Syllabus for ESTU 371 (CRN 41062), Aut. 2009
Introduction to Environmental Education
Instructor:
Office, etc: AH 224; x4775; ms 9085; mailbox in AH 217; Gene.Myers@wwu.edu
Office Hours: Tues. & Weds. 2-4. Or, arrange with me.
Course web page: http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~gmyers/envr371.html
How can we help individuals effect change to attain broad-based social and ecological sustainability? Environmental education (EE) offers a central route to that goal and is at the heart of any attempt to solve environmental problems. Scientific, policy, and even economic solutions all rely on public knowledge and attitudes to succeed. And for long-run enduring change, arguably education is the only route. But what is it? And--whatever it is--exactly why is it important? Education is always a complex phenomenon. You have personal experience with it—including probably some positive examples. To become a good educator requires knowledge (about what to teach, and about learners), as well as practical skills. It is not a simple thing! To be sure, it is an art, but one founded on careful thinking and sound information. What is the nature of human beings? How can you encounter and help a person to learn? What is learning, development? How can institutions best support these human capacities? These questions are both small (particular cases) and large (philosophical). The personal answers you develop towards them may determine if you have the attitudes that are essential to being a good educator. Environmental adds more specificity (and new breadth) to term “education.” Is it just a new subject matter? In what ways might it be more? What traditions in education does it most directly build upon? How does it depart? What different ways of understanding it appeal most to you, upon critical reflection? How does it suggest we change our current thinking about our quest for ‘sustainability’? Invoking “environment” brings with it layers of social, cultural, and motivational complexity too. Environmental education is simultaneously immediate and hands-on, and as deep as any question asked by the philosophical mind.
This course can help you answer some of these questions and gain a beginning orientation to this profession. It will introduce you to the nature, theories & justifications--the "what’s" and the "why’s"--of environmental education. This course should help you:
• Gain an understanding of the history, definitions, rationale, and principles of EE.
• Explore different approaches to environmental education
• See how education relates to different approaches to solving environmental problems.
• Observe and meet some professional educators and learn about their backgrounds and work.
• Explore current issues in the field of EE.
• Grasp the breadth of audiences and settings--young and old, formal and free-choice settings
• Increase your awareness of local ecosystems and the behaviors that sustain and protect them.
• Analyze what makes for high quality EE, including current professional standards.
• Critically reflect on and articulate your own key ideas about EE.
In all of the above, our focus is putting the EE map and compass in your hands, if you choose to take this course. So, the “assignments,” if accomplished well, will move you along to new horizons. The course requires significant independent work, so expect to devote a full measure of time to the course beginning early in the term.
Meeting:
This course aims to combine direct experience, personal reflection, intellectual rigor, and community-building in the pursuit of starting you off on a path of real contribution as an environmental educator. You can’t do this alone; you will succeed best if you:
* Strive to be a strong, interdependent, well-integrated learning community.
* Invite, listen to, and try to understand points of view different than your own.
* Identify and articulate your own thoughts, even if they are vague or if it makes you uncomfortable. Ask questions whenever you don't understand. This is a safe environment to do these things.
* Strive for professionalism in all your EE work.
*
Learn: "To grow, your reach must exceed your grasp." - S.
ACTIVITIES
AND PROJECTS
Attendance, participation & in-class activities:
Class sessions will be a combination of several kinds of possibly non-substitutable activity – problem-solving, writing, peer-response, lectures, activities, readings, field trips, speakers, in which everyone's full participation is vital. In a group of interdependent learners, well-prepared attendance is not an elective choice, but rather a community responsibility.
Please note: Come prepared every day to spend at least part of the time outside. This doesn’t mean we will go outside each day, just that we may at any time. If you are late and we have left, our likely destination will be left on the board, but you may not be able to find us!
*** Special note
for autumn 2009 H1N1 flu season: In accordance special with university policy,
I will accommodate a self-reported influenza-like illness. Normally absence due
to illness requires a written note from a M.D. or the
Environmental
education program profile and observation: Due Oct. 28
In most years I have asked each student to observe 2
EE programs in action. This year is different. What we will do instead will
take you deeper into the workings of one EE provider and how they are faring in
the current economic crunch. One way or another you will also have a chance to
observe instruction, and curriculum. Finally you will report what you’ve
learned to the group. The collective result will be a current portrait of past,
current and potential EE in the area. This will demand a high degree of
professionalism on your part, but will be an unusual chance to get a fuller and
closer look at real-life EE.
You
will work in pairs, and will have some choice of which EE provider to get to
know, although do not expect complete freedom, as the options within reasonable
travel distance are not infinite. Once you are matched up with a partner and a
provider, here is what to do:
·
By phone,
contact one of the key EE staff at the organization, introduce yourselves (you
may need to revert to email if you find delays). Explain that you are in my
class and have been assigned to get to know them and their organization's EE
work, and to report on that. A list will
be provided soon.
·
Explain what you
are asking for: to visit them personally at their office (or other facility) and
interview them about their EE programs (even if they have been terminated),
learn about current changes in the organization, talk to other staff as
appropriate, view and ideally borrow a copy of a curriculum (this is touchy--
you must absolutely promise--and follow up--on returning it in perfect
condition if you do borrow it!), and observe one program in action (ie, an
instructor talking with a group, or an exhibit being visited and used by a typical
group).
·
Tell them that you
will be writing up a profile on the mission, structure, current programs, and
one example curriculum and instructional observation for the class.
·
Very courteously
ask if they are willing and can make time for you to visit them and to observe,
and if not ask if there is a better person there to talk to.
·
If they need
time to discuss this with colleagues, be generous in letting them have that,
and ask for when you should re-contact them, and then punctually do so. Offer
to send them a draft of your report for feedback, and /or a final copy when it
is done.
·
The EE providers
you will be visiting are key partners of Huxley's EE program, and it is very
important to both you and future students that we act responsibly and
respectfully towards them. Along these lines, part of this assignment is to
send an appropriate thank-you to the person(s) who help you with this. This
does not mean an email! It means something that shows gratitude a bit greater
effort and thoughtfulness on your part.
·
Carry out all
the steps implied above: talk, visit, interview, assess curricular materials,
observe instructional event and take notes so you can describe and analyze it,
and send a thank you. Please do not
interrupt their session during your observation, and please keep any questions
for a time convenient for them. Offer to help while you are there if this would
not create more demands on them.
·
Reports will
delivered in class in the form of short verbal / visual profiles, and submitted
in written form to me by the partners as a team. Parts of the report:
o
Description of
the organization, its history, educational programs it offers, educational approach, topical emphasis
(emphases), key relationships, funding, recent changes and future directions.
o
Review of one
curriculum, including summary of goals and objectives, sequence and scope of
materials, types of activities, instructional techniques assessment of
learning.
o
Report on
observation of instruction, including description of what you observed and
analysis of how effective it was.
o
Overall
observations about the organization, its mission and how well it is able to
fulfill it, key challenges, opportunities, and whether you would want to work
for it, and why and why not.
·
Note: If you are
not able to observe instruction because the program has been terminated, there
will be a make-up alternative for that part of the assignment for this since I
think it is essential that you get some first-hand exposure to ee programming.
You will be required to write up a brief description and analysis of what you
observe. Arrangements for this are pending, but it will not be too difficult.
Environmental issue investigation. Due Nov. 30
You will investigate an environmental issue, look at
EE programs related to it, and create background and lesson-outlines to help
address it through education. Environmental issues are by definition social
issues: there is some human good that is threatened directly or indirectly by
the condition of the environment (thus, it’s a problem), but moreover, people disagree about the nature of the
problem or what to do about it because they have different underlying values
and interests (thus it’s an issue). How
do environmental educators relate to the contested terrain we cross in
struggling toward sustainability? This is a question that will occupy us often
in the term. Should controversial issues be addressed of EE? If so when and
how? What basic stances might EE take to this question as education? One kind of answer is suggested by the standards
established by the major professional organization in the field, the North
American Association for Environmental Education (see readings). More
generally, the question concerns EE for ecological citizenship, including
preparing learners to take action which they have studied and chosen. As part
of this class, you will choose and investigate a well-focused real-world environmental
issue.
We will look at some examples, and I encourage you to
follow the news to find more. For local issues, read the B’ham Herald, Whatcom
Watch (http://www.whatcomwatch.org/php/WW_open.php),
or other papers. For national &
broader news, there are several sources. One is Grist, to which you can
subscribe or visit -- and, it includes good doses of HUMOR! http://www.grist.org/. From the Encyclopedia of the Earth folks, you can
get Earth News: http://www.earthportal.org/news/.
There is also the Environmental News Service, http://www.ens-newswire.com/index.asp,
and the Environmental News Network, http://www.enn.com/.
Here
is what you will need to do:
·
Consider several
different issues and choose one to focus on early in the term. It might be
local or from another places, or global, but it needs to be focused (“climate
change” is not focused, but cap-and-trade of carbon emissions IS focused within
it). So you may need to figure out what angle is of key interest to you.
·
Briefly, what is
the history of the issue? What lessons do previous attempts to address it
offer?
·
What are the
natural science concepts that need to be understood to have a grasp of the
issue. What is NOT known in the natural science area?
·
Do a ‘force
field’ analysis of the issue: What are the laws (if any) involved? Who are the key players (interest groups),
and what are their positions and underlying values and interests. What are
their resources, and in what specific how have they tried to influence the
outcome? Usually there are more than two “sides.”
·
I suggest you
keep in mind that many ‘environmental issues’ have other people in the role of
receiving disproportionate impacts, with nature as the conduit by which such
costs are delivered. The import: it is often not just for the sake of nature,
but also for social justice that the issue matters. I am especially interested
in students investigating issues from the international context where
environmental damage has effects on people as well as nature.
·
Write up all of
the above as an issue background packet.
·
Considering what
you are learning about environmental education, how could EE be used to help
resolve the issue? What would be the goals of an EE program, and who would be
its key target audience?
·
Review others’
related EE attempts and propose your own program plan. You can borrow others’
ideas, but be sure to cite and provide reference information when you do. At
least part of your plan must be your original work.
·
The key
criteria, however, is that it make good sense and hold together as EE. So,
you’ll need to articulate its approach and broad goals – these should be
clearly related to your analysis of the issue as developed above. You should
lay out the objectives of the program – these may be learning objectives,
attitudinal objectives, personal development of learners, behavior change objectives, citizen action
skills, community cohesiveness, etc.
Then provide a rough outline of the activities that would make up the
program. Finally, explain what information you would use to gauge whether the
educational program had succeeded (this will very seldom be so direct as “the
problem is resolved”: education is probably just a part or a step towards that
end).
Although you will do this assignment yourself, you
will be in support groups to increase your awareness of resources and chances
to help one another.
“Connecting with nature” interpretive presentation.
Sign up for times throughout term.
Here you will be teaching each other – in a key part
of the course: knowing local natural systems and their residents, and
understanding and feeling connected
to them. What part of the natural history of the local bio-region excites you but you don’t know all about already? It could be
something very specific like a single species, or a larger topic like a group
of plants, an intriguing interaction, a type of ecosystem, a current ecological
investigation, a conservation practice, a bit of human-ecology or environmental
history, or a weird natural phenomenon: something cool about this place! What are all the ways you can
build your personal understanding of your topic? How can you present fairly technical information in a way that not only
conveys knowledge, but also kindles enthusiasm, curiosity, connection, emotion,
and relevance? During the term, we’ll make scheduled time for these short (5-minute!) presentations – perhaps
outside if you plan in advance, otherwise indoors. What are the most compelling
and creative means at your disposal for engaging and presenting your subject?
How can your “delivery” achieve the goal of helping others feel the fascination
and wonder of nature? You’ll need to step into the “limelight” to do this,
which may be intimidating (or thrilling) to some… this may help you discover
your “inner extrovert” (is that an oxymoron?) – he or she needn’t be
flamboyant, by the way! … one of a panoply of persona of an environmental
educator.
Evolving
your philosophy of environmental education. Draft due Nov 9; final due Dec. 8
Throughout this course, there will be many chances to
develop your thinking about all that is entailed in environmental education. Our
readings will contribute to this particularly, and possible short in-class
non-graded writings that you share. You will be each others’ audience and
sounding board as you develop your thinking. In addition, there are books and
journals in the field – your work will be stronger if you read several and
incorporate them into your writing.
The culminating essay is a chance to describe, define,
explain, compare, argue for, qualify and justify your approach to education in general and environmental education
in particular. What ideas do you, personally, find most important in
environmental education? You should consider issues such as:
·
Where does EE
fit in the big picture of education?
·
In the big
picture of solving environmental problems?
·
What are the
most important aims of EE?
·
What are the
alternative approaches to EE and which do you think should be prioritized, and
why?
·
What are the best
contents and approaches of EE, for which situations?
·
What are some
examples of excellent EE and what makes them so?
It may help you to envision an audience for this
essay who needs some persuading - perhaps someone from another discipline who
doesn't fully understand what EE is or why it's important, or a somewhat
skeptical friend or parent who doesn't see things quite as you do, but can be
convinced. Perhaps there is someone in your life you would like to actually
present it to. Let me know if you are doing so, so I have the context right
(e.g., “I’m writing this partly to enlighten my environmental science room
mate.”) In summary, it can be as
important here to pose and explore issues and questions as to give firm (or
tentative) answers; either approach is fine – the emphasis is on your
maturing thought about environmental education and its context. You essay will
be handed in twice: first as well as a 3-4 page complete draft, and then, probably substantially revised, at the
end of the term. You will get the substantive feedback on the draft, and a
grade on the final.
Evaluation:
A final self-evaluation is due at the end of the term. Include what your learning goals were, whether you met them, what unexpected gains happened, what were the strengths and weaknesses of your performance on each of the projects. My evaluation of your work will draw on what you report.
Here is the rough grading breakdown:
Attendance and participation in discussion -- 15%
Environmental ed program profile -- 25%
Issue investigation and EE plan proposal -- 25%
Connecting with nature presentation -- 10%
EE philosophy essay -- 25%
A = 100% - 93 %, A - = 92 - 90, B+ = 89 - 87, B = 86 - 83, B- = 82 - 80, C+ = 79 - 77, C = 76 – 73, C-=72-70, 60-69, D; below 60, F
Disability accommodations:
Any student with a disability that may affect their performance in this class is encouraged to speak to the instructor or the Office of Student Life (360-3083) to arrange for suitable accommodation.
TEXTS
Louv, R. (2008). Last child in the woods.
Sobel, D. (2005). Place-based education. Great
Coyle, K. (2005). Environmental
Literacy in
Most other readings are available on-line. Some are files that will download. If you have a slow home connection, you might want download these to a usb devise from a university machine. Use live links on the syllabus at: http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~gmyers/envr371.html
AGENDA
OF TOPICS, READINGS & PROJECTS -- SUBJECT TO REVISION:
Week
1
Sept
23 Introductions, course
overview; environmental challenges and honest hope
Week
2
Sept. 28 History of Environmental
Education
-Read: • Disinger, John. (1983). Environmental education's definitional problem
• Belgrade Charter, 1975 http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~gmyers/Belgrade Charter.pdf
• Tbilisi Declaration, 1977 http://www.gdrc.org/uem/ee/tbilisi.html
• Thessaloniki Declaration http://www.mio-ecsde.org/old/Thess/declar_en.htm
• Events that have influenced EE in the
Sept. 30 Environmental citizenship & Issue-based EE
-Assignment: come prepared to summarize your current understanding of the issue you will investigate.
-Read: • Coyle, K. (2005). Environmental Literacy in America. Washington, DC: NEETF
Chapters 1-3. (http://www.neefusa.org/pdf/ELR2005.pdf)
-In-class:
sign up for EE organizations to profile
***Divide up into groups for next Mon’s readings / roles***
Week
3
Oct. 5 Environmental issue analysis
-Read
• Articles assigned for your group from The Planet, Spring 2001:
Oct. 7 EE
in the context of social issues
-Read: Blanchard mountain current situation background:
• Blanchard Strategies Group Agreement
• http://www.chuckanutconservancy.org/blanchard.html
Issue-based EE
•
• Excellence in EE: Guidelines For preK-12 http://www.naaee.org/npeee/learner_guidelines.php
• EE Materials: Guidelines for Excellence http://www.naaee.org/programs-and-initiatives/guidelines-for-excellence/materials-guidelines/materials-guidelines
• Nonformal EE Programs: Guidelines for Excellence. http://www.naaee.org/npeee/nonformal.php
Week
4
Oct.
12 Research and evaluation on Effects
of EE
-Read: • Coyle, K. (2005). Environmental
Literacy in America. Washington, DC: NEETF.
Chapters 5, 6, 7.
Oct. 14 Children and nature I
Read:
Louv, Intro & Ch’s 1-3 (pp.1-36)
Week
5
Oct. 19 Children and nature II
Read: Louv, Ch’s 4-7) (pp. 39-98)
-Interpretive presentations (5)
Oct. 21 Children and nature III
Read: Louv, Ch’s 8-12) (pp. 99-159)
-Assignment:
Week
6
Oct.
26 Place-based EE
Read: Louv, One
chapter (as per sign-up) of ch’s 13-23
-Interpretive
presentations (5)
Oct. 28 Program profiles
Sharing program profiles
-Assignment: ****EE Program profile & observation due.****
Week
7
Nov. 2 Place-based EE
Read: Sobel
-Interpretive presentations (5)
Nov. 4 Community-Based
EE; CBSM & Education for Sustainable Development & International
context
-Read:
• Intro chapters, McKenzie-Mohr, D. (2001). Community-Based Social Marketing. Available at: http://www.cbsm.com/ Sign up (free, no strings), find text.
•
McKeown,
R. (2002). Education for Sustainability Toolkit (read through p. 24 &
more if you like.)
Week 8
Nov. 9 Comparison of approaches to EE
-Assignment: *****Draft of EE philosophy
paper due*****
Nov.
11 No class – Veterans day
observed
Week
9
Nov. 16 TBA – possible guest speaker slot
-Interpretive presentations (5)
Nov.
18 The land ethic
Read:
Leopold, The Land Ethic (chapter from A
Sand County Almanac)
Week
10
Nov. 23 Interpretive presentations (20)
Nov.
25 No class - Thanksgiving break
Week
11
Nov
30 TBA – possible guest speaker slot
-Assignment: ****Environmental issue investigation due.****
Dec.
2 Summing
up, reflecting, looking forward
Dec.
8 -- Finals day - NO final, but...
-Assignment:
****Revised EE Philosophy Paper ****