Ashley Inghram ENSTU 300 – Final Policy Analysis December 16th

Ashley Inghram
ENSTU 300 – Final Policy Analysis
December 16th, 2015
What are some ways that we can more successfully incorporate environmental
education into K-12 school curriculum?
Introduction:
Environmental Education is the process in which individuals gain awareness of
their environment and acquire knowledge, skills, values, experiences, and determination,
which enable them to act to solve environmental problems.1 A common issue that occurs
among people around the
world is having limited or
no environmental
education taught to them
at a young age. Today
more than ever, society
needs high-quality
environmental education
programs that succeed in
moving values and
Figure1identifiesconnectionsthatshouldbemadeamong
differentstandardsasenvironmentalcontext
1
"Defining Environmental Education." Environmental Education. 02 Dec. 2015. <http://www.gdrc.org/uem/ee/11.html.>
changing behaviors in the direction of sustainability and environmental conservation.2
Environmental education is important to younger generations because being informed
about the world and its common occurring challenges such as global warming, pollution,
creating sustainable communities, and many more, is important for their future and
survival. Being knowledgeable and knowing specifics about what is going on around us
is important for our futures. Figure 1 (above) depicts an image of a web that shows the
relationships between different standards in schools and how those should relate to
environmental education. Science teachers in the K-12 system are the primary
stakeholder group that is concerned with children receiving environmental education. The
second stakeholder group is school board members. Environmental education is
something many people are taught in school but oftentimes the ways that it is being
taught are not effective. This means that the topic won’t be meaningful enough for
children to remember and act upon later on. But once we are able to make these topics
meaningful to children, we will be able to get major points across. In Charles Saylan’s
book, The Failure of Environmental Education (And How We Can Fix It), Saylan and the
other authors state that environmental responsibility is a broadly held, nonpartisan value,
much like respect for the law. They believe environmental education deserves a central
place in public education, with lessons on the environment incorporated throughout every
student’s day.3 Although there are many teachers that do not believe that environmental
education is an important aspect of schooling and can be replaced by other subjects, there
2Thomson, Gareth, and Jenn Hoffman. "Measuring the Success of Environmental Education Programs."
pag. Peec
Works. Canadian Parks And Wilderness Society. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.peecworks.org/peec/peec_inst/I01795F64.0/ee-success.pdf>.
3
Nijhuis, Michelle. "Green Failure: What's Wrong With Environmental Education?" Environment 360. Yale
University, 26 May 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
<http://e360.yale.edu/feature/green_failure_whats_wrong_with_environmental_education/2407/>.
are a large number that would like to see more environmental education into K-12
curricula, such as Charles Saylan and the other authors. The desired goal in education is
to incorporate environmental education into the K-12 educational system. But it isn’t an
easy task, so the big question is, what are some better ways that environmental education
can be more successfully incorporated into K-12 education curricula?