-12 environmental education
New guide to K-12 environmental education
Contact:
David Zandvliet, 778.782.5680, 604.802.0036 (cell), dbz@sfu.ca (note: out of the country Nov. 20-Mar. 1, but accessible by email)
Ruby Ng, 778.782.7152, 604.828.9516 (cell), rubyng@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
David Zandvliet, 778.782.5680, 604.802.0036 (cell), dbz@sfu.ca (note: out of the country Nov. 20-Mar. 1, but accessible by email)
Ruby Ng, 778.782.7152, 604.828.9516 (cell), rubyng@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
November 19, 2007
No matter what we’re learning in school, there is often, if not always, some connection to the environment. That’s the premise of a new environmental education planning guide whose lead author is David Zandvliet, an associate professor of science and environmental education in Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Education.
The British Columbia Ministry of Education commissioned Zandvliet and other education experts to research and write Environmental Learning and Experience: An Interdisciplinary Guide for Teachers. Compiled over 16 months and based on interviews with educators in several school districts, the planning guide explains how Zandvliet and his research partners are enriching the environmental education content in K to 12 courses.
First, Zandvliet and his research partners are helping a team of K-12 teachers map the environmental content of existing courses in the education ministry’s mandated curriculum. Then, they will apply previously developed principles embodied in the metaphor C.A.R.E. to evaluate and integrate the mapped content into new or revised courses on the environment. C.A.R.E. stands for:
Complexity: The examination of the complexity and interrelatedness of natural and human-created systems and human interaction with those systems.
Aesthetics: The study of nature to develop students’ aesthetic appreciation of the environment.
Responsibility: The study of a variety of disciplines, such as geography, history and technology, to foster student awareness of the impact of personal, community, societal and global decisions on the environment.
Ethics: The engagement of students in the ethical evaluation of choices and decisions underlying consumption and lifestyle patterns, technological change, population control and other hot button issues affecting the environment.
The provincial ministry of education has contracted Zandvliet to lead three professional workshops to help teachers plan direct environmental experiences and enrich students’ evaluation of those experiences.
“There’s a whole body of literature,” says Zandvliet, “on how direct experience affects observation, reflection and decision-making about environmental issues.”
The first workshop was held at the Vancouver Outdoor School in Brackendale on the North Shore on November 17 and 18. Two more workshops are planned: one on Vancouver Island in January and another in the Interior in March.
SFU’s Learning & Instructional Development centre is helping Zandvliet put together a DVD of the workshops as a multi-media complement to the education ministry’s new report.
Zandvliet lives on Bowen Island.
For planning guide:
www.bced.gov.bc.ca/environment_ed
— 30 — (electronic photo file available)
The British Columbia Ministry of Education commissioned Zandvliet and other education experts to research and write Environmental Learning and Experience: An Interdisciplinary Guide for Teachers. Compiled over 16 months and based on interviews with educators in several school districts, the planning guide explains how Zandvliet and his research partners are enriching the environmental education content in K to 12 courses.
First, Zandvliet and his research partners are helping a team of K-12 teachers map the environmental content of existing courses in the education ministry’s mandated curriculum. Then, they will apply previously developed principles embodied in the metaphor C.A.R.E. to evaluate and integrate the mapped content into new or revised courses on the environment. C.A.R.E. stands for:
Complexity: The examination of the complexity and interrelatedness of natural and human-created systems and human interaction with those systems.
Aesthetics: The study of nature to develop students’ aesthetic appreciation of the environment.
Responsibility: The study of a variety of disciplines, such as geography, history and technology, to foster student awareness of the impact of personal, community, societal and global decisions on the environment.
Ethics: The engagement of students in the ethical evaluation of choices and decisions underlying consumption and lifestyle patterns, technological change, population control and other hot button issues affecting the environment.
The provincial ministry of education has contracted Zandvliet to lead three professional workshops to help teachers plan direct environmental experiences and enrich students’ evaluation of those experiences.
“There’s a whole body of literature,” says Zandvliet, “on how direct experience affects observation, reflection and decision-making about environmental issues.”
The first workshop was held at the Vancouver Outdoor School in Brackendale on the North Shore on November 17 and 18. Two more workshops are planned: one on Vancouver Island in January and another in the Interior in March.
SFU’s Learning & Instructional Development centre is helping Zandvliet put together a DVD of the workshops as a multi-media complement to the education ministry’s new report.
Zandvliet lives on Bowen Island.
For planning guide:
www.bced.gov.bc.ca/environment_ed
— 30 — (electronic photo file available)