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Educational Leadership:Teaching Social Responsibility:The Win...

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Saved by 7 people (0 private), first by anonymouse user on 2009-06-17


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But wait, it gets worse. If you place your finger on the pulse of the planet, this is what you'll discover: global surface temperatures rising, glaciers melting, oceans warming, sea levels rising, rain forests burning, coral reefs dying, old-growth forests disappearing, deserts spreading, the world's population increasing, and species vanishing at the highest rates since the extinction of the dinosaurs.

In short, the ecology that underpins our economy is also collapsing. And the solutions to this challenge elude not only most of our graduates, but also us—their teachers, administrators, and parents.

Highlighted by willrich

on 2009-06-18 by willrich

Every teacher should be an environmentalist.

A typical high school student is aware of environmental issues, has discussed and debated climate change or rain forest loss in some class sometime, and might have bumper-sticker answers to lapel-pin questions. But do our students know where the trash goes when it leaves their house? The leading source of greenhouse gas emissions? Why we recycle? (Glass and aluminum, after all, are not rare resources.) If you ask a group of students what we can do to combat the warming trend, several will chime in that we need to remove chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from hair spray. (Many high schoolers conflate global warming with ozone depletion and haven't been told that CFCs were removed from the market 20 years ago.)

My organization surveyed high school students on these questions and more and discovered that although students are overwhelmingly "pro-environment," they possess remarkably little information about breaking environmental issues. One small example: We asked them to name one bird they can identify by song. The leading answer? None. If local birds disappear from the landscape because of extinction, or arrive three weeks late because of warming climates, it's possible that no one will notice.

Highlighted by willrich

on 2009-06-18 by willrich

They know nothing about life cycle analysis

To address today's geopolitically entangled world of large, complex eco-issues, students simply have to know more than they did 40 years ago.

Highlighted by willrich

on 2009-06-18 by willrich

Absolutely true.

First, students are extraordinarily disconnected from the environment.

Highlighted by willrich

Viewing screens has become a child's full-time job

Highlighted by willrich

Second, ask any environmental educator and he or she will bemoan No Child Left Behind, whose pressures have caused many schools to trade outdoor field trips for test prep.

Highlighted by willrich

Third, students' exposure to environmental education depends on the luck of the draw and the amalgam of the interests of whichever teachers they happen to have throughout their school career.

Highlighted by willrich

on 2009-06-18 by willrich

This is why I'm turning into much more of an advocate for all teachers being environmentalists, or having an environmental bent to every aspect of the curriculum.

on 2009-06-19 by tagmirror

Going paperless seems to be a natural first-step. (If it can be counted as a "step".) Just the idea of paperless is a discussion-starter with students.

And finally, the downside of the large nonprofit universe of environmental education facilities—zoos, museums, aquariums, nature centers, parks, arboretums, children's gardens—is that schools approach environmental education like a Chinese menu.

Highlighted by willrich

Students are graduating from our schools thinking that green is good. But we haven't given them the tools they need to become environmentally literate citizens.

Highlighted by willrich

on 2009-06-18 by willrich

And the irony is that "green" is not always good. Greenwashing is making the harder conversations even more difficult.

Exposure to nature raises test scores; increases creativity, cooperation, and self-confidence; reduces stress; and enhances cognitive abilities.

Highlighted by willrich

on 2009-06-18 by willrich

I really want tagging on the comment level right here.

For better or worse, the charter school movement has been sweeping across the United States in the last decade. A growing number of charter schools have been designed around the simple premise that the entire science curriculum can be taught through environmental education.

Highlighted by willrich

on 2009-06-18 by willrich

Why not the whole curriculum?

In place of the rigorously scheduled school day of science, English, and gym periods, these programs use the environment and the outdoors as the centerpiece of students' curriculum.

Highlighted by willrich

U.S. schools teach what American culture considers important. Once society decided that computer literacy was central to a solid education, computer classes invaded schools at warp speed, and the "digital divide" became an important and contentious issue.

Highlighted by willrich

But the four horsemen of the global apocalypse—warming, species loss, water scarcity, and population growth—are bearing down on us, and many environmentalists worry about a vanishing window of opportunity for addressing these issues. Science fiction writer H. G. Wells was prophetic when he wrote in 1920 that "human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe."

Environmental literacy is one race that education must win.

Highlighted by willrich

on 2009-06-18 by willrich

Totally agree.